Shiseido Aqualabel Whitening Jelly Essence

Shiseido will release a new Whitening Jelly Essence under its Aqualabel brand on 21 February in Japan. Retailing at 1785yen for 200ml, the oil-free, rose scented essence serves four functions as a lotion, beauty serum, moisturising emulsion and astringent. It tones pores, moisturises and brightens the skin tone through ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and m-tranexamic acid to suppress the formation of melanin. Allergy-tested and free of artifical colourants.

Watsons Health, Wellness & Beauty Awards 2011 Winners by Shiseido, Majolica Majorca and Za

Several Shiseido masstige brand products were winners of this year's Watsons Health, Wellness & Beauty Awards across the makeup, skincare and haircare categories.

Majolica Majorca was a big winner with three awards for the Lash Beautifying Mascara, Jewelling Eyes palettes and Perfect Automatic Liner.

The Lash Beautifying Mascara ($25.90), also known as Lash Expander Frame Plus in Japan, is the brand's bestselling lengthening mascara. The waterproof fibre-based jet black mascara has a unique coil and comb wand for producing longer and fuller lashes, plus Vitamin E and macadamia nut oil to fortify lashes. Majolica's mascaras are notorious for being tough to be remove but I find that a cleansing oil always does the trick. The pic below shows various Majolica mascaras, including past limited editions.

Earlier in January, Lash Expander Frame Plus was released in a limited edition shade, BR666 (red-based chocolate), as part of the Sugary Trap collection. It rapidly sold out in drugstores in Japan. Due to popular demand, Majolica has just re-released it in Japan as a limited edition.


The Perfect Automatic Liner ($22.90) is a long-lasting, waterproof liquid eyeliner with a soft brush tip. It comes in seven pearlescent shades with a black base. You can read my earlier review of it here.


Below is the ingredients list.

The Jewelling Eyes ($27.90) are well-coordinated quads with a lovely pearl shimmer. While the colour payoff tends to be on the sheer side, I think they are a good option for ladies who are just starting to get into makeup. My favourite remains the Jewelling Eyes GR791 from the baroque-themed Queen of Decoration collection of Fall 2010. From now to 24 August, Watsons is offering a $5 discount off these three Majolica products.

Za did equally well with three award-winning products. Their Ever Brows pencil ($11.90) is very affordable and easy to use. Available in three shades, the eyebrow pencil requires no sharpening. Simply twist up, fill in the brows and then use the comb side to smoothen out the strokes for a seamless finish.

The shade BR21 is a good match for my brows. Correcting any mistakes is also simple as the pencil can be easily rubbed off.

After using this virtually every day for the past three weeks, about three-quarters of the Ever Brows is still left, which means that one pencil can probably last about three months with daily usage.

I was surprised to see that the Ever Brows is actually made in Japan, as most Za products are usually made in Taiwan.

The Za Concealer ($13.90) has a creamy texture that is supposed to blend easily and conceal skin imperfections without clogging pores. I haven't used this yet but Mag likes it. This was also recommended in ELLE Singapore's recent Beauty Book as being good for use on the under eye area. It is available in three shades.

This is made in China.

Za's Skin Beauty 2-Way Foundation ($18.50 for refill; $9.90 for case) continues to be the number one selling foundation while their True White Plus 2-Way Foundation ($20.50 for refill) is the number one whitening foundation (see my earlier review here). Made in Taiwan, both have SPF20 PA++. The Skin Beauty foundation contains hyaluronic acid, Vitamin E, minerals and spherically-shaped "poreless powder" for creating the look of flawless skin while the True White foundation creates bright, luminous skin with a Spotless Brightening Powder and a Whitening C ingredient based on Vitamin C.

From now till 24 August, Watsons is offering $2 off the Skin Beauty Packset which includes a sheet of decoration stickers alongside the powder foundation. Watsons is also offering a $3 discount on the True White foundation refill, the Concealer Perfection and the Ever Brows.

In the skincare category, the Aqualabel White Clear Foam ($16.90, 30g) is the best-selling whitening cleanser. Aside from containing white clay powder to remove impurities, it also has granules containing hyaluronic acid which are then released into the skin while cleansing. Mag likes this but I find it a tad drying, like most Japanese foaming cleansers. From now till 24 August, you can purchase two tubes of the White Clear Foam for $25 at Watsons.


