Understanding Shiseido

Shiseido in Japan is a mega corporation handling its own brands as well as foreign brands like Bare Escentuals and Nars Cosmetics (dosmestically in Japan). But whenever I try to look through the website, it's great big confusion of brands because it tries to handle so much in one website. So I am attempting to break down their skin care and makeup section using their foundations today.

Let me begin with the what's here brands:

Majomajo is the brand positioned mainly for teens to early twenties. My personal favorite is their Skin Remaker because of its fantastic coverage and flawless finish. Their eyeshadows have above average quality, I would recommend it if not for the overly sparkly effect and sheerness, like I said it's for teens. Their best product based on market perception is their mascara. It is a well known brand for affordable but dependable mascara. Generally, it's a great brand to introduce young girls into makeup.

This is a French word for Makeup. The Japanese have a penchant for naming brands in French. Maquillage is for young professional women. The presentation has soft colors and golds - all very feminine. Its philosophy is bringing or drawing out beauty from within, a natural kind of beauty. I've tried the powder foundation and it's like silk to the skin. Majomajo already has Skin Remaker but this takes it to a whole new level. The price range is between Majomajo and Shiseido Makeup but the quality is closer to the latter. Not all the products from this line are available here though. Some of the products are displayed at Shiseido boutique stores.

   
Shiseido boutique stores carry the makeup line from this brand - its namesake Shiseido. Their market is for the Refined Woman - it may be used by women from mid-twenties and above. It costs a pretty penny... well, several thousand pretty pennies then. But the flawlessness is impeccable. How flawless? Check this out from Ms Martha: Shiseido Makeup Technique

White Lucent is the extension of the whitening skin care line, which is also available here. It only has makeup base and powder foundation as makeup products.

Natural glow is an extension of Shiseido Makeup and has only two products, stick foundation and face powder.

Now for the nitty gritty part: What's not here?

Makeup Only Brands:



Selfit is Shiseido's least expensive brand. They have good SPF (20) and are either targeting pore coverage or

 Makeup brand that infuses a sense of fun with beauty of an adult woman.
 Makeup for the positive women at any age


Integrate is the mineral makeup line of Shiseido. Its quality is a notch higher than Majomajo but the price is definitely lower. It is no nonsense makeup line. Their endorser in Japan is Angelina Jolie! I personally their powder foundation because it has a lighter feel than Majomajo, mineral makeup is good for oily skin (which I have), and a little goes a long way.  The coverage is medium for the foundation. There's really no point to having a concealer! Integrate has the same target market as Maquillage.

Integrate Gracy is quite different from Integrate in its product lineup and is of lower quality and price. It is not a mineral makeup line. It is more of an Average Woman line so it's very basic makeup with basic color combinations for their palettes. Their base makeup is divided into for Whitening or for Moisture.

Skincare Extension Makeup Brands:

 Aqualabel is also another one of Shiseido's skin care extension brands, similar to d Program but much cheaper. It's target is twenties and above and it has 3 variants.

Blue is for Whitening. Uses m-Tranexamic acid.

Red is for Moisture. Uses Collagen GL.

Purple is for Aging. Gold is for Aging, premium line. Uses Royal Jelly GL and m-Tranexamic acid.

All three only have base makeup, powder and liquid foundation as its makeup products. For a better look at the Red and Blue line, check out Introduction Shiseido Aqualabel.

d Program is ultimately a skin care brand. The system starts with the cleansing routine under its Common line. The next step in the skin care branches out to the following:

Balance Care (Blue) - for combination dry and oily skin

Acne Care (Orange) - for acne-prevention

Aging Care (Purple) - for age-related dry skin with firming function

Moisture Care (Pink) - for generally dry skin

Special Care (Gray) - for intensive solutions based on skin problem

In September 2012, d Program branched out to medicinal makeup and now offers two makeup solutions.

Blue - Medicinal makeup line with smooth finish for skin inflammations and acne prone skin

Green -  Protect, Prepare, Preserve skin care brand for the unstable skin barrier defense


A high performance brand for no dullness, younger looking skin

Revital has an extensive skin care products line and a basic makeup products line. Really basic... base makeup, powder foundation, blush, brow liner and lipstick. Priced between Shiseido Makeup and &Face Art Method.

A suped high-end skin care and cosmetics line, by high-end I mean 50% more than the yen amount of Shiseido when it come to makeup. What Shiseido says, "Skin care carefully formulated with choice ingredients that give skin moisture and suppleness. Relaxes tight facial muscles for bright and fresh looking skin".  & Face Art Method offers basic makeup products with limited palettes and color combinations.

