I don’t know about you, but I had not heard of Hada Labo prior to its launch here in Malaysia. There said it 🙂 Have you heard of this line of Japanese drugstore skincare before this?
Apparently, the Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion is a major hit in Japan, selling one every 4 seconds since its launch there – I’ll let you know if its a visible brand there 😉 Well, curious cats, we’ll soon be able to spot Hada Labo at Guardian Pharmacies starting November 2009! They will probably get more visible over time, but they’ll start out in Guardian for now.
Hada Labo is an affordable Japanese skincare brand under the Rohto-Mentholatum umbrella. Packaging is minimalist Japanese style with LOTS of Japanese words on it. Don’t know about you, but I like it! 😀 Under all that Japanese Kanji and Katakana is an organized clutter that appeals to me.
The brand has 3 main lines for 3 distinct skincare concerns:-
- Hada Labo Aha/BHA (green packaging) – inspired by a smooth egg! There are 2 cleansers under this range
- Hada Labo Arbutin Whitening(dark blue packaging) – self-explanatory whitening skincare line with extract of bearberry plant.
- Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing (white packaging) – to hydrate and nourish skin for smooth radiant crystal clear skin.
The star product is of course the Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion with Super Hyaluronic Acid for which their tagline is “1 drop to lock up an ocean” and for which a cute technique of application is advised as will be demonstrated below.
Lofty claims but what it does is to lock in moisture in your skin better than normal hyaluronic acid so your skin is better moisturized. There is even a special technique to applying it, for which I absolutely love the Japanese for – making it look so kawaii! 😀 Watch this video below.
So cute right? 😀 You don’t have to slap your skin hard, just pat and press in the lotion into the skin.
Whilst this is called a “lotion” the Japanese use this as the 2nd step in their skincare routine – what in the western parlance would be “toner”. Japanese style lotions are usually moisturizing in line with the “double moisturizing” skincare routine of Japanese skincare.
The texture of the Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion is a clear slightly viscous liquid. It takes a little while to dry on the skin, feeling a bit sticky but if you keep patting it as in the video, it will get absorbed and the skin does feel more moisturized.
Hada Labo has no additives, colorants, fragrance or mineral oil and best of all, is affordable. Price will range from RM16.90-59.90 so watch out for the counters popping up at major Guardian pharmacies! 🙂
I’m excited about this brand – aren’t you? 🙂 Heard or read about this brand before?
Update Jan 2010: Here’s my review on the Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Lotion 🙂
Stay beautiful,
Paris B
Update: The best people to tell you which line suits your skintype will be the brand people themselves. Please do not ask here as no one will reply. Instead ask at the Hada Labo Malaysia Facebook page here.
crystal says
I have bought their product one made in China n one made in Japan. There is a different in quality. So sad. My skin reacted better toward Japan product.