And finally in the haircare category, the Tsubaki Damage Care range was a winner, thanks to the combination of high purity camellia oil, amino acids and a "deep radiance and shine pearl lipid" for restoring beautiful shiny hair. The Tsubaki line has always been a favourite of mine as it leaves my dyed hair wonderfully soft and untangled.

The ingredients list for the shampoo is below. From now till 24 August, Watsons is offering a $3 discount off the Damage Care range.

Panasonic DIY Dazzling Workshop

The skies were pouring again this morning as I made my way down to Vivocity for the Panasonic DIY Dazzling Workshop. I had signed up for it through Cleo magazine's website and received the confirmation call earlier this week.

The session was 2.5 hours long with about 15 participants. I think this was one of the most useful workshops I've ever attended due to the ample amount of time for hands-on practice with the various tools and beauty products. Each participant was provided with one set of the Panasonic face steamer, hair straightener and heated eyelash curler to try out. Shiseido was one of the sponsors of the workshop so there was also Aqua Label skincare and Majolica Majorca makeup.

The first part of the workshop was learning how to use the Panasonic Multi-styling Straightener, which is a 6-in-1 tool that can both straighten as well as curl hair. It has 5 attachments and heats up to 180 degrees (with 5 temperature settings to choose from).

The Photoceramic-coated plates supposedly help to maintain colored hair and hair moisture much better than normal ceramic-coated plates.

The straightener turned out to be quite easy to handle and the curls lasted quite well (after setting with a Shiseido Professional hair wax) with a perky bounce.




Next, we tried out the Panasonic Nanocare Facial Ionic Steamer EH2473. Touted as the world's first Platinum Hot/Cold Teamer, the nanoparticle ion steam felt very cleansing without being too stuffy or hot.



It has three programme settings for meeting various skin concerns. We did the Skin Care Mode which alternates between the hot steam and cool mist. My skin felt very plumped up and moisturised after the course.

After that, the trainer went through skincare and basic makeup application using Aqua Label and Majolica Majorca. It was pretty standard stuff so I won't go into the details. We also got to try this Panasonic heated lash curler.

You have to hold the button down for 30-60 seconds for the curler to heat up. I'm still not comfortable holding a heated instrument so close to my eyes, so I'll continue sticking with my trusty MAC eyelash curler. The heated eyelash curler comes with a free Majolica Majorca mascara if you purchase it at the Panasonic roadshow at the Vivocity Atrium this weekend (near Tangs).

I was quite impressed with both the hair straightener and the face steamer and decided to purchase both after the workshop. I've been deliberating over getting a hair curler for quite some time but never knew which was a good one to buy. The hair straightener usually retails for S$99 but it is on sale at just S$79 at the Panasonic roadshow.

The face steamer is going at S$549, down from the usual price of S$599. The face steamer also comes with a free Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Brightening Mask (6 sheets) that has a retail value of around S$100. There is another face steamer model that is going at around S$249 at the roadshow and it comes with a different Shiseido mask. Below is the doorgift for the workshop, which also included the December issue of Women's Weekly.

And my lucky dip prize with my purchase!

Thanks to Cleo for organising the excellent workshop!

Operation Use It Up!

It's been more than a month since I did an "Operation Use It Up" post... dang, where did all that time go? Anyway, here's what I managed to use up from my stash recently.

1. RMK Creamy Soap N: Lathers well and leaves skin thoroughly cleansed but can be a tad drying.

2. RMK Eye Makeup Remover EX: Works quickly and effectively to remove eye makeup, including waterproof mascara.

3. Tsubaki Damage Care Conditioner: Leaves my hair soft and easily manageable. Would definitely repurchase!

4. Shu Uemura High Performance Cleansing Oil Fresh: Frightfully expensive (about S$130 for a 450ml bottle) but it is still one of the most effective makeup removers. But I will probably switch to Cleansing Express after I use up my remaining bottles of Shu Cleansing Oil as Cleansing Express is not oil-based.

5. Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel: The scent was a bit too tweeny sugary sweet for me so I would not repurchase.

6. Pantene Extra Damage Care Shampoo: This was just average for me.

7. Pantene Extra Damage Care Conditioner: This left my hair soft but I still find Tsubaki to be more effective and has a nicer aroma.