Brand for sunscreen, protecting screen from UV rays every day.

Anessa is most famous for its sunscreen, well almost all the products in this brand are sun screen. It's a little bit more expensive than Kao products so Kao gets the trophy for sun screen in Japan. If you're planning to go spend the day at the beach, this would be good makeup to use. It's water resistant and has really high SPF (SPF50)!

A medicinal skin whitening brand for preventing sun UV damage

While Anessa has sunscreen, UVWhite has an entire line of skincare especially formutaled for skin whitening. It also has base make makeup, liquid and powder foundations.



Don't just compensate. Aging System Development. Direct approach using an age-focused system.
  For women embarking on a positive live from now on. A skin care brand to beautifully pile on age.

Elixir is the umbrella brand with 3 brands separated to target specific skin age and problems. While their skin care lines are quite extensive, their makeup lines are not. This brand is designed to take care of the skin. Elixir is for dry skin, formulated especially for winter climate. It has makeup base, powder foundation, blush, eyebrow and lip liners. Elixir Superieur is focused on its aging care system. It has a pore cover and UV versions for its base makeup, liquid and powder foundation, and pressed powders. It's function is also for hydrating and moisturizing. Elixir Prior is for older women at age 60 and above. It has only a makeup base and powder foundation.

Elixir White is a skincare only line that focuses on whitening and prevention of fine lines and wrinkles.

Designed to be mild, no stress for sensitive skin

Evenese DR is simple skin care regimen for sensitive skin. It has only 1 foundation in 1 color, priced a little lower than Shiseido Makeup line.

(All images are from the Shiseido Japan website. No copyright infringement intended)


In the future, I would really love it Integrate got a little more publicity and distribution world wide. Mineral makeup is making its mark and Shiseido has a lot of catching up to do. Generally it's formulations target everything but very little when it comes to oily skin and hot humid weather like in the Philippines. Still, its principle is pretty obvious from the product lineup, Shiseido is a skin care company. Why need makeup when you have beautiful skin?

For more information on Shiseido Makeup, they have an English Asian site - Shiseido Singapore, and a Shiseido Philippines Facebook page as well.

Guilty Pleasure Reading

It's hard to stay away from the internet ever since I got a smartphone - Note II, my very first smartphone! It's a great time saver because it's so easy to look up things online but it also keeps me up at night because.. it's so easy to look up things online.

So like any good beauty junkee, I have my favorite local blog sites that I check before I sleep at night.

1. PROJECT VANITY - http://www.projectvanity.com/

It's number one for a reason - great insight, great product pictures and swatches, great variety of products, updated news and the list goes on. What's not to love? Best of all, great writing. A blog is after all a blog. A writer's mind on a white screen! My only wish is that there'd be more Korean cosmetics there because I'm a firm believer of asian cosmetics for asian skin.

2. SHEBBYCHIC - http://shebbychic.blogspot.com/

This is a newly discovered blog but I just got hooked instantly. Shebby's totally girl-crushable and whatever she puts on you just want to buy. She mentions online sellers, which for me is the plus factor! I like to browse through her blog just looking for online sellers for different brands. And she reviews lots of brands that I've never heard of too. Only downside is she doesn't update her blog as frequently as the others.

3. ASKMEWHATS - http://www.askmewhats.com/

What I love about Askmewhats is it has a lot of skincare reviews! Nikki's blue background's very pleasing for online reading. My other favorite item on her reviews are the TIPS on how to make the product work for you. You can see how well thought of her blog entries are. She also has a list of local bloggers and international bloggers on the right panel! Lots of great inspirations there~

4. MY LUCID INTERVALS - http://www.mylucidintervals.com

Not all blogs are written equally. Donnarence is straightforward and brutally honest. And that's why I keep coming back to her blog. This blog is my guiltiest guilty pleasure because of it! If the product doesn't deliver, there's no sugar coating and alternatives are provided - which other products delivers better results? Sometimes an honest opinion outweighs a handful of blogsites.

5. THE BEAUTY JUNKEE - http://thebeautyjunkee.blogspot.com/

Finally, last but not least is The Beauty Junkee. Ms Martha always makes me happy it's Friday because it's Fan Mail Fridays. There are always new entries and it's almost always the first of its review / unboxing / announcement to publish amongst the blogs I follow. It's a very up to date blog and it's what makes it worth the daily internet bandwidth.

To cap it off, I currently have a bookmark folder containing at least a couple dozen blogs I follow. It really takes up a lot of my time but it's easy reading and there are a lot of insights. It's a perfect place to do consumer research too. One day magazines will become obsolete because of all the beauty bloggers.

