Shiseido International Beauty Fair 2014 -- The Shiseido Way of Skin Care

Hiya, guys!

During the three-day Shiseido International Beauty Fair, two days of which I actually attended, I learned a lot of things about skin care and makeup application.

Me before Momo-san does her magic. Photo courtesy of Madeline Ng

In particular, I learned (and experienced) from Momoko Ishibashi, senior beauty consultant for Shiseido Japan, the Shiseido Way of doing skin care, which goes something like this:

Step 1. Apply some eye and lip makeup remover onto a cotton pad. Put this damp cotton square on the middle finger, securing it with the two other fingers on the side. Gently remove the eye makeup downwards from the brows to the lashes. Do the same on the other eye.

Tip: If you are wearing mascara, hold the cotton pad into your closed eye for 15 seconds, and then wipe gently downwards. That way, all the mascara, even the fibrous ones, goes off your eyes leaving it clean.

More of the Shiseido Way of skin care when you click 'Read More'

Shiseido's impressive range of skin care products

Step 2. Apply blobs of cleansing cream on the five areas of your face -- the cheeks, the forehead, the chin and the nose. With a light hand, massage the cream onto the face.

There's even a proper way of massaging these areas. For the cheeks, massage them in the circular motion, following their contours from underneath the eye to the area near the chin. For the forehead, massage in a windshield-wiper motion; for the nose, downwards; and for the lip area, circular motion avoiding the lips itself.

Step 3. Fold two sheets of large square tissue in half, forming a triangle. Stick one folded sheet on one side of the face, pressing it gently but firmly to absorb the cleansing cream, and then peel it off. Do the same thing on the other side. Gently wipe off the residue using the unused sides of the folded tissue.

Step 4. Proceed with the face wash, using the same massage technique in doing so.

Step 5. Now this is where Shiseido take their skin care to the next level -- their signature softeners. Unlike the usual toner which strips off the oil and moisture along with the dirt, softeners removes the dirt without drying out the skin.

The proper way of applying softener is using a cotton pad (see Step 1), and wiping it along the face in the same direction as that in massaging the cleansing cream and face wash (see Steps 2 and 4). Use a light hand in doing this step so as not to tug the skin all over the place, which may cause premature fine lines.

Step 6. Finally, the moisturizer. The same way as Step 2, apply five dots on the face (smaller in amount than in the cleansing cream) and then massage onto face until fully absorbed.

I told ya, this whole skin care ritual is more like ceremony in itself, but I personally think that this is a more gentle and thorough way to cleanse, tone and moisturize the skin. I also think that this method increases the effectivity of any skin care product, although using high-quality skin care products that suit your skin type can also make a difference. So even though I'm not currently using any Shiseido product at the moment (but will save up on it once I get myself a job!), at the very least I'm doing the whole massaging thing and using gentle but firm strokes when I wipe off my makeup, wash my face and apply my face oil. And trust me, the 'labor of love' on your skin will be worth it.

So that ends the entire series of the Shiseido International Beauty Fair 2014. Hope you guys enjoyed it, especially to the Shiseido fans (and users of their skin care products) out there.

And what do you think of the Shiseido Way of doing skin care? Share your thoughts on the comments box below!