8. Goldwell Rich Repair Shampoo: This left my hair in messy tangles and in desperate need of a conditioner. Would not purchase!

9. Goldwell Rich Repair Conditioner: Like the shampoo, this was plain unimpressive.

10. Aqua Label Aqua Enhancer WT: This left my skin feeling refreshed without any sticky feeling.

11. L'Occitane Cherry Blossom Petal-soft Body Creme: This has a yogurt-like texture that melts easily into the skin without any greasy after feeling. The delicate scent is nice but a bit too light.

12. L'Occitane Cherry Blossom Shower Gel: The scent is nice in the shower but doesn't really linger on the skin after that. The gel texture is also a bit watery so I end up using quite a lot of product each time.

Aqua Label Anti-Aging Line Revamp

Shiseido will revamp the anti-aging range under its Aqua Label line on 21 August in Japan. While the previous line (in the purple packaging) was targeted at ladies above 50 years old, the revamped line is designed to be used by anyone concerned with skin ageing. The new line comes in yellow gold packaging and is formulated with royal jelly GL complex to help restore skin elasticity and m-Tranexamic acid for skin whitening benefits.


The line includes:

1. Lotion EX (1890yen, 200ml): This comes in (R) and (RR). (RR) is more deeply moisturising than (R).

2. Emulsion EX (2100yen, 130ml): Also available in (R) and (RR).

3. Royal Rich Essence (2205yen, 30ml)

4. Cream EX (3150yen, 25g)

Aqua Label Launch in Singapore

A few weeks ago, the lovely folks at Shiseido invited me to preview their Aqua Label skincare range which will be launched exclusively in Watsons stores in Singapore on 1 July. There will be a soft launch of the line at Tampines Mall Atrium starting tomorrow Monday 21 June to Sunday 27 June, whereby a S$30 purchase will entitle you to a free facial. Facebook fans of Aqua Label get to enjoy an additional facial. Just check out the details on the Aqua Label Facebook page!

So, what is Aqua Label? It is actually the no. 1 skincare brand in Japan for the so-called "self-select market" of products priced up to 2000yen. The products come in four ranges: whitening (blue packaging), moisturising (red), anti-acne (green) and anti-aging (purple). All except the anti-aging range will be released in Singapore, at least for the immediate period. Depending on the consumer response, Shiseido may consider launching the anti-aging line in Singapore later. Anyway, just with the whitening, moisturising and anti-acne lines, there are about 50 different products including the usual face cleansers, face essence, lotions and even cleansing oils, sheet masks and powder foundations. The Whitening and Moisturising lines are the most extensive while the anti-acne line only has three products (lotion, emulsion and effector).

Aqua Label focuses mainly on keeping the skin well-moisturised and balanced with its philosophy of "sink, saturate and seal" with moisturising ingredients like hyaluronic acid. The whitening line also contains m-Tranexamic Acid for inhibiting the production of melanin.


For effective makeup removal of even the most stubborn waterproof makeup, the Whitening Line has the Deep Clear Oil Cleansing while the Moisturising Line offers a Creamy Oil Cleansing.

The White Clear Foam from the Whitening Line also contains white clay powder from Turin, Italy, to help remove surface impurities.

For the past two weeks, I've been trying out the White Up Lotion, White Up Emulsion and Aqua Effector. I've been travelling quite a bit plus work has been a real nightmare, so my skin has been under a fair bit of stress.

The Aqua Enhancer is a unique product by Aqua Label that is supposed to be patted on following the lotion and emulsion, to further seal the moisture in the skin. As my skin does not take well to too many products being layered on it, I used the White Up Lotion followed by the White Up Emulsion during the week that I was in New York, without the Aqua Effector. The combination of the lotion and emulsion was sufficient to keep my skin moisturised in the dry New York climate. After using up the lotion, I've been using the Aqua Effector right after cleansing my skin. It makes my skin feel refreshed without any sticky feeling.

I also got to experience the 45-minute facial at Shiseido's office. They do not believe in doing extractions, so the facial comprised mainly cleansing, steaming, massaging and moisturising. I felt so relaxed after the facial that I actually had difficulty concentrating while driving home!