Do any of you notice my obsession toward Japanese skincare? Whether or not I understand the text on the package, when it’s written in kanji, I’m immediately sold. My latest discovery is the Tsukika skincare line from Menard. I decided to get the full set from the line after I tried their products during the facial. I think going for facial service to skincare care counter is a great way to discover and try their products prior to purchasing them.
I know I’m acting solely on trust. But bear with me as I’m trying to give you my rationalization.
I’m in awe of how Japanese women seemed to age ever so gracefully. No matter what age they are, they seemed to have skin that is supple, radiant and youthful. It’s been note in some studies that they also have lower incidence of wrinkles compared to women in western world.
Of course eating healthy diet contributes to their healthy skin. Their obsession toward fresh and MSG free food are of no match. Not to mentioned the usage of seaweed in most of their food, which are known to be a healthy ingredient and a secret on giving your skin a healthy glow from within. Sea weed is also a known ingredient in skincare product in Japan, for instance Beauness S – a product called lotion which is actually a toner – from Menard also use this ingredient.
When the Americans and Europeans are busy building their empire based on the latest anti-aging technologies that targeted on wrinkles and restoration of youthful skin, the Japanese are investing in creating the bright complexion for every women out there. They focus more on prevention on the sign of aging for skin as well as brightening products. They also pay attention to process, not just to the ingredients of their products. Where most of the skincare that we knew probably just go from two to four steps, Japanese skincare products tend to extend to as much as six products and this is a common number. Japanese women think that skin are an asset that they have to invest in a lot, they don’t believe in quick fix because it’s a long term investment so you need to pay attention to it carefully. They want to prevent their only skin from deteriorating from its condition. After all, we’re no reptile that can change skin whenever we see fit, we stick to what we have for the rest of our life. This is also the reason why Japanese makeup don’t really focus on makeup base that offers coverage and concealing because they believe that a healthy skin do not need excessive makeup to look beautiful. The colour palette of their makeup also dominated by softer hues for this reason.
Coming back to the six products, the skincare regimen can consist of:
- Cleansing product where it will remove makeup or just a day worth of dirt, usually an oil-based product that can lift up everything in one go.
- Washing where you cleanse your face thoroughly.
- Lotion as they call it, or we know it more as a toner where it will make the skin fresh and softer. Usually the toner will differ for different type of skin, because toner will regulate your skin condition.
- Serum is used next when your skin need that extra boost targeted specifically to the skin need. Well I shouldn’t add this as the basic step though because it’s an optional step.
- Emulsion is the next product in line and this is where we usually get lost. We tend to confuse it for the usual moisturizer but it actually has a different purpose. So if you buy Japanese skincare don’t ever think that an emulsion is enough! You know when you go to the cosmetic counter, some product (i.e foundation) tend to have an oily part at the top and you wonder why sometime it separates from the product itself that it require you to shake the product first before you use them? Well under the light, this oil part will help the product below it from evaporating. So the emulsion works just like the oil in those products, it helps to bridge your skin with your moisturizer and help to lock the moisturizer in place so it doesn’t evaporate below the sun ray or heat of lamps. The texture is light just like liquid cream and it’s less vicious too than your moisturizer.
- Next up, is your usual moisturizer or a day/night cream (glad that I found a familiar thing here!). Just a dab of moisturizer to finish up your skincare ritual and you’re all set. This cream doesn’t actually act to moisture your skin but it helps to nourish your skin and give coverage from the sun ray (if it have a SPF within it).
I hope after reading all those steps I haven’t lost all of you yet. Because I have, yet another step to add!
I think I have found the secret to that healthy skin that the Japanese women have! They not only have all those six products with them but they add a massage ritual to their regimen (which goes somewhere after cleansing/washing and right before lotion). Before going to bed, they will apply their massage cream and massage their face to relax all the muscles and to give food to fiboblast. Confused on what it is? Fiboblast is the factory that creates collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid which get its food from the blood. If we accelerates the blood circulation then the fiboblast will get more food therefore will produce more collagen (which affect your skin elasticity), elastin (helps skin’s suppleness) and hyaluronic acid (produce moisture for the skin). Therefore in short, massaging your face will help to prevent sagging and wrinkling. Believe me, I was not sold at first. But once I tried it, one day without it and I completely see the difference. Call it a placebo effect, but I really think I see a difference. Will tell you more about this later on after I tried the massage cream for more extended period of times.
Japanese cosmetic product also invest a lot in researching the latest magic ingredient. Some of them are native to our region, for instance black and red mushroom, as well as selenicereus flower used in Tsukika line. Selenicereus flower or known as the illusionary flower as it only blooms at night is called bunga wijaya kusuma in Indonesia. I’ll tell you more about the use of this ingredient and the result of my venture to Tsukika skincare line in another post, just give me another few weeks so I can give you all an extensive review about it. I’ve used this line for couple of weeks time, but I already see a notable difference in my facial skin. The slenicereus flower contained in this skincare line gives a really nice soft smell into the product, but not one that bother me. It’s really nice and soothing so I kind of enjoy how relaxing the smell is everytime I put it on.
