Hadatuko Manten Hada Daily Protector SPF30 (sunscreen/ moisturiser) review/ swatch

"Hadatuko Manten Hada" is supposedly, a Japanese 'originated' brand which seems to be sold almost exclusive in Hong Kong and Sasa.com. "Hadatuko" means skin of a newborn- so the brand image is really going for the vibe of "we are going to give you baby soft skin".

After some googling I'm beginning to suspect that rather than a being a typical true Japanese brand as the website page and product packaging is suggesting, it might be one of those brands which features Japanese packaging and supposedly made in Japan and all, but really could be just be backed by a Hong Kong beauty brand (maybe Sasa given it seems to be distributed out of Sasa exclusively) and probably not very Japanese at all. (if you google the official website basically it's actually primarily in Chinese rather than having a dominant Japanese homepage). 

Hopefully someone can tell me if this is the case. It's not so much a brand origin bias thing, but I don't really like particular brands to be packaged and marketed in a certain way in Asia. ( there was various news these few years about brands that market themselves in Asia that they are Swiss originated etc etc with some secret patents formula,  and turned out to be made in some Asian dodgy factory).

The packaging is minimalistic- white paper boxes with green prints. The cap is a nice silvery blue-green.

The Daily Protector is basically the SPF30 moisturiser from the range for both face and body. The bottle is 40ml, given the fluid consistency it actually goes a long way if you only use it for the face.

English ingredient list:

Instructions (sorry, blogger's picture uploading property is terrible sometimes so it wouldn't rotate properly)

The brand says the product line features 6 unique natural skincare ingredients as its active ingredients:

- Jabara citrus peel extract (anti-oxidation/ anti-inflammatory)

- Sake- rich in amino acids, prevents aging and helps dark pigmentation

- Oryza Sativa (rice) lees extract- helps rejuvenate and brighten skin

- Green tea extract- anti-oxidant and anti-allergy

- Citrus unshiu peel extract: anti-allergy and rehydrates

- Natto Gum- improves dehydration and premature aging

Comes in a convenient nozzle design.

The product is light and fluid. It's similar to most of Sofina sunscreen's consistencies.

However it blends out a lot more watery than Sofina sunscreens.

Leaves a slightest shine below. However you can feel a certain 'coating' on top of the skin.

After going through about 6 or 8 bottles of Sofina sunscreens for the face last few years, I decided I might try something different. While this is in the same vibe of a liquid sunscreen (with the shake before use instruction like Sofina), I feel Sofina's formulation is more gentle and better.

In terms of SPF protection it's weaker than Sofina for sure. I have fairly stable skin while using Sofina sunscreens but since I started using this a month ago, I can visibly see a few more freckles coming up.  Not to mention after maybe 6-8 hours it may be slightly itchy on the skin too.

rating is 2.5/5. It's not terrible but it's not a worthwhile product to try.  If you like Sofina sunscreens, stick with those. If you didn't like Sofina type of sunscreens, you can skip this one too.

I will use this as a body sunscreen when I'm going for a walk or something. (I would not trust the SPF protection to be adequate for full outdoor Australian sun or watersports).

Isa Knox Deep Cleansing Water & Kawaii Tokyo Promising Aqua Quick Wipe off water (micellar cleanser) review

I'm a pretty compulsive shopper when it comes to buying and trying new skincare and makeup items. Sometimes I open a particular bottle of skincare and uses it a few times and just sort of forget about it. So after opening my bathroom cabinet and found literally about 30+ bottles of opened products, I decided it's time to do a clean up and go through each item and review things I like and throw out anything that's expired or where it's just not worth keeping.

While I've been using a cleansing oil to remove makeup for the last 4 or 5 years, I finally realised they are not fantastic for my skin. During my recent overseas trip, I forgot to pack my cleansing oil and instead bought a cleansing gel and some other random cleansing water and used it for makeup removal for the following 3 weeks, and realised my skin was so much better.  Now I'm continuing that trial and see if I can move into non cleansing oil makeup remover for a few months and see how much skin goes.

Here is a review and comparison of two cheaper makeup cleansing waters. Isa Knox is a korean brand and Kawaii Tokyo is a Japanese drugstore brand. Both are probably under 20USD for a 200ml bottle.

Kawaii Tokyo:

Comes in a white semi clear plastic bottle with flip top opening. The cleansing water is a clear watery consistency, it's definitely scented, a bit citrusy/ lemony scent. 

Instruction on the bottle says recommended to use with cotton pads, saturate cotton pad with liquid, then apply to makeup and remove. Repeat until the pad comes off clean.

