Japanese cosmetics company Shiseideo has released their predictions for 2020’s makeup trends, as well as a look back at Japanese beauty throughout the last century. Will geisha makeup be making a comeback? Read on to find out.
beauty (Page 8)
Ah, wasabi, the pungent root that adds spice to sushi and gets up the noses of over-enthusiastic consumers, leaving many a watery eye and a burning palate. It seems that you either love wasabi or hate it, with wasabi-lovers clamoring for a touch of the green stuff in a variety of forms including Kit-Kats and potato chips, and wasabi-haters strictly stipulating to sushi chefs that they require their sushi sabi-nuki de, or sans wasabi. But did you know that the wasabi-lovers actually get to enjoy a host of health and beauty benefits that are denied to those who shy away from this miraculous wonder root? Read on as we unveil the five surprising health effects of regular wasabi consumption!
In Japan, it’s pretty common for high schools to prohibit students from wearing any sort of makeup. As a result, a lot of girls don’t get to use it on a daily basis until after they graduate, usually at the age of 18.
So perhaps it’s fitting that 18 years after its initial release, manga and anime franchise Cardcaptor Sakura is getting its own cosmetics set, meaning that everyone who came into the world as the same time as the series is now old enough to enjoy it.
Recently, do-it-yourself mayonnaise hair packs have caught the attention of people who want to look their best, save a little cash, and maybe find a second use for that jumbo-sized jar of the condiment they picked up at Costco. And while we don’t know where she sources her mayo from, our Japanese-language correspondent Shimazu was one of those intrigued by this possible meeting of the beauty and culinary worlds.
So to see if it’s really as good for your hair as its fans say, Shimazu hopped in the shower, lathered up, and slapped on a coat of mayo. She didn’t stop there, though, as she also grabbed a couple of other bottles from her kitchen so she could compare the results versus treating her hair with vegetable and olive oil.
Japan may not be that big on a world map, but there’s a surprising number of distinct regional cultures you’ll find as you make your way from one end of the country to another. Sometimes, taking the train just a few hours in one direction will put you in a spot where people eat different foods, celebrate holidays on different days, or even talk differently from where you just came from.
So, just to be prepared to communicate as effectively as possible with the locals, you might want to take a few minutes to review these videos of women saying “I love you” in the dialects of each of Japan’s 47 prefectures.
Which is worse, hair in your mayonnaise or mayonnaise in your hair? Assuming you haven’t actually eaten any, hair in your mayo is actually a pretty easy problem to rectify. You either toss the jar out, or you make lunch for any of your sworn enemies who’d accept a surprise sandwich from you despite your less than friendly relationship.
Mayonnaise in your hair, on the other hand, means you yourself are dirty though, and you’ve got to stop whatever you’re doing (such as crafting diabolical plots against your aforementioned enemies) to go and shampoo, right?
Actually, you don’t, according to people in Japan who say spreading a little mayo on your hair is actually good for it.
Sisters Elle and Jess Yamada from Indonesia do everything together, and that includes making a name for themselves on the fashion blogosphere. The lovely ladies are in their early twenties and have a combined total of nearly 250,000 Instagram followers, write for their popular blog on their website, and run a clothing line called Gowigasa. They’re also apparently really awesome at hulahooping, and won their high school’s hula hoop competition.
But we know what you really want is to get a good look at these two beauties, so read on to find a selection of photos after the cut.
In many ways, Miss International Queen is just like any other pageant: finalists parade in evening gowns, swimsuits and national dress, and the winner will perform twelve months of promotional and charity duties. There’s one major difference, though: all the contestants are transgender women, and the top prize includes cosmetic surgery for the winner – if she wants it.
As the world’s largest transgender pageant hits the stage in Thailand (where else!) for its 10th anniversary year, we take a look at this unique contest.
This compilation of the makeup transformations of Japanese girls has sparked debate on whether anyone shows their ‘real’ face on the internet any more, and just what counts as a ‘real’ face these days anyway. Read on to see more of the startling power of makeup and good lighting, and find out the point these women are trying to make.
There are certain topics that although you may be interested in, one just doesn’t bring up in polite company, the least of which being the regularity of a country’s bowel movements. But luckily our poop-curious friends over at Glico (as in the major Japanese snack company) recently completed a survey about constipation that gives us a very personal look at the health of Japan’s number two habits. The aptly named “Lifestyle and Constipation” survey has revealed which Japanese prefectures are keeping things downstairs regular and which ones are all clogged up.
The pursuit of beauty and the relentless quest to look younger is nothing new and has probably been around since the first human looked into a pool of water and realized that the disfigured beastly thing staring back was themselves. A couple of hundred thousand years and many medical technology breakthroughs later, we are spending massive amounts of money, time and pain on that quest to look younger and more beautiful. And last week a Japanese cosmetic company made an announcement that seemed to suggest they found the fountain of youth when they took 30 years off a 67-year-old man’s skin using a breakthrough technology.
