Shiseido Ma Cherie End Cure Milk review (hair treatment)

Ma Cherie is a drugstore brand under the Shiseido Group. There are so many drugstore lines of Shiseido hair products under various names, even Ma Cherie alone has tonnes of variations of hair treatment products.

I got mine from Taiwan which was like around $5-7USD equivalent. The "End Cure Milk" is meant to be a leave-in hair treatment, after shampooing and towel drying your hair, then apply to ends of your hair focusing on any damages.

Comes in a cute squeeze bottle, it's sort of flat-ish and oval shaped. 100ml content.

It's just a flip top opening and you squeeze the plastic body of the bottle and product would easily come out.

Here's the product itself- has a light floral scent. It doesn't really linger about 1 hr after application unless you sniff your hair really close up. It's a pleasant sweet floral scent that is easy to wear.

The consistency is much like a hair conditioner, not fluid but not thick-cream, just a light cream that spreads easily. It doesn't feel oily or sticky.

I've used it a lot of times on towel dried hair, honestly I do not feel it 'repairs' already damaged ends, but seems to prevent against heat damage from blowdrying. 

I also use this on already dried hair, usually when I wake up the next morning, my ends tend to feel a bit dry.

Picture below is before application.

I use about a pea sized amount on end of hair, here's the result: You can see that slightly 'dry hair' look is gone. It seems to smooth down hair especially at the ends quite well.

If I add a tiny bit more product, it almost looks like glossy healthy hair right here. However I don't usually tend to apply this much as if you didn't apply it evenly, it can look almost like "streaks" of hair where some bit can look a bit oily. (It doesn't feel oily once applied to hair).

However, as mentioned, it's a rather weak leave-in treatment. I believe the finished result is more superficial as opposed to making a long-term difference to the health of your hair. I ended up using about 70% of the bottle then got bored and moved on.  

If you are looking for a cheap leave-in treatment this is not a too bad option. (I'm still looking for other new favorite leave-in treatments so do not have any recommendations at this time).

Another thing is it doesn't seem to do much in terms of "styling" your hair, I get a bit of a slightly frizzy look on the top of the head or those baby hair that wont sit properly, this does nothing for it. Best used on only ends of your hair for a smoothed down look.

Have also tried this and probably not suitable to be used with hair curlers as it almost loosens the curls.

Shiseido Elixir Lifting Foam EX I cleansing review

Here's a review of the Shiseido Elixir Lifting Foam cleansing in EX I (I is for type "light, while II is more moisturising etc, this is a common notation for Japanese skincare, same in the Sofina line).

It looks like a creamy cleanser

After adding a bit of water and working between palms it emulsifies into a thicker white paste, then adding more water and applying to the face it starts foaming up a bit more like a normal foaming cleanser.

However, it leaves a strange residue after rinsing- I really don't know whether it's the inherent property of the cleanser or whether the residue is meant to be somewhat good for the skin- it feels like an uncomfortable silicone coating as opposed to that "moisturised and cleansed" feeling a good cleanser should leave you with.

The Elixir line is an Asian exclusive Shiseido line and is intended for mature skin from the age of 40s. Maybe that's why my skin is just not appreciating this.

It has a light scent, generic soapy scent that is mild and not harsh.

In terms of removing makeup residue (I always use another makeup remover before using foaming cleansers anyway), it seems to do very little- I still find the "coating" residue incredibly uncomfortable though. This went in the bin very shortly.

Overall 0/5 and will not repurchase.

Shiseido Maquillage Nail Color BE223 swatch/ review

This is probably the Maquillage nail polish released in 2010 or maybe late 2009- from 2011 on the packaging has changed.

I always felt the change was probably due to the 2009/2010 nailpolishes being of inconsistent and sometimes poor quality, especially the more metallic or frosty shades- they tend to be quite uneven, gluggy and streaky at times.

However, for the creme, pastel and pearly shades, they perform quite well. Here's BE223 (BE stands for 'beige' tone).

Comes in a nice elongated bottle- contains 10ml which is the standard size for most Japanese department store brand polishes.

Here's the nail swatch- my nail was actually in pretty poor condition for the last 2 weeks because of the weather- it's weak at the tips and breaks easily. However this polish seems to mask that quite well.

On the nails it's a soft beige peach, a tinge of pink, but slightly more beige peach. It's soft enough not to turn into a muddy beige or look like a bandaid shade. Well balanced nude color. I would think it looks nicer on pale skin than tanned skin due to the beige tone though.

It has a pearly finish- not frosty. Good coverage with 2-3 coats. I'm wearing 2 coats on all nails.

Overall rating is 4/5. It wore reasonably well, a good 4 days before small chipping while I was travelling.  I would recommend trying the french and pastel/ softer shades from the Maquillage Nail Color series in this design and really do avoid most metallic or frosty shades. (the very shimmery or foiled shades seem to be fine though). Not sure about the current 2011 versions and overall performance just yet- I will get to those shortly!

Shiseido Ferzea Lip balm review/ swatch

Shiseido Ferzea lipbalms are sold in Japanese drugstores quite commonly. (it's not from the 'Shiseido' counters in department stores etc as you might imagine in Western markets). I paid under 10USD? From Taiwan online shopping websites.

