Conbini version of Sekkisei: Sekkisui

I’ve never used whitening cult fave Sekkisei by Kose but my interest has been piqued by a few inquiries made at Beauty Box. This range can be found in kusuriyas (pharmacies) so they are a cheaper alternative to the goddess of all whitening products — SKII.

Lately, Kose came up with an even cheaper range, called Sekkisui.

At 7 Eleven, you can buy a Sekkisui paper mask for only 315JPY (USD3.30), as compared to 735JPY for a Sekkisei paper mask (but you would have to buy a box of six because that’s how it’s packaged).

I’m not into whitening products at all, but the hype is getting under my skin and I feel like getting a starter kit.

I found a blog entry by a Tokyo gyaru who writes in English and she mentions the difference between Sekkisui and Junkisui. Sekkisui is for whitening and brightening (bihaku) properties, while Junkisui has coenzyme Q10 as an anti-aging ingredient.

But, on the fun scale, Junkisui doesn’t grab my attention as much because of its beige packaging and lacks a mini set.

I wonder if I will start obsessing about “snow-white skin” (that’s the meaning of Sekkisei by the way)? I’ve to admit I’ve always been hesitant about using Japanese products on my face because I can’t understand all the ingredients, but do I comprehend all the chemicals in products with English labels? Nope… haha…. Mostly, I just look for “alcohol” because I refuse to put that on my skin.

Actually I used SKII for a year and my skin did improve in terms of texture. I don’t think I became fairer but was pleased that it was smoother. There was a time in my life that I would sun myself (with only coconut oil) for three hours at Yio Chu Kang swimming pool on Saturdays. Goodness, the damage I did to myself!

I can’t afford SKII now, so Sekkisui will be my next skin experiment. Stay tuned.

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