For a complete list of official top beauty / fashion blogs in the Philippines, always check this link from Topblogs: http://www.topblogs.com.ph/fashion-beauty/

(All images are from the respective mentioned blogsites and are for reference and link purposes only. No copyright infringement intended)

Go to Japan on July

I was having dinner with friends when the idea of a barkada trip came into the conversation. They asked me, when is the best time to go to Japan?

The normal answer would be end of March to second week April.

But I would recommend July. Here's why.

1. Japan has a rich culture and July has one of the most matsuri's or festivals. There's a lot of firework displays and o-mikoshi. There are also a lot of events because it's summer there!

2. Countries with all-around sunny weather don't have to buy a different set of clothes. You can bring your everyday normal clothes with you. That's one less hassle and more money for the trip!

3. Although its the peak of rainy weather in the Philippines, it's perfect timing for beach getaways in Japan. Mid-July celebrates Uminoe or Sea Day which celebrates the day when people can go to the beach!

4. Better adventure options - why not climb Mt. Fuji? Climbing Mt. Fuji is limited to the summer months because it can get very cold and very dangerous. So let's not limit ourselves to just taking a picture at Point #5 but challenge ourselves to climb to the top instead. I've been there, it's so worth it!

5. Japan's annual Sale Seasons are concentrated on January and July. Literally every mall, shop, nook and cranny are etcetera percent off. It's a given that Japan is a melting pot of brands and fashion and it can all be yours at a huge discount. My suggestion would be save up and go to Harajuku and/or Akihabara.

Generally there's no really great month to go to Japan because every day there is so wonderful. I have a preference for Spring weather but summer just makes perfect sense especially for first timers.

For more information on Tokyo events, here' s my favorite magazine: Metropolis. (This deserves its own entry!)

PAL Business Class on Sale

I was researching on promo flights for my birthday trip when I came across this from the Philippine Airlines website:

Business Class Fares
Fly international and domestic Business Class at almost the price of Economy

(Image from Philippine Airlines website)

I was pretty excited when I saw this. PAL definitely offers a better international flight experience compare to other Philippine carriers. As my friend says, if you will spend 2 to 3 thousand more pesos for PAL roundtrip, take it. It's around P1500 more expensive for each flight but the comfort is worth it..

I tried inquiring earlier and there are some ground rules to this.

1. This is not an open-date ticket
2. You have to reserve specific dates.
3. Within upto a week, the reserved dates must be paid for and then ticketed.
4. Once ticketed, rebooking will cost $50.
5. Rebooking will apply for same promo seats. There may be additional charges for the regular business class seats.
6. Promo sale has no fixed end, it's while seats last!! Best tip: Know when you're leaving and call up PAL first two months in advance. Who knows there may be business class promo seats available. :)

It's a great deal all in all especially if you have flight dates already and if you're travelling for at least 4 hours! :) For more questions, call 855-8888 for their 24 hours customer service.

New Game Plan

これから新しく始めたいと思います。

いままで名前を出さずにいろいろ書きましたが、今ばればれになって前に進むしかなくなりませんでした。

記念にどんな話題が中心にするかリストを作りましょう。

１．MAKEUP　メイクアップ

最近化粧品に夢中になっています。Google Chromeブックマークにビューティーブログが20個保存されています。もちろんほぼ毎日読んでいます。

2．FOOD 　食べ物

食べ物好きじゃない人はたぶんいないと思います。そういうことです。

３．SMART ADVICE

スマートアドバイスというのが、あるものを使いこなせる方法とティップのことです。それで、私が勉強になったことをそのまま記録して、皆さんにもシェアできますように。

4.　HAUL 買い物

ほかの人の買い物リストが大好きなので、私もまとめて買ったときがあったらそのHAULについて書こうと思います。

５．TRIP 旅行

旅行が大好きなんですが、大イベントみたいなものはたまにしかありません。しかし、私は結構回るタイプだから（車を持ってるし）、行ったことについて書いていいですよね。

そんなものですね。

大事なのは私が写真を撮ることとブログを書くことです。

ファイト。

Another ひさしぶり Post

I have a hard time creating a habit. I started this blog in the hopes of documenting my thoughts anonymously. I did for a while. But then multiply had to shut down so I used this to save what could be saved here. Anonymity down the drain.

Not to mention the pictures. Oh the pictures from the multiply albums.

Then again, blogging is a whole different platform of communication.

Maybe it's time to focus more on words than pictures. We have facebook and instagram for that.

It's just your thoughts with pictures as illustrations only.

Let's see where I end up making.