as for sheet masks, there are plenty of them. but if you are familiar with taiwanese masks, then you might not want to try japanese masks as they are inferior to taiwanese masks. some of japanese masks are meant to be used daily, so they're thinner and doesn't soak much in essence. some are quite thick and drenched in enough essence but it's not highly spectacular.
so, the brand that i use most is lululun. they have several line and i've tried their regular one (the one that comes in a bunch of mask, like 7 masks in a pouch, 21 or 42 masks) and their plus line (the aromatic one and the non aromatic one). from their regular line, they have the pink, white, blue, aside from limited regional edition. i have tried them all and i think the pink and blue are better. the precious one (still from the regular type, but this one is more targeted for anti aging) has red, white (but the pouch is yellow) and green and i like the white and green one. the plus line... i don't like the aromatic one because it's definitely has fragrance added and some of the fragrance are weird for me, but the essential oil blend i like the sunny days and homeo age. you can read my review about lululun masks
here).
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| lululun regular series (pic from their website) |
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| the precious line (pic from their website) |
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the new precious green (this is the 7 masks in a pack)
pic taken from their website |
kose cosmeport also has a bunch of mask sheet line that's marketed as best sellers, but honestly, i don't find a favorite yet from this brand. there's the babyish line which is easily recognized as it has baby picture at front. this is a 7 in a pouch type, similar to regular line from lululun. it also has 3 types, the pink, white and yellow. i've tried them all and i have no favorite. there's also another line, the clear turn line. all i can say that if you see the packaging, you will see female face wearing a mask sheet on the left and on the right is the mask name written in japanese. i think it might get renewed, but i will update you about that. the famous one would be the black masks, but let me tell you, i don't think these masks are worth buying. but if you're curious about them, you can still try it since it's quite affordable. there are two types, the premium and regular. the premium has thicker jelly essence and i think there are two types, the hyaluronic acid and the collagen one. the regular line that they called as white mask has several types that you can differentiate from the packaging color. i've tried the vitamin C (yellow), coenzyme q10 (orange), and the herbal (black mask one) but since i don't like it, i don't make effort to find the other. they still have hyaluronic acid (pink), collagen (blue), astaxanthin (red), placenta and tranexamic acid (both are purple). you can read all about kose products
here.
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| this is some of their new line up (they change the packaging a bit, you can find out in their japan website) |
there's another brand that's quite popular there for its simplicity and it's gentle for sensitive skin, it's called minon and i've tried their mask sheet. they have other products too such as emulsion and face wash, but minon is more like middle-ranged price over there, so i decided not to buy anything from them yet. but if you're curious, their emulsion is highly raved over there. as for the mask sheet, i think there are two type and i've tried the moist type. read my review
here.
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| minon sheet mask |
and if you go to donki, you'd definitely see some pure smile masks. this is like the etude house for japan. they have lots of varieties, and very cheap. and it's made in korea too. unfortunately, the regular line does nothing. all varieties feel the same and i don't notice any difference. but i like their yogurt line better. somehow it's more moisturizing. but, compared to other masks that i've said before, this one is not worth buying. you can skip this if you like. but if you're looking for mask-entertainment, they have several character masks that's not only limited to cats and dogs but also several kabuki face. read all my review about pure smile masks
here.
last, you can always find some my beauty diary masks. in fact, my first MBD masks were bought in japan. so if you're looking for a trusty sheet mask, then just buy MBD masks.
eye cream
well, i have no recommendation in this area. although i have tried two of the most best selling eye creams, i don't think it's worth buying. both eye creams only offer moisturizing under eye area and does nothing else. both are affordable and easily to find almost everywhere. but if you ask me, i like the sana retinol better than the meishoku. read my review about meishoku eye cream
here, and sana one
here. however, there's a beauty influencer here that's recommending country& stream eye cream which has rollerball on its tip, so if i could buy one, i will try that one next.
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| meishoku eye cream |
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| sana eye cream |
sunscreen
i know.... you would say i should put this first! as japan is known as "sunscreen heaven". well, the famous one is obviously biore aqua watery essence and watery gel. but the japanese is known to change their formulation every 3 years, so if the 2017 version lets you down, perhaps you should try the 2019 version that everyone seems to like. i've bought the gel type but i haven't tried it, but i have tried the gel and essence from original version that everybody like (read the essence review
here and the gel review
here), the cool gel version which is released specially for summer (
here) as well as the 2017 formulation essence (read
here). they also have several base/sunscreen type and i've tried the oil control one (read
here). i believe there are two other version of this base/sunscreen version. the newest that everyone seems to like is the athlizm which is a standout since the bottle comes in red. pretty far from the usual biore blue.
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| biore sunscreen |
another favorite is shiseido anessa both the gold and silver one. let me tell you this one is really expensive, but they make smaller size, so if you want to try, buying the travel size would be more reasonable. i have tried the travel size gold one, and it's okay but it's not my favorite. perhaps if you have dry skin you'd like it better. read my review
here. another sunscreen from shiseido is the senka line. somehow i only found these in singapore. i never encounter them in japan, so i don't know if this another regional product. i don't like the mineral essence one (but people with drier skin seems to like this better, read my review
here) and the perfect uv gel which i quite like (read
here).
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| shiseido anessa |
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| shiseido senka mineral uv essence |
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| shiseido senka perfect uv gel |
another brand that makes a lot of sunscreen is kose with their suncut line. i've tried their spray which some people like for reapplying but i don't fond of the aerosol scent, so i'll try another spray (read
here). i also have tried their essence (read
here).
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| kose suncut uv essence |
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| the uv spray |
i also have tried another recommendation from other bloggers which is nivea milky gel (unfortunately i don't like it, read
here) and skin aqua essence (i like the gel version better, and i will update the link after i finish my review. meanwhile,
here's my thought on the essence). another brand that's targeted sensitive skin (that's why they called it "mommy" brand as it's supposed to be gentle to be used on mother and baby) is mommy and they have several sunscreen. they have milder version which is just SPF 33 that everyone has tried, but i decided to try the SPF 50 but unfortunately, i don't quite like it (read
here). another sunscreen that i've tried and i think will be more suitable for dry skin is from kose sekkisui. unfortunately it does contain alcohol, so you might want to think twice. anyway, read my thought
here.
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| nivea milky gel |
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| skin aqua essence |
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| mommy uv aqua milk |
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| kose sekkisui sunscreen |
lip balm
the most famous one is DHC lip balm. they have 2 versions, the original and the UV one (this one has added SPF 15). i bought the UV one and i've tried it for awhile, so i will update you on this one. but, there are other lip balm out there. for me, i like my body shop lip balm better, so i won't repurchase DHC.
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left: white tube is the uv moisture
right: pink tube is the original |
anyway, if you're looking for japanese products review as well as ingredients list, i suggest you head on to ratzillacosme website. i can't copy their ingredients list due to copyright issue, but if you're wondering about japanese products, you can get most reliable information here. i hope this guide will help you deciding which one to get because japan can be overwhelming with their beauty products offer. during my first trip there i went shopping wildly, and the second time i shopped wiser. so, even though it's affordable and you can get tax return, better shop wisely. oh, and even though they don't speak english, make sure you screenshot the items that you want to buy and show it to the shop assistant if you couldn't find it. don't forget to say "sumimasen" which is "excuse me" when you ask them, and say "arigato" which is "thank you" after they help you. they will appreciate it.
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