Kose has been popularly known in Japan for their own and their sub-brands available for ladies with a variety choices of needs.
Few of the brands, such as Tarte, Cosme Decorte, Jill Stuart, are also part of the brands that they have.
As for Kose's Sekkisei, ever since the beginning, they have been aiming to restore translucence to women's skin. Sekkisei products are world-famously known to be gentle yet effectively brightening user's skin. Sekkisei has been launched since the year 1985.
One of the products that made Kose a bestseller is their Sekkisei Lotion, sold with more than 48 million of bottles since 30 years ago due to their fine texture and hydrating "snow-white" skin effect.
SEKKISEI is now available in 15 countries around the world, aiming to continue to provide high quality products and inspire women around the world to have beautiful and radiant skin.
In order to achieve fine balance between oil and water content to result in their fine textured-lotion, Sekkisei had been conducted countless of researches in order to develop such achievement.
Sekkisei products has Oriental Herb extracts, which are carefully chosen from around 100 different plants, to create harmonious and skin-loving formula that gives women brighter, even-toned and moisturized skin. Three main ingredients from the extracts plays a very large role in keeping user's skin in perfect condition while being protected from harsh environment. These three ingredients are Coix Seed, Melothria (White Lotus) and Angelica.
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For this blog post, I will be reviewing Kose's Sekkisei Trial Kit set.
But before I start, let me just state out the information and claims of the products.
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*For original sizes and prices
SEKKISEI White Liquid Wash
(140ml/RM131.40)
Cleanse skin without stripping away moisture with this delicate cleanser. Taurine-based cleansing agents leave skin clean and hydrated; while Rubus Suavissmus Extract enhance skin dullness and soothes UV damage. Skin is restored to its optimal condition, ready for the next skincare step.
SEKKISEI Lotion
(200ml/RM180.20, 360ml/RM275.60)
This SEKKISEI bestseller contains ingredients carefully-selected out of 100 types of oriental plants. Used as a toner or a mask, the fine-textured hydrating lotion balances out skin’s moisture levels, prevents dullness, soothes redness and more. KOSÉ’s tip: For instant hydration, place a bihadagoyomi mask into the cap and pour SEKKISEI Lotion until the mask tablet puffs up. Place on face for 10 minutes and notice instantly hydrated skin!
SEKKISEI Emulsion
(140ml/RM191.80)
This quick-absorbing moisturiser works deep into skin, preventing freckles, dark spots and dryness. Ingredients like Inula Britanica Flower, Chinese Pearl Barley, Paeonia Albiflora Root, Melothria Heterophylla and Angelica reveal a more translucent complexion. Apply 1 to 2 pumps on a cotton pad and sweep over skin.
SEKKISEI Clear Whitening Mask
(80g/RM94.30)
A gentle peel-off mask that removes dullness and dead skin cells, brightens and hydrates at the same time! Chinese Quince extract inhibits sebum production, while a blend of oriental plant extracts deliver supreme whitening benefits. Nano-sized black powder allows the mask to spread easily.
SEKKISEI Sun Protect Essence Gel SPF50+/PA++++ (80g/RM98)
SEKKISEI Sun Protect Essence Milk SPF50+/PA++++ (60g/RM105)
With Japan’s highest protection level of SPF50+/PA++++, you can now enjoy ultra-mild sun protection in the form of a gel or a milk. The improved formula contains double the amount of Coix Seed extract, and is enriched with dullness-combatting ingredients like Peony Root Bark and oriental minerals.
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The SEKKISEI special edition trial kit is perfect for first-time users who want to feel and see the SEKKISEI difference for themselves!
The SEKKISEI trial kit is priced at RM99 (GST included), and includes the following:
• SEKKISEI White Liquid Wash 20ml
• SEKKISEI Lotion 100ml
• SEKKISEI Emulsion 70ml
• SEKKISEI Clear Whitening Mask 10g
• Bihadagoyomi mask 3pcs
• Exclusive Setsuko pouch (kimono style or city chic style)
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Let's move on with the trial kit that I've received!
It came in with a box like this, well not exactly a box.
The box itself is a little crooked already, probably because the courier men weren't paying much attention at the fragility of the box.
There are two layers of packing too.
One bubble wrap on the outside, while another plastic layer on the inside.
The size of the box is quite big, in which I had really no idea why they needed to use such a big box.
((You'll see why they need it later on))
They have a little card there with my name on it (!!)
It actually feels really good to know there's something for you :D
Now as for the reason why they needed such a big box for this parcel...
Are you ready for the mysterious surprise?
Ready?
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One...
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Two.....
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THREE !!
Tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
It looks exactly like a Valentine's gift!
((.... except that.. this is no Valentine's gift.. T-T
But anyhow, let's take a look at the products inside, shall we?