Here it is on cotton pad, you can see it's just like water:

Here are some usual makeup pulled from my daily makeup bag. Kiss me mascara on left (the one in the pink tube), Maquillage eyebrow wax pencil (BR shade), Lancome french touch absolue lipstick in 308, then MUFE lift concealer (I think shade 2 or 3).

With cleansing water, it works more effectively if you press the cotton pad against skin for a few seconds before wiping off (same idea as eyemakeup removers). 

Unfortunately, it removes just about everything other than waterproof mascara. Kiss Me mascaras are really oil and waterproof- the only eye makeup remover I use to remove it efficiently is Lancome bifacil (reviewed earlier in March 2013). So I don't think it's really an issue- when you use a micellar water cleanser, you should really use a separate eye makeup remover for the eye area.

Overall as a makeup remover it's quite effective. However it's not completely clean and refreshed feeling, maybe due to the scent, so I always wash my face with an ordinary foaming facial cleanser afterwards. 

p.s. this stings a little bit when used as an eye makeup remover.

Next up is the Isa Knox deep cleansing water. Which boasts it's a "waterproof eye and face makeup remover". 

Unforuntately as the bottle is clear plastic and all the words printed on the back cannot be photographed properly. But the instructions for use is the same.

Again, clear watery consistency. There's a generic cleanser scent. 

The same makeups on my other arm:

Wiped off:

You can see it's a bit more potent than the Kawaii Tokyo cleansing water, it removes waterproof mascara fine on the back of the arm, but it doesn't really work on the eye since there's too much tugging and wiping involved and probably still some traces will remain. Again, it's stings a little bit on the eye area so I would just use a normal eye makeup remover instead.

Overall both are fairly cheap options, though with cleansing water you cant really skimp on the quantity used so you would easily go through a bottle every 2 or 3 months (together with a lot of cotton pads). It equally leaves a slight uncomfortable feeling on the face (feels a bit like you used a stickier toner), so I always follow with a foaming cleanser.

I should say my current staple micellar water is Bioderma Sensibio micellar water. It's a lot more gentle but equally effective as these two I reviewed above, and also leaves the face more supple. I shall review the Bioderma one later.

Hada Labo (Mentholatum) Super Hyaluronic acid Gokujyun Cleansing Oil review

Continuing on my review on the Hada Labo line of items, here's a review of the cleansing oil from the Gokujyun line (which is the hydrating/ moisturising line with hyaluronic acid as the key ingredient in most product in the line).

It comes in a plastic pump bottle, 200ml, retails for between 15-22USD depending on where you purchased it in Asia. The cleansing oil is meant to be olive oil based, hence the translucent yellow.

Comes in a pump dispenser, which is perfect for use. The suggested amount for full face makeup removal is 2-3 pumps. I usually do 1 -2 pumps depending on whether I'm wearing heavier makeup or not. Two pumps for me is quite plenty for a pleasant massage (without it dripping everywhere).

Here's a quick makeup removal test- on the right is MAC Black Swan pearl glide liner, on the left and bottom is Shu Uemura ME Brown eye liner pencil.

I applied some cleansing oil on it, you can see it's pretty much clear on the skin. It's not a thick oil or super watery and runny, just a nice cleansing oil consistency, which was a nice surprise because given the olive oil base I just expected it to be really thick.

Massaged in  below, no water added yet:

I added a few drops of water- you can see it quickly emulsifies, and removes every last trace of the eyeliner. Both eyeliners have tiny shimmers which is a common issue with clean makeup removal.

Patted dry- perfect removal!

Overall I was really pleasantly surprised , it definitely surpassed some of the other cleansing oils I was using from more expensive Japanese store brands. I think it is as good as Fancl Mild Cleansing Oil- both feel like low irritating and highly effective makeup removal products and even though I always follow both cleansing oil with another foaming cleanser (for peace of mind), I actually think you don't really need to. 

Both cleansing oil leaves skin lightly hydrated and not overly stripped of moisture. The Hada Labo one has no distinctive scent either, emulsifies quickly and easily, rinses off completely.

If I'm wearing a light eye makeup (mascara and a non stubborn eyeliner), sometimes I just use the Hada Labo cleansing oil instead of using a separate eye makeup remover. It does leave my eyes slightly cloudy (same as Fancl though), but nothing a few more splashes of water won't fix. (Both do not sting my eye though, just that slightly cloudy effect).

The only thing to note that this cleansing oil does say use with dry skin- while the Fancl one can tolerate wet hand application. I've stick with the Hada Labo instruction but a few times where I did have slightly wet palms , it still removed makeup fine.

Overall 5/5, great pricing, easy to use, non irritating, great staple product.

