One of the biggest benefits to working Beautyworld Tokyo was that I could shop like a vendor. Yep- salon-size, all-natural products, brands I can’t normally buy in Tokyo… all wholesale.
I didn’t go nuts (I was working, after all) but I did pick up a few things I really did need, and a couple of things I’ve been meaning to try.
Thai Herbal Compress Balls (made in Thailand, distributed through Cier Etbella, Korea)
I learned about these on my recent trip to Bangkok and was thrilled to pick up a few. You steam them and use them in massage– kaffir limes leaves, ginger, tumeric are often used and thought to soothe soreness and improve circulation. Plus they smell lovely and provide a less intense option to hot stone work. I bought sesame, black pepper, and sage. Can’t wait to try them!
Essential Oils by Cier Etbella
This company is tough to research because all of the information is in Korean, but these super high quality oils were too good to pass up. The May Chang in particular is really nice for soreness after yoga or dropping into my diffuser to make my apartment smell like a spa. May Chang is a Chinese evergreen so it has sort of a pine scent with soft citrus notes. Clean, refreshing, earthy. LOVE.
Another tricky brand to look up, Monaco Argan Oil is a Korean-based company and is sort of the knock off of the US Morrocan Hair Oil. I’ve been using this hair pack as an overnight treatment (I comb it through and braid my hair, then sleep on a towel. So soft. Doesn’t seem to deliver the shine coconut oil does, but I’m going to keep on it as a twice-weekly and see what’s what. One thing it does seem to help with is color balance on my ombre. As most brunettes know, ombre turns orangey if you don’t tone the color with purple shampoo or conditioner– for whatever reason– this pack seems to keep my ends blonde. Weird huh? Whatever- going with it…
This is a GIANT, salon-sized vessel of all-natural keratin shamp00 by Erba Classico. You already know sulfate-free and keratin defrizz, but I bought this giant thing for next to nothing. I haven’t cracked it yet– but if it’s mind blowing, you’ll hear about it.
I can’t stop smelling myself right now. Organia is another Korean skincare line that is reasonable and all-natural. This olive body wash is in my shower and almost half gone already because I’m addicted to it and the smell. Of course, I naturally smell like vanilla and joy, but this stuff is just so lovely. It smells creamy (what?) and sweet and slightly botanical. It’s pure bliss after a coffee scrub. Yes, my bathtub room is my personal spa.
The sunscreen was an impulse buy, but what a good one, right? It’s heavy duty– too thick for under makeup, but perfect for a day at the beach when you want to keep your face from frying. I’ll be hitting Endoshima very soon, so this will come in super handy.
One photo I didn’t single out was the 1000 ml bottle of sweet organic almond oil, which I use for everything pretty much every day. Eye makeup remover, moisturizer, cuticle remover, foot treatment, you name it. Yeah that giant bottle was 2000 yen (less than 20 bucks), just to give you an idea of how good the deals were. As you can imagine, it was packed with buyers, and a little exhausting, but considering the goods, I’m pretty happy with my haul.
Okay audition prep awaits. Tell me to break a leg!