With all these pretty coloured balloons inside, the trial kit set was placed in the middle of the box.
Based on the info above, this pouch is called a Setsuko Pouch.
Five types of products are included in the pouch itself.
Sekkisei White Liquid Wash, Sekkisei Lotion, Sekkisei Emulsion, Sekkisei Clear Whitening Mask, Bihadagoyomi Mask
Behind the products in the pouch, there's a little card with Setsuko illustration.
Behind the card, it's about the information of the products themselves.
Here's a closer shot of the card.
Now let's move on with the products.
Four main products will be reviewed.
I'll skip the mask since it seem like the normal type of mask where you dip it into a solution before use. This is where I assume the lotion will the more important one.
Face Wash
20ml
Now this is a very small bottle of face wash but I was surprised to know that
a small pump is enough to create bubbles for your entire face!
When I first use it, the smell somewhat reminded me of cotton and... clean toilet.
So basically I associated it to the smell of clean and fresh cotton pads.
Gross but no, it's not a disgusting smell at all.
In fact, it was quite a pleasant one.
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I did mention bubbles, didn't I?
Yes, it's kind of a foamy type of cleanser but no, it doesn't leave your skin dry and 'tight.'
I felt that my skin was soft and silky after wash.
Lotion
100ml
The first thing I do after using the face wash, is to smell this immediately.
I needed to know if it smells like cotton pads too.
It doesn't.
It smells a bit like soju, actually.
*Soju is a type of alcohol in Korea
Just a tat bit like soju but it's not a very strong smell at all.
The lotion itself feels a bit cooling.
I've had experiences with lotion 'evaporating' after a few wipes but this one stays a bit longer than the ones I had, giving it extra points for the product.
I also used the bihadagoyomi mask, after soaking into the lotion, and put it onto my face.
However, I feel that the lotion has quite some strong ingredient into because the moment I put it near my eyes, they start to tear. It was as if I put alcohol near them. After a few moments, my eyes started to adjust to the feeling. But maybe it was also because I put the silicone mask I bought from Daiso over the mask.
Emulsion
70ml
The emulsion doesn't have a very thick texture. It's just watery and thick enough.
Just right.
The smell is almost similar to the lotion but a bit more fainter.
Doesn't have the thick and sticky feeling after use, which is cool because I hate to see my face looking greasy-but-not-greasy-or-maybe-just-weirdly-greasy sort of look.
I also like to mix this into my foundation, before applying it onto my face. It makes the applying and removing so much easier.
Whitening Peeling Mask
10g
The smallest bottle in the pouch.
It's a peeling mask that doesn't function like normal peeling masks.
It whitens your skin instead.
Inside, there's a thick paste in dark seaweed colour that smells, also, a bit like the lotion.
I find this mask fairly hard to apply, though.
The thickness is really thick and slightly hard to spread it across my cheeks, so let alone the whole face. You might need a lot of it for one use tho.
You can just peel it whenever the mask is dry. But here's another problem, it's hard to find an opening to start peeling the mask because once the mask dries out, that layer will become thin, like vietnamese style water popiah skin.
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Review Criteria (After use version, not including masks):Price: ★★★★☆
Packaging: ★★★☆☆
Application: ★★★★☆
Efficacy:★★★★☆
Moisturizing: ★★★★☆
Smell: ★★★☆☆☆☆
Texture: ★★★★☆
Stickiness: ★★☆☆☆
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Conclusion:
I had to admit that I love these products very much.
They really do make your skin better, which gives em bonus points because I have been using all sorts of ways to get my skin to improve due to the aftermath of chemical burns from hair removal creams.
Also, my skin was so sensitive that, whenever I remove hair from the sides of my face using epilator, I will always end up with stubborn acne.
My skin was also flaking and very itchy, especially my cheeks. It was so bad that they became darker too.
However after using Sekkisei, these symptoms seemed to reduced quite a lot.
It seems like the product helped me to revive my skin back to it's previous state.
My skin condition was so bad, that the facialist couldn't even squeeze those dirty things out of my pores. It was that dry.
I even tried to use home remedy masks everyday, hoping that my skin will get better but the results were very minor.
So I guess these products actually heals a lot faster than the facial set that I was using from Laneige.
I actually took photos of before and after using Seikkisei but the photos were deleted by someone in the family (since we're all using the same DSLR).
The only thing that sets me back is the price but I guess the quality is worth the price. I mean, cheap things aren't always the best, dattebayo (ya know).
Besides, they are really a well-known brand in Japan.
The price range is also similar to Laneige, so I guess I would be switching brands after I finished with the remaining products I have left that are from Laneige.
On and all, I give these products a big thumbs up for anyone who has damaged sensitive skin.
(Basically for anyone since it's already effective on my "damaged sensitive skin".)
So that's all for this post!
Thanks for reading though :D