Mentholatum Rohto Hada Labo Shirojyun Super Hyaluronic Acid / Whitening lotion (toner) (2012) review

Hope everyone's having a wonderful new year! I've been so busy at work so last two weeks of holiday was really just catching up on sleep (and weeding out a lot of my skincare products and makeup). My new year's resolution should be to finish as much skincare as possible (and stop buying 'as many' new things lol)

Following my last review, here's a quick post on the Hada Labo Shirojyun lotion toner. Basically this is the 'whitening' counterpart to the Gokujyun line (which is targeted specifically for hydration only). This one still boasts superior hydration property together with added whitening benefits (active ingredients are Arbutin and vitamin C).

Again this retails for about 13-20USD depending on where you purchased it from, but it is considered a drugstore line in terms of market positioning.

I forgot to take close up shots after swatching on arms, but basically it's a cloudish semi clear toner. It's runny but not as runny as water. Dries non sticky.  Has no distinctive scent. 

Comes in a flip top cap. It works fine and never had spillage problems.

Now verdict- personally I was hoping for a whitening toner that complements my other skincare , but I really didn't feel much of a difference. In terms of hydration properties, I believe it is inferior to the Shiseido Hada Senka line's toner (reviewed here ).

It's also a mild toner in terms of cleansing properties. Sometimes I dab a little bit of toner to try to remove smudged mascara, but this barely makes anything budge. 

While using this I didn't really notice any worsening in skin irritation (e.g. when I get occassional zits) nor overall improvement. At  least it's non irritating.

Overall I think it's a decent toner, it could just be I already made my mind up about the Shiseido Hada Senka toner and this was no competition (I've used a few department store toners which I thought were even worse), whitening properties are weak, I still think the best toners are probably the moisturising ones and for whitening types of skincare product, it's best to rely on other things like serums and treatment products.

Rating is 3.5/5. 

Mentholatum Rohto Hada Labo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Acid Paper Mask (2012) review

Rohto group is affiliated with Mentholatum group I believe- and the Hada Labo line is one of their signature drugstore lines in recent years, features Hyaluronic Acid as the key active ingredient in its "Gokujyun" line, which means "super moist". 

The whole line is targeted at providing ultra moisturisation for dry and normal skin. (For combo and oily skin, I think probably around half the product line is suitable). 

I'm reviewing the facial masks today, which are sheet masks, there are 4 sachets in a box, and a box retails for about 9-12USD in Japan, depending on where  you get it.

 

Back of the box etc: 

I'm not sure as to the rather lack of English labels on the whole Gokujyun line- in fact most of the products probably don't really have a full English label name on it.

Individual satchets look like this:

Each sachet contains 1 sheet mask, before you unfold it, it looks like below:

You can also see the liquid inside is rather abundant, there's enough left in the sachet to be massaged over body as a moisturiser, which is what I normally do.

Unfolded and apply to face in pic below:

The paper mask material is pretty standard, not too thin and not too thick. There are various 'cuts' on the mask to ensure it adheres to face well. Personally I found it to be average, it stayed put, not fully wrapping every inch of the skin area, but but did the job.

I'm not a huge believer of before and after pictures when it comes to face masks, because there's no real skincare that should make a 'wow' difference immediately, and if you put enough moisture in the skin, usually it does look plumpier and nicer (which happens after showers anyway). 

The instruction says leave on for 10-15min , then remove, then pat in any residual amount until absorbed. You do not need to rinse it off or apply other skincare afterwards.

I have combination sensitive skin- very prone to congestions if using any products my skin don't like, but don't get that much acne anymore. A tad oily and larger pores in t-zone, but drier cheeks.

I've used the box up, first time I tried a solid 25 minutes, on a hot summer day. This is probably a bit too moitsturising for summer, as I found it slightly sticky both during and after application.  I think my skin also didn't like it, as the next day I can feel a few bumps coming up right away- either from irritation or congestion. But the rest of the skin did feel plump and moisturised.

Subsequently I used it on cooler days, and before sleep. I applied for about 15-20min then removed. This worked far better- no irritations, no congestion, next day my makeup went on like a dream, no flakies and skin looked like it was perfectly moisturised. Throughout the day though I did get a little bit oily a bit quicker especially in t-zone, but easily fixed with a blotting paper.

Overall rating is 4/5. I'd easily use these again, they are basic masks that delivers what it promises- moisturisation. Definitely do not recommend for those who feel they have oily skin. This also feels more like a spring/autumn or winter skincare rather than summer. 

What I liked from Japan: Rohto Z!, Lion Cooling Sheet for Legs, Tokyu hands Woodyhouse brush, Lycee Rohto Eyewash reviews

Well it's been ages since my Japan trip, where I bought quite a bit of random beauty gadgets. Some I saw from magazines, some I just saw in stores and was interested in trying.