Face packs haven’t quite caught on in the global market, but those moist face-shaped towelettes packed with vitamins and other skin-enhancing goodies are particularly popular in Japan. The most standard versions come in plain white, making you look like something out of The Grudge, but beauty product makers have recently been getting creative, bringing us face packs that turn its user into a cat, a panda, or a kabuki actor.
The newest fancy face pack is another one for kabuki fans, but this time it adds an extra splash of color and was created by international makeup artist and leader of Japanese contemporary fashion, Kansai Yamamoto.
There is no shortage of beautiful women on the internet, but nowadays you need something…else, to separate you from the crowd. We’ve introduced hotties before, ranging from a marathon runner in China to a police woman in Xinjiang. Our next looker is from Mongolia and also puts her life on the line every day to protect the people in her city, which already makes her someone you don’t want to mess with. You’ll especially want to watch yourself when you find out that her husband and the majority of her family are in the business as well!
Many Asian women believe that having double eyelids is a sign of beauty and many who possess single-eyelids are forever in a quest to achieve a crease above their peepers. In fact, double-eyelid surgery is the most common cosmetic enhancement in South Korea and Taiwan, and is very popular throughout Asia. For those who are hesitant to go under the knife in the name of beauty, there are plenty of non-surgical options to create the illusion of a double-eyelid such as special glues, tapes, and plastic devices.
The newest product to hit the double-eyelid market has been flying off the shelves with a reported 7,000 units sold in the first month of sales. Called “Eyelid Trainer”, this special device is worn just like a pair of glasses and claims to “create a double-eyelid with daily use.” It also makes you look ridiculous.
Japan is no stranger to celebrity-endorsed products. Stars who ordinarily wouldn’t be seen dead in a commercial in their home country practically flock to Japan where, rather than being seen as a black mark on one’s resume, appearing in an ad can be a sign of having made it big, with companies prepared to pay top dollar to get a celebrity’s face alongside their product.
World-famous soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, though, was the last person we expected to see endorsing a face-toning exercise product that makes the user look like they’re devouring a frantically flapping seagull head-first…
Honestly, I’m a bit terrified of Japanese fashion magazines, and some of the outlandish things they advertise. So when our sister site Pouch ran a piece about a special technique to achieve double eyelids that a popular Japanese fashion guide was advertising, I was a more than a little hesitant to read on, especially after seeing the photos from last time of Mr. Sato trying out the now infamous Eyelid Trainer contraption.
But curiosity eventually got the better of me, and it turns out that the trick uses a secret item that is not only inexpensive, but you probably already have it lying around.
Happiness in the real world is largely the result of prioritizing what’s really important for you, going after those things, and not being too picky about everything else. Of course, when you’re talking about fantasizing, you can have it all, as we’ve seen previously when men are asked for the characteristics of their ideal woman.
So when a men’s magazine in Japan recently published the results of a similar survey, we weren’t surprised that the compiled average of the physical parameters were pretty strict. What was shocking, though, was the response given by one man, whose image of the perfect female figure isn’t just largely unattainable, it’s downright unhealthy.
While some have argued that a woman can increase her bust size by eating a bunch of hamburgers or copious amounts of frog fallopian tube, not every woman who’d like to project a more voluptuous image wants to reach that goal by changing her diet.
Some instead turn to visual subterfuge, such as buttoning their shirt out of order to create the illusion of having a larger chest. That technique won’t help you much once swimsuit season rolls around, though, which is why one Japanese fashion magazine is suggesting a non-wardrobe related way to give yourself larger-looking breasts: paint them on.
Having grown up a quick drive from southern California’s miles and miles of prime coastline, I’ll admit Japanese beaches can sometimes be a little underwhelming. Among other problems, they’re crowded with day trippers during midsummer, and infested with jellyfish as the season winds down.
One great thing about beaches in Japan, though, are the umi no ie, temporary restaurants/lounges built right on the sand and only operated during July and August. Due to their temporary nature (the buildings are completely disassembled come September), umi no ie used to be pretty bare-bones. In recent years, though, the ones at Japan’s more popular beaches have been attracting some well-known corporate sponsors and collaborative partners, such as Israeli bath and beauty product manufacturer Sabon, which is set to open its first umi no ie next week.
Beauty standards and trends differ from culture to culture, so something that’s fashionable and pretty to one woman can be completely can be bizarre, sometimes even ugly, to another half the world away. This is especially true in the case of Japanese beauty fads, which often leave Westerners thinking, “Why on earth are you doing that to yourself?!’ while Japanese fashion magazines insist that it’s the path to ultimate kawaii-ness.
Read on for four Japanese beauty fads that are all the rage among Japanese girls, but which are hard to understand from a Western perspective.
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