asian beauty

Dollar store Japanese beauty: Precious Times Rice Ceramide face mask review

This sheet mask costs only 100 yen (~$1 USD)—is it a bargain or a bust?

Face masks are one of my favorite souvenirs to pick up while I’m traveling. On a trip to Japan last fall, I picked up a rice ceramide mask from CAN DO, a popular 100 yen store (dollar store) in Japan. This mask is marketed under the brand “Precious Times,” and the package included a link to MITSUKI. This company appears to specialize in creating 100-yen products. The package promised that it would “console” your skin and promote “smooth-textured skin.” I…

Pure Smile Shop Pearl Sheet Mask review

This sheet mask includes allantoin, arbutin, and sodium hyaluronate, as well as something unusual: pearl powder.

My local Ricky’s NYC recently shut down (RIP), so I guess I’ll need to find another neighborhood joint to satisfy my skin care fix. Ricky’s NYC always carried a great mix of luxury and affordable skin care and hair care products there, as well as international imports, including the Japanese sheet mask I’m going to review today. I bought this Pure Smile Pearl Sheet Mask because I was intrigued by the name. At first, I thought it was just a brightening/whitening mask…

Sana Nameraka Honpo Soy Milk Mask review

This fragrance-free face mask contains fermented soybean extract, which could help improve skin elasticity and provide other anti-aging benefits.

Traveling to a foreign country exposes you to so many new sights, sounds…and skincare products. Since I started this blog, skincare products have become some of my favorite souvenirs to bring back—especially face masks, since they travel light and they don’t take up space in my TSA-approved quart-size bag of liquids. Today I’m going to introduce you to a skincare product that actually relies on a food that many Asians (including me) already know and love: soy! I picked up this…