After using Hada Labo's hydrating lotion 2 years ago, I have never looked back! It indeed surprises me on how a shelf-displayed facial product can be so effective and yet not traumatize my sensitive skin, brought it along with me to battle the London winter blues and dryness - and it has since been a travel necessity of mine, definitely hope to find time to review that one day. But for today, I'm reviewing another product of Hada Labo: the 3-in-1 arbutin whitening perfect gel.
Stumbled across the Sample store, which is an online store which distributes sample and allows us to find suitable products in the easiest way! It's free to sign up so no harm trying it out ♥ I love the concept because I've always been a fan of sample-sized products for its ingenuity of allowing consumers to do a try-before-we-buy (learnt it the hard way when I recently bought a Les soins Bio Plante system makeup remover which was a huge no-no for my sensitive skin) and also because samples make amazing travel accessories, especially with the not more than 100ml rule on airplane cabin bags. And when I saw an opportunity to collaborate on a Hada Labo review on a different product, I was pretty happy! I was given a retail-sized pot of Hada Labo perfect gel (3-in-1 whitening gel) to try out, and it arrived in a nifty yet gorgeous re-sealable bag - plus points for packaging, I was really impressed because it seemed more like a gift than anything ♥
It was also bubble-wrapped all over for extra protection and to ensure it that the product remains intact:
How the gel looks like in store shelves:
Hada Labo's skincare philosophy stems from its name of Perfect x Simple, where their facial product range brings beauty back to the basics - perfect, simple and confident. Akin to one of my favourite other products, Dermalogica which originated from the US, Hada Labo also believes in a stripped down approach of "Nothing more, nothing less" where more ingredients does not mean it's beneficial for our skin. I love how they believe in emphasizing simplicity in its skin care processes, and their products don't have the unnecessary additives, colourings fragrance and mineral oils that many other shelf-brands claim to not have but secretly possess. Originating from Japan, it is definitely suited and compatible with Asian skins - plus their products are effective yet don't burn a hole in your pocket.
The product itself is a translucent gel and looks pretty unassuming like any other moisturizer or serum, I love how it's translucent because I simply can't deal with opaque moisturizers (more about that later in the post). There is also no smell, unlike other moisturizers in the market. The consistency is in between a hair gel and a runny moisturizing lotion, so you can easily scoop it up from the pot. A small scoop like this is perfect for a thin layer over the entire face, and I use it mainly after my afternoon shower so it gets absorbed easily! It can also be used as a night gel so it works its magic when you're asleep :)
After applying some onto my hand, the gel is absorbed extremely quickly after a few seconds and leaves no residual. However, after a few minutes I feel as if a thin layer has formed over my skin, and it feels like it's tightening - not too sure if you can see the difference in both my hands below (pardon my veins) but there's a slight difference: the left seems more hydrated, eve though I haven't tried it long enough to review on its whitening properties. But in terms of hydration for Hada Labo, I'm always a fan! I wasn't a fan of the thin layer formed though, so I would not wear this out without some powder.
Rating: ❀❀❀
(out of 5)
Tip: But of course, I have extremely sensitive skin as mentioned, so before I start using any products, I usually carry out a mini experiment to make sure that it does not contain any paraffin, silicon or is too rich in oil for my skin to handle. A small tip from my dermatologist is that most moisturizers which are opaque still do contain a minimal amount of oil because it needs that's the only way the base emulsifier can work on - so if you have combination or oily skin, it's best to go for moisturizers that are clear (e.g. collagen or hydroluronic acid based).
Apart from doing a patch test on either the tip of my ears or my arms near the elbow, I'll put a small dap of the product on a piece of paper and leave it overnight. Through the night, the product will ripple into a bigger blob and I read it somewhere on a magazine that the oil present in the product will diffuse outwards, so you can use your own judgement call to see if your skincare product is too rich for you. For demonstration purposes, I tried comparing the gel with Dermalogica's active moist - a moisturizer I loved about 5 years ago until I realized that it caused me breakouts, and you can see how much more oil Active moist has as compared to the gel.
After a day, the center of the blob will contain some residue. Here, the Dermalogica sample felt like a thick concoction of oil and lotion while the Hada labo one felt like sticky melted plastic, which I later found out from the ingredients list that it may be hydrolyzed collagen. The end results were captured against the sunlight so the diffused ingredients can be seen more clearly.
Hope this was useful, head down to the Sample store to get your free sample while stocks lasts! Hada Labo (Singapore) is also having a Hada Labo 3-in-1 Arbutin Whitening Perfect Gel Snow Princess game on their facebook page to stand a chance to win this product. Or you can head down to their retailers at BHG, Guardian, NTUC, OG, Robinsons, Sasa, Unity and Watsons and get it at $38.90 for an 80g retail product.
Ciao!
