The definition of toner in Japan




A few months ago Caroline Hirons, the famous skincare expert in the UK appeared in the video on Pixiwoo's Body Talk Channel, and talked about hyaluronic acid which made this particular product Hydraluron go out of stock in Boots. Now everyone's talking about
hyaluronic acid and it's well-known that it's good for your skin. But let me clarify...
hyaluronic acid was super popular more than 10 years ago in Japan. I guess 8 out of 10 woman in Japan know what hyaluronic acid is. 

In Japan, toner is called "Keshou-sui". Keshou means makeup, sui means water. The idea of Japanese toner is different from what it is in western countries. It's not for removing makeup or dirt which your cleanser didn't clean, it's mainly for moisturising purpose. We have all sorts of toner here: moisturising one, whitening one, anti-aging one, astringent one and calming one. The most popular one is the moisturising one, which we use after cleanser and before serum or moisturiser.



This toner from Hada-lab is one of the best-selling toners in Japan. It's been around for 10 years and I used to use this when I was in high school because it was cheap. The main ingredient of this toner is super hyaluronic acid which holds twice the amount of the normal hyaluronic acid does, and the size is 1/100 which makes it easier to penetrate.

We Japanese tend to have more sensitive and thinner skin, so generally we use our hands to apply toner rather than using a cotton pad to avoid any friction and damage to the skin. The main purpose of Japanese toner is to help the skin condition, so cotton pads are not needed anyway.



do organic Extract Lotion Repair 3990yen
This is my favourite toner at the moment. This is from the Japanese brand called "do organic" which mainly use organic ingredients. This toner is like magic....! It leaves the skin surface so smooth while moisturising inside of the skin. It's such a perfect toner for summer or for those who have oily to combination skin because it leaves the skin matte and shine-free! It also contains hyaluronic acid as well as some other moisturising ingredients such as rise bran extract and glycerin.


The base of this toner is rose water which makes it smelling so soothing. Even though the skin surface feels matte and smooth, it never feels drying which is simply amazing. 

There are some other ingredients attracting woman in Japan. My favourite one is ceramide, but also collagen, placenta, coQ10, Lipidure etc are very popular here in Japan. If you would like to know more about Japanese toners, please leave a comment and let me know!