Japanese Beauty Products from Amazon Japan 💕

Let me start by saying that by now I can say that I'm living a minimalist and frugal life. Well being minimalist and frugal does not mean that I will not purchase anything. That is my point of view. I will still make a purchase every now and then. I think the important thing is that I will not fall into hoarding again. Or I will fall into buying something I will not need immediately. Or I do not really love. But it is not yet so obvious that I am indeed already living a minimalist and frugal life because if you will take a peek at my space there are still clutter. For I am not yet done with my 'Pan Project' and 'Getting Rid An Item Per Day', it is not yet over as I do not have an ample time in my hand. And also because I simply had too much. Anyway this post is about the items I purchased from Amazon Japan and why I finally made the purchase.

Some months ago I have written a post about my morning ritual since January 2016 most of the products mentioned in that post are products I am trying to finish (Pan Project); thankfully whatever skin care from that post are finished as of this writing. But as you can see based on that post I only have one sunscreen. That was Muji Sunscreen SPF 40 I just can't remember exactly which month I finally finished it. But I did not purchase any sunscreen after that as I tried to finished off my moisturizers with SPF (I know not advisable but then as I keep on saying I have way too many stash) then finally around September when I needed a new sunscreen and moisturizer. As of moisturizers I was able to find and purchase easily from Emirates Coop and Muji but as of sunscreen I had a tough time buying one. I mean there are sunscreens in UAE market but the choices are very less as opposed to make up that I lamented how make up have become more important than skin care.

In my quest into finding the best sunscreen has led me into making an online purchase. Something I haven't done in such a long time. I read some blogs and forums that Japanese sunscreens are the best. I am not in the position to make such a claim but then I was satisfied with the Muji Sunscreen I tried so why not try another Japanese brand again? But my main reason in making an online purchase through Desert Cart is more on financial reason. A sunscreen in a physical store in UAE would cost me around 100+ while in the Desert Cart my 107AED was already for 2 tubes of sunscreen including the shipping fee. I was baffled with the prices that I immediately scanned my current skin care to see if there is anything else I need and I would purchase it online. And so from Desert Cart I found my way to Amazon Japan. If Japanese skin care products are affordable in Desert Cart oh man, they are way more affordable in Amazon Japan. But unfortunately some items in Amazon Japan cannot be delivered in the UAE which I do not understand as those products are available in Desert Cart in higher amount. That being said that on my first purchase from Amazon Japan there is no sunscreen included.

Some people swear by the Japanese Cleansing Oils. So I got myself at least 3 variants of it. All are from Kose Softymo. I know I am not using much make up and they are meant as make up remover but then I'm thinking of using it for the body was well aside from just being a make up remover. While the big bottles are called Skin Conditioner or Skin Lotion, which confuses me a little as Japanese Lotion is also known as Toner or Softener. Forgot to search about that. But I had been hearing good things about Japanese Skin Conditioner that I went ahead and purchased at least 3 variants of it. I think the beauty of Japanese Skin Care is they have too many choices that benefits the consumers. One can choose the cheapest in the market without jeopardizing the quality. Even me can't believe the prices I'm seeing at Amazon Japan. That I wonder why I didn't find it soon enough. Maybe I would not have spent hundred of dirhams at physical stores in the UAE. But then that is over and done. At least I'm thankful that I tried it now.

It came in a big box. Photos of that are in my mobile which I will be sharing some other time. I'm posting this photo to show how they arranged it inside the box and it surprised me that in spite of the simplicity of it the items came to me in good condition. It was handled with care. DHL is their courier. Let me share the photos of the products I purchased. (I'm planning to go on vacation in Japan next year so one would think why not just wait until that time to make a purchase. But then based on my last vacation 20 to 30KG of bag allowance will not be enough to purchase and bring back everything you want especially the food)

 Kose Softymo White Cleansing Oil 200ML
428 Japanese Yen

Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil 200ML

428 Japanese Yen

Kose Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil 200ML

441 Japanese Yen

Nihonsakari Moisturizing Lotion 550ML

646 Japanese Yen

Nihonsakari Skin Lotion 550ML

628 Japanese Yen

Kikumasamune Skin Care Lotion 500ML

569 Japanese Yen

In line with my Pan Project, I'm trying to finish off my Botanics eye make up remover which is made of oil. I don't want to use it anymore but I'm still doing so just to avoid wasting it. I don't like it for the reason that it sort of sting the eye. Or sting is the right term? Like my eyes are blurry upon using it that I'm afraid I might go blind. Now surprisingly I did not feel that upon using all the three Kose Softymo Cleansing Oils. Yes upon receiving the package on the same night I tried them all. So LOVE was my initial impression. I am just not sure that I will repurchase because Japan has so many more affordable brands to choose from.

On the same night too I tried the Kikumasamune Skin Care Lotion and Nihonsakari Moisturizing Lotion. Well as of the initial impression, it was just neutral. I do not know yet if I'm going to love it or hate it. If I am going to love it soon then good for me because it is a value for money. It can be used for face and body. It is a multi purpose product. I even used it in my underarms before sleeping.

For these 6 products I only paid 265.00AED and that shipping fee is already included. If there's any update about these I'll be sharing them here soon. And lastly I almost forgot to say that what makes ordering from Amazon Japan convenient is the waiting time is not much. I made the order by November 20 and I think in the same day on Japanese time or the next day my orders has been dispatched. It was supposed to be delivered to me on November 24 but it came a day earlier. Making it only 3 working days of waiting. Wow. Just wow. Now if only I can find out the reason why some products are not allowed of shipping in UAE...

Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself ~ Coco Chanel

In the midst of skin concerns..

Okay, so when I was younger I was not able to take good care of my skin. Things changed when one day I woke and said to myself that I am sick and tired of always using nose strips as the whiteheads on my nose won’t go away. Am I doing it wrong? Shall I change brand? Should I do it every day even if the instruction says only after 3 days? As they are just getting worse each time I look into the mirror. Aside from the whiteheads now I have this brown spots on cheeks. Not sure what they are called. Blemishes? Dark spots? Age spots? Ah and those fine lines are now starting to show.

That was the start. I started to read a lot. About skin. Skin products. Beauty products. Lucky for us at this age, GOOGLE is just one click away. I thought it will be like just a piece of cake (finding the right products) but boy I was wrong, so wrong. So many products to choose from; those brands and prices are overwhelming and scary! Thankfully though there are so many beauty bloggers out there who shares their experiences as well as the forums about a certain product.

Getting old is inevitable. As well as getting wrinkles. But having whiteheads, I can do something about it right? My forehead and nose are oily that touching them makes me feel like as if I am touching butter! But then the rest of the face is dry to the point that my chin sometimes would look like as if there’s a dry drool over it. I want to try if I can rid of the brown spots. Maybe it still has hope. And dry skin, who wants a dry skin?

First, I changed my facial wash. Then I started using other products religiously that I am not doing before. I am not really interested in learning about chemicals but then now I am aware about the ingredients in the products that I am using. Toner. Moisturizer. Serum. Eye cream. Sunscreen. Make up. Did I miss anything? Everything should be paraben free/oil free/non comedogenic/no alcohol well the bad alcohols only like Alcohol Denat. And I always make sure that they are design for combination skin.

So far I found facial wash, facial cleanser, toner that suits what I was looking for but then as of moisturizers I don’t have luck yet and I had been searching for over a week now! And the serum for brown spots that the lady from the Pharmacy suggested to me has alcohol denat on it! Should serums have this ingredient? My search is not yet over..