Review: Shiseido Hada Senka Hoshitsu Lotion

A while ago I baught some Japanese skincare and beauty products, but I never found the time to edit the pictures I had taken. Finally, I managed to write the review on Shiseido Hada Senka Hoshitsu Lotion :) This is a basic toner, from Shiseido’s drug store brand Hada Senka.

First of all, as I said, Hada Senka is a drugstore brand from Shiseido. The product range is not expansive and directed towards younger people, since it is a basic skincare line. Also, since it is a japanese brand they use slightly other terms than korean brands do. This product is called a “lotion”, but that doesn’t mean that we have a liquid form of cream here, but it is the equivilant to korean toner or sometimes also called “skin”. That means, that the lotion is used as first step of the skincare routine, after cleansing. This product is also available in two forms, a light version and a heavy version and you can differentiate them according to the color of the cap (pink for the heavy version and white for the light version). I’m showing you the heavy version for dry skin.

I bought this as a promotional kit, which is why it came with travel size samples of the Hada Senka Perfect Whip and the Perfect Watery Oil. Also, the set contained samples of the Hada Senka Milk, which is the emulsion from this skincare line. The description of the product is unfortunately only in Japanese. You can find the ingredients listed on COSDNA, too. The key ingredients for moisturization are hyaluronic acid and royal jelly extract. This is also the main reason I wanted to buy this moisturizing toner, because I love the effect of skincare products with hyaluronic acid, since it provides the skin with moisture. The ingredients are safe to use according to COSDNA, but if you have very sensitive skin be aware that this toner contains alcohol.

The tones comes in a hard plastic bottle, which appears sturdy. It is milky plastic, so you can see how much is left inside the bottle if you see through it against the light. The bottle comes with a simple cap with a small hole for dispensing, but the application works nice and it is not difficult to get the product out of the bottle. The packaging is not very special, I would rather say the packaging is super boring, but it shows the simplicity of the product. Since shiseido Hada Senka is a cheaper branch of Shiseido I can live with the boring packaging on the other hand.

As I said, this is a moisturizing toner containing hyaluronic acid. It does exactly what it claims to do and provides the skin with moisture. The toner is  geltype, so it is not completelly liquid. It has a light alcoholic scent when you pour it out, but the scent dissapears quickly and leaves a scentless product. The lotion absorbs quickly and is not sticky after absorbing. The skin feels soft after apllication. I like this toner a lot. I especially liked to put a few drops of the O.S.T Vitamin C serum in my palm and mix it with the toner. This worked very well! Moreover, this toner has a PH of 5, which makes it work gerat together with active ingredients like vitamin C or BHA/AHAs.

Overall, the Shiseido Hada Senka Hoshitsu Lotion is a solid basic lotion with a good pH (weak acidity). It works good with skincare routines containing actives, too! Unfortunatelly, it contains alcohol, so if you have sensitive skin make a patch test before. I bought the promotional kit at Adamsbeauty and it is still available. It costs around 10 US$, which is quite cheap for a japanese product. The great thing is, that there are refills available which makes it very environmental friendly, too. I can totally recommend you to give this affordable product a try!