“What?! Is that even possible?” is something I can imagine some of you murmur as you read the title of this blog post.
For the first time in my life, and barring one-night overstays, I packed a small suitcase that weighed 10kg to fly to the USA for three weeks. I also brought my laptop and a “handbag” (a big Rootote).
Why would I, a woman who adores her beauty products, do such an insane thing?
Businessmen and women do it as they traverse the planet and you would love this bit from the latest George Clooney (he is one heckuva hot “mature” dude) movie, Up In The Air — the average time you spend waiting for luggage is 35 minutes. That’s a long time and he travels over 200 days in a year so he would lose up to a week if he waited for check-in baggage.
But okay, I’m not some corporate warrior bashing through airports all the time. In fact, I’m a trailing partner who is meeting her corporate warrior just so we can hang out.
So therein lies the dilemma: should I make him wait at the turnstile with me and then struggle with a huge suitcase while we fly in and out of various US cities?
Hello, lovelies! I’m writing to you in San Francisco, so even though I’m not in Tokyo, I’ve got some new goodies to share on sale at the store.
The legendary Hanayuki Exfoliating Cleansing Gel, USD41.50 is now available on Amazon. It’s free of damaging ingredients like ethanol, fragrance, preservatives, coloring and mineral oils, so it’s gentle even on sensitive skin. What’s revolutionary about this product is it’s a liquid gel but as you massage it into your skin, it turns into a scrub.
Gosh, how does that work?! Well, the gel changes into eraser-like shavings as you rub it in — you’ve got to experience it to see what I mean. It’s not often you get a non-abrasive exfoliater that can remove residue and dirt effectively. The best part is, it clears your pores of icky dirt and grime so your toners, serums, and moisturizers can do their job better because they are absorbed more easily by well-exfoliated skin!
After using this cleansing gel, you can pretty much follow up with a toner and this fabulous anti-aging facial gel moisturizer, USD48.50, also by the same brand:
It’s got collagen essence and hyaluronic acid for extra hydrating oomph.
I live in a small apartment with only one bathroom so when I have guests, I need to find a mirror to do my hair and makeup.
Unfortunately, I don’t buy compacts much and threw away very old ones recently. My solution? My MacBook!
I turned on iMovie and it reflected back my image. I put on my makeup in a jiffy.
The other solution is to use my digital camera whose viewfinder has a mirror-like surface when it is turned off. This was a lifesaver in Nepal three years ago when there were no mirrors in the guest houses I stayed in and I cannot put on my contacts without one.
My fiancé held up my digital camera so I could have both hands to navigate the lenses onto my eyes. I feel like laughing every time I think about this.
I sometimes swipe lipstick and lipgloss without a mirror and I think it looks okay. Plus, there are mirrors in almost every subway station in Tokyo. I always catch women (or men) checking their appearance and it’s no wonder this is a city full of spiffy-looking peeps.
What do you when you can’t put on your face in your powder room?
Remember I mentioned loving freebies that come with Japanese fashion and beauty mags? Last month I got the May issues of Spring, CanCam, and Spur because I was enticed by the cute bags that came with the magazines.
This type of promotional gimmick has become so common in Japan that consumers take it for granted that a magazine would come with more. And bags are perfect because they carry the brand name of the designer or shop in question and it’s so easy to fold them into magazines.
Ever since Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m not a plastic bag” phenomenon in 2007, Japan has been flooded with eco bags from every brand imaginable. The most recently coveted tote bag here is Cher, an eco-friendly brand that had a surge in popularity after giving out a free medium-sized eco bag with Sweet magazine.
Yup, you read that right. When it comes to sanitary pads (or other feminine products), I like sticking to what I know. So when I stepped foot onto the shores of Japan, I opted for Laurier because it was the only brand I knew. The rest were a blur of strange names in Japanese and I wasn’t equipped to read the fine print.
It’s been more than three years of suffering this “mental block” until I got a free sample from Megami at my local kusuriya (pharmacy in Japanese). It was just one sanitary pad and not a whole pack so I thought the commitment level was practically zero. Even if I hated it, at least I didn’t have to throw away 15 pads, I said to myself.
And you know what? Me likey.
Upon further research, Megami was launched last year and its pretty Lolita-Gothic theme even goes beyond the packaging. The wings on the pad have wavy curves but they still hold onto the panty well — no slippin’ and slidin’.
It’s a cottony, ultra thin sanitary napkin that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes non-plastic pads.
Curious about feminine products in Japan, I searched online for more information and it threw up a couple of interesting results:
+ Reusable pads are called MyNapu (for “my napkin”, I guess) and created quite a stir with its eco message in mid-2008. They actually look really sweet and carries none of the gross factor we may think it has.
Sometimes I pass by Cosme Kitchen in Daikanyama so I popped in and saw this product on sale. To my delight, this treatment oil sits at second place in the Special Care category on Cosme, a beauty product ranking site based on ordinary Japanese women’s reviews. Sure enough, there was good feedback on Makeup Alley, too.
It has been two weeks since I used this rose hip oil on my face. I mainly used it at night and my skin would look refreshed and smooth in the morning. I had these tiny little bumps on my cheek area and those disappeared. I also tried using it in the day under makeup and it felt and looked fine, too.
Upon further research, this oil is made by an Australian company owned by a pair of sisters. Their story is delightful and you just feel this simple, yet elegant brand is for regular women, like you and me. It’s very affordable in Australia (AUD20 – 35; USD18 – 32) and the US (USD20 on Amazon), so I felt the pinch because I bought it for 3,990JPY (USD44) in Japan.
What I love about it too is that there’s no fragrance and just two small drops are enough for my face and neck. The applicator keeps things very hygienic and the best part is, it works well in dry to semi-dry weather.
Spring is just around the corner so it isn’t so drying but the tropical nature of my skin is so used to high humidity that it gets affected easily by dehydration.
Trilogy’s Organic Rose Hip Oil is definitely an HG product of mine.
I have a new episode on Beauty Box TV today and it’s about one of our new products, Raffine Solid Cleansing Oil.
I think we all love Japanese cleansing oils that remove makeup in a jiffy, so this oil that comes in solid form really intrigued me. When I read about it, I couldn’t fathom how it could wash off cosmetics, but it’s really easy peasy. I would only share great products with you!
Tune into this demo video to see how it works and what it looks like.
By the way, our Spring Sale (10% discount off all Raffine products) has been extended to the end of May.
“What do Japanese women eat?” is something I get asked often, right after this question, “How do they stay so slim?” or after this one, “How do they look so good?” Here is a blog post that explores just this topic.
But before I begin, I’ll say this again: fashion mags are an indication of trends and habits and not 100% truth, but the following magazine scans will give you an idea what Japanese women eat.
I do know for a fact that nutritional self-help books are huge among Japanese women and I think there’s a strong link between an abhorrence of cosmetic surgery and their passion for looking their best “the natural way”.
As mentioned before, too, natto is seen as a daily beauty essential. Check this page out — it’s an entire editorial on a natto recipe. I’ve given up on trying to like natto as there’s not a lot of love between us!
What makes Japanese beauty mags different from Western ones is there are always step-by-step features to show you how to put on cosmetics. Be it from eye shadow to foundation and powder, there are pictures to guide you to a flawless result.
This is where the freebie Lunasol DVD comes in. I enjoyed watching how to apply foundation and concealer with your fingers and then with a sponge before using loose powder.
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