Firstly, Rohto Z! Refresh you eyes eyedrops. There are a few versions (by box color), like super minty vs mild etc. These are a step up from the pink bottled Rohto Lycee cooling eye drops. They give really great cooling sensation to the eyes and clear any redness. I use it in the morings a few times a week as I get allergies regularly (as with all eye drops, not recommended for prolonged regular long term use).

In Japan these are not prescription products so they are available in most drugstores alongside other eyedrops. I think you shouldn't use this with contacts, but if I recall correctly there might be a special version for contact wearers as well (same with Lycee eyedrops- there's a contact lense version).

I like how it's plastic sealed internally too. the square/ triangular bottle shape is also easy to hold.

Next is Lion Cooling Sheet for Legs. The brand is "Lion". This always received rave reviews in many beauty magazines and are recommended as a holiday treat when you are in Japan after too much shopping and walking. Basically it's a leg mask that's aimed at cooling and refreshing the legs and soothe that tired/ sore feeling. 

I was very sceptical but it really does work- it's like an improved version of those traditional medicinal plasters and pastes.

Each pack contains 3 individually packed sachets (see left of box in pic below). Each sachet contains 6 sheets (each use is 3 sheets per leg).

Basically you stick the masks on your legs like in pictures below.

The sheets are 13cm x 8.5cm, they are a bit like a pink 'gel' look (but it's not runny and doesn't drip). You peel off the separator sheet on top and stick the pink gel patches on the foot, back of leg and ankle. Leave for 15-20min (or longer like 1 hr if you want, they stick on fairly easily so you can still walk about).

You can feel an immediate cooling and soothing sensation on the legs, it's hard to describe, but it's such an "ahhhhhhhh so nice" moment after a long day of walking and shopping. 

They are not reusable. Each box retails for about USD15 so I consider them to be for special occasions only. They don't exactly have skin treatment properties either so it wouldn't leave your skin moisturised etc etc.

I also went to Tokyu Hands (which is like a medium sized department store that really specialises in selling random things, from hairdryer to cosmetics to cute garden tools to calendars etc).  I've always wanted a boar bristled round brush for blow drying my hair (especially doing the slightly curled inward look for the ends of my hair). Having looked at mason pearson then I decided I didn't want to invest that much just yet. 

I bought this one instead, which says it's made with natural boar bristle and the brush is heat resistant and static resistant, sounds perfect for blow drying. 

 (and made in Japan with real wood handle, the actual brand is called "Woodyhouse") 

It was 1470 Yen so about 16USD. Made in Osaka I think.

Personally I thought it's a very nice and reasonably priced brush, I wish I got a slightly bigger diameter size, but it still works quite well with a hairdryer to avoid that messy hair look where the ends sometimes curl at a weird angle. I still haven't quite grasped the technique for a perfect home blowdry with beautiful inward curls though.

The varying length of the bristle (at the base there's more densely packed shorter bristles, then mixed with longer bristles) also meant it was great for smoothing down hair (to avoid that static flyaway finish).

Only thing to complain about is that it's slightly difficult to clean (i guess with any similar hair brushes though).  A lot of fluff and hair gets trapped in the very root of the bristles. Sometimes I spend a good 2-3 minutes with a tweezer to clean it. However a good trick to clean your hairbrush (one that's well made), is after a thorough shampoo and while your hair is still full of foam, use the brush to brush your hair (through the foam) without tangling it, then the shampoo will clean any dirt or oil in the brush as well.

Lastly Rohto Lycee eye wash. I've been meaning to try this for a while. The Lycee line is not as super cooling as the Z! line (I'd actually prefer the Lycee eye drops since they are cooling enough for me and comes in cute pink bottles).

See the plastic strange looking cap on the top of the bottle- that's the holder for the eyewash. You squeeze some eyewash liquid into the holder, then put the holder over your eye, press against the skin, then squeeze the bottom of the holder while your eyes are still open, it then rinses your eyeballs easily.

I know it sounds silly to wash your eyeball with a special product, but this really works especially if you are one of those people who always find you wake up with gluggy eyes or after removing your eye makeup, it still seems a bit foggy or there might be random mascara residue or shimmers that's floating around in your eye. This gets rid of the last bit of it (and is really soothing and cooling when you use it). It really does feel different to using just plain water.

I got the smallest 80ml size which still lasts a good 3 months (used a few times a week). There's also a giant 400ml size but I just prefer to use my eye products within a few months to ensure everything's clean. 80ml retails for like 10-12USD.

This works great with those who suffer from hayfever or slightly bloodshot eyes.

I like most items above and would happily repurchase most of them. Quite a few items are probably available online too like ebay or adambeauty.com etc. Definitely take a look, I love fun Japanese gadgets.