Comes in a squeeze tube in 5g size.

 The head has an ultra small nozzle, and the tip is rounded so you can squeeze and directly apply on lips.

Consistency is clearish, a bit of a gel like feel (but once spreaded out, it has a certain grip/ very light stickyness to it and is not too runny).

Spreaded out:

Overall I quite like this lipbalm for a drugstore item, it's unscented, tasteless, and can be applied thinly or thicker dpending on what you need. (i.e. you can get a slightly glossy lip look from this). Or you can do a thin layer just as a barrier before lipsticks.

It doesn't treat acute chapped lips, but seems very hydrating and mild for troubled lips. I usually apply this in the mornings and it lasts a good few hours without reapplication.

Overall 4/5. Not miracle maker, but it's a good solid drugstore lipbalm that is non irritating to my sensitive lips.

Shiseido Hada-Senka Moisturising Cream Lotion review

Shiseido Hada-Senka line was released in 2010, it's sort of just priced around drugstore brand, if not maybe a mere 10-15% higher, but boosts quality to be very similar to department store brands.  ( RRP is around 1900 yen which is 20-25USD? It's a 200ml pink flip-top bottle, the plastic bottle is not completely hard so you just tip it over and squeeze to get the right quantity.

The English name is non existent on the bottle, both the brand name or the product name- which is fairly rare for Shiseido I thought. However on the back of the bottle it says Shiseido Hada Senka .com so that's how I figured out the English name for this line.

It comes in 2 versions, normal and rich (rich being more moisturising). The pink cap one is the rich version.

A few places also translate it as 'light' version vs 'moist' version. Same thing. I'm reviewing the moist version (aka rich version).

Basically this is a hydrating/ moisturising toner.  Also boasted to be able to be used as a moisturiser on its own.

You can see it is not a runny lotion like how you'd imagine a toner to be- instead it's like a liquid gel that melts slightly on contact with the skin, but it more feels like applying a runny GEL moisturising on the skin.

Massaged in: you can see it leaves a moisturising layer on the skin. It sinks in completely after 30 seconds, despite slight stickyness when still damp.

 Overall I use this as a toner (it does seem to also help remove last trace of makeup, but it's not abrasive). It seems to provide extra moisture for whatever skincare you apply following this. It supplements my other face serums quite well, as I generally cannot use much liquid or cream moisturisers without getting congested skin.

On its own being a moisturiser it's slightly weak. Not enough for Australian dry winter. However underneath other moisturisers it does help to supplement that extra boost of moisture (as the active ingredients are hyaluronic acid and royal jelly).

It readily sinks in after about 30-40 seconds on the skin though. So you can either apply your other moisturiser while this is still a bit damp on the skin, or wait for the dampness to go away before applying other things.

I've tried applying with both cotton wool and just by hand, and both works fine. For extra dry skin days, I apply a layer by hand, massage in, follow with moisturiser, then the next day any peeling skin is gone.

Overall 5/5- This is definitely a very basic- but effective product. I believe in simplistic skincare if you could help it, this feels very non irritating and really does it job on the skin. Don't expect miracles like it will fix up your skin and make it radiant or whatever, it just does the very simple job as a supplemental moisturiser.

If you have any serums that you find is effective, but too drying on the skin on its own, try layering with this.

I understand why it's a Japanese drugstore best seller this year, thumbs up and will repurchase.

Here's the light version (on the left). In Japan they also sell 'refill' packs which you can refill the bottles with, pretty neat.

The moist version is on the right.

Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Moisturizing Emulsion review

Shiseido's White Lucent line has been around forever. The line generally features a pink metallic cap packaging and an ivory tube.

I got a few of the White Lucent items in a trial set (that's a lot bigger than normal GWP sets) as I've always been interested in this line.

It's a moisturising lotion consistency, milky and slightly runny.

It spreads easily, seems to absorb quickly too.

However, the major drawback is the scent. Usually Shiseido line is fairly unscented. However I noticed a pretty strong floral scent that smells almost chemical like. I really cannot find it enjoyable to apply this to my face.

In terms of moisturising properties, I've tried this when my skin was raw and peeling from irritation and it did no good. Even when my skin was better, it still seems to be a bit too nourishing for my skin and a bit pore clogging.

Overall 2/5. Probably suitable for those less sensitive to fragrances and with combo or dry skin.

Shiseido Pureness Mattifying Stick review

Shiseido Pureness mattifying Stick is basically a makeup primer for localised areas where you have enlarged pores. It's probably mainly for the t-zone or nose area to provide a smooth canvas before your foundation application. Housed in a lipstick-like silvery blue metal tube in a twist up mechanism.

Applies like a thin whiteish cast on the skin, it has a relatively fine consistency though:

Smoothed out- it definitely leaves a slight white cast (but should not be noticeable under foundations), it does help to smooth out small pores and just blurs any lines a little bit, but honestly if you have bigger pores on your nose this will not be able to fill it in much. This swatch is just on the back of my hand which has far smaller pores anyway.

Overall 2.5/5. There are just slightly better pore filler products out there. It does mattify a bit but with the white cast it's not like you can easily repair your makeup throughout the day by applying this on top.