Shiseido Honey Cake Soap – $10 USD
When it comes to luxury skincare, the Asian market is a prime competitor. With the key players being South Korea and Japan, where it seems like they have discovered the fountain of youth. Where woman stop aging after 35 and society has achieved a beauty standard that rivals the rest of the world. For this Fabulous Find, I looked at the Japanese Company – Shiseido. In addition to skincare, the Shiseido portfolio includes makeup, haircare , and overall body care products. Over the last year, I have finally understood the value of applying sunscreen every day. (Yes I know its critical, and yes I am a stubborn redhead). So when I saw that Shiseido had an entire separate category dedicated to sunscreen (that was bigger than the entire men’s portfolio), I was thoroughly pleased.
I was even more pleased that my order came with 4 different complimentary samples!
- Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate
- Essential Energy Moisturizing Cream
- Overnight Wrinkle Resisting Cream
- Beauty Smart Water (3 in 1 – Cleanse, Hydrate, and Prime)
In addition to 4 free samples for a measly $10 USD item, Shiseido seem to have an impressive amount of discounts and sales as well as pricing that landed somewhere in between drugstore vs. Chanel Beauty. I will say, its seems like when it comes to Japanese or Korean skincare brands, there seems to be a higher level of perceived product quality. This might just be me, I don’t feel like I am constantly playing a game of – “will this actually work? Or is this just cheap lotion in a fancy bottle” – when it comes Asian luxury brands.
To be fair, I will give Shiseido one ding against them. Their packaging didn’t have any fancy gift box or logo covered wrapping paper. It came with heavy duty bubble wrap that could keep the Queen’s Royal Jewels safe. But if the question was “Would I prefer nicer packaging or more free samples?”… the samples always win! #SamplesHoarder
“Would I prefer nicer packaging or more free samples?”… the samples always win! #SamplesHoarder
Website Overview
There is no unnecessary frou-frou when it comes to the Shiseido website. The priority is function and ease of use. On the home page, the website is almost identical to competitors with the logo in the top center and a banner of key portfolio options. Once you tap into an category, the quality of the photos and associated product pages isn’t as clean as some other brands. However, unlike those other brands, the Shiseido website doesn’t come off as pretentious or doesn’t have a wide selection of products that are listed as available but then say “out of stock” when you try to add to cart. Also, no lag time for loading.
One of the key features that I appreciated is that Shiseido doesn’t condense their ingredients, descriptions or how to use instructions. They are very open about what is in their products, how to use them and what they should do. No guessing. No games.
Link to the Honey Cake Soap (RED)
Link to the TikTok Unboxing of the Shiseido Honey Cake Soap
Ohter Fabulous Finds
Shiseido has so many affordable items, I would have to list the entire website here! Please visit http://www.shiseido.com/us/en/
ItsAlissa 