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Hi everyone! As I posted this picture on Instagram, a lot of you guys might get a hint by now that my family went to Japan for a vacation and lucky me, they did help me to get some beauty products from the local drugstores. I want to say tho that I'm jealous of people who live in Japan because they have access to so much of cute, fancy and affordable cosmetics. Also... anime merchandises!!! Haha. I've been watching a lot of anime series lately more than I watch Korean dramas. My mum told me that the drugstores in Japan are literally EVERYWHERE and even if the shop is small with tiny aisles, they do sell various products with incredibly crowded surrounding to the point that she had a hard time to choose since she was spoiled for choice.

As I am a bit of a noob when it comes to J-Beauty, I did a bit of research beforehand on what to buy from their drugstores. I visited cosme.com, which is a site like Makeupalley but for Japanese cosmetics, and also had @cosme_hunter's Instagram feed as references. My friend who's living in Japan, Maiko also helped me a lot in suggesting some products that worth to buy as well as where to get them. So, here's a haul. Technically my mum's haul and you can use this list as a reference! Few of the items already available in Malaysia btw, but of course, you can get them cheaper in Japan.

1) Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel (¥830)
Truth be told, I don't actually need another bottle of sunscreen right now but it's Japan. This country is famous for its cosmetically-elegant sunscreen and very impossible not to buy any of them while at there. I'm guessing the one I have here is the gel/thicker version of the Biore UV Aqua Rich Essence. I actually wanted to try the limited edition of its kind, (Maetel design with pink bottle and floral fragrance) but it was sold out.

2) Cure Natural Aqua Gel

The no. 1 best-selling peeling gel in Japan. It's hugely popular and has a high rating on Cosme. I just recently saw it at Watsons for RM139 sale price, so I'm not sure why did I get this. Lol. At least it's cheaper but not much. I've only used a peeling gel from Etude House before and that was like more than 5 years ago so I'm pretty excited to add this back into my skincare routine.

3) EVITA Beauty Whip Soap (¥1200)

Another popular item. When my mum told me about the vacay in Japan, I knew I wanted this cleanser already. I've been seeing it went viral around last year, got its own personal post on sites like Allure.com, Cosmopolitan and Huffington Post. It's actually a foaming face cleanser where the lid of the bottle is designed with a rose stencil so that the foam comes out shaped like the flower itself. How cool is that??! I heard the cleanser also smells like roses.

4) DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

I'm pretty sure most of you guys have heard about this product before, and if you haven't, you're missing out! This is a cleansing oil used for the double cleanse method, and it's actually such a big thing in Asian inspired skincare routine. I've been meaning to try it for a while but hesitate due to its pricing in Watsons. I believe this item is fairly cheap in Japan, so my mum bought not one but 3 bottles of the oil cleanser. Super excited to try this and hopefully, it will perform better than the Nature Republic Camomile Cleansing Oil that I'm currently using.

5) DHC Medical New Mild Touch Cleansing Oil
Honestly, I have no idea what is it being called since I cannot read Japanse, but I'm guessing this is just another variant of DHC Cleansing Oil, a.k.a YAY I GOT MORE CLEANSING OILS TO TRY OUT and all of them are from J-Beauty brands. Same with the sunscreen, I actually wanted to try out the limited edition version since I was really intrigued by the packaging.

6) LuLuLun Sheet Masks
One of the high-quality sheet mask to get recommended by a lot of beauty sites. I think I saw these in Malaysia but with the 7-days packaging. Is it at AEON Wellness? I'm not sure. I was planning to get LuLuLun locally but as my family was going to Japan, I thought I might as well make them get these sheet masks for me. By the way, look at all the packaging... So cute!! We got all the 3 main types of masks from the classic series- Hydrating (pink), Deep Moisturising (Blue) and Brightening (White). Mask ni guna tiap-tiap hari selama satu bulan, explaining why it comes in a large portion.

7) Mote Liner Lquid Eyeliner in Brown Black (¥1620)

The only makeup item I got from Japan and probably the best one out of everything. My dad helped to buy it at the airport before he got on the plane. Didn't realise the price is slightly steep for a drugstore brand, but uhh, the satisfaction. I also in need of a new eyeliner to replace my KATE Black liner that I got from Watsons. I loooooove Japanese eyeliners, they seem to provide a better control of the wand and also, the tip is thin and soft. It's suitable if you have monolids or hooded eyes like me.

That concludes my haul! There were few other items made into the list (drugstore & high end) but couldn't get them due to time constraint, unavailability and overall budget, but I'm just going to leave it here for future reference.

1) Kanebo Suisa Beauty Clear Powder

2) Sumi Haigou Settuken Charcoal Bar Soap

3) Miracle Romance Sailor Moon Makeup (sold out in all drugstores that my mum went into emergerd)

4) Namerakahonto Lotion by SANA (it's a soy milk based toner)

5) Quality First All-in-one Sheet Mask

6) Shiseido ANEESA Perfect Sunscreen SPF50+

7) Shiseido Adenovital Eyelash Serum

8) Kose Sekkisei Medicated Herbal Gel

9) SKII R.N.A Power Moisturiser (would love to repurchase but there aren't much price different than the one sold in Malaysia)

10) Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist

And these are the list for some of the stores in Japan where you can buy drugstore products.

1) Matsumoto Kiyoshi

2) Don Quijote

3) PLAZA

4) Cocokara

5) KOKMIN

6) Donki

7) Daikoku Drug

8) Lady Drug Store

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this post and let me know which items you like the most and which ones you want me to review.

Just in case you're not already tired of my skincare reviews on the blog these days, keep in mind that I have like 4 upcoming blog posts related to skincare that I've already write halfway and keep them as drafts. Phew. I can't help it, skincare is definitely an obsession of mine these days rather than makeup (just how many times I've mentioned this already?) and also, recently I tweeted that I'm on a makeup ban until May which I think it's a good thing because at least, I got to use whatever I have in the kit right now and carry on with my panning project. God knows how desperate I am been wanting to buy the Glow Fleur Cheeks from Canmake (especially when Guardian made it on sale for 30% last month) and a few eyeshadow palettes like Tarte PRO to Go and Nubian 2 Palette. *WISHLIST WISHLISTTTTT*

Anyhow, today, let's talk about skincare.
I'm calling it "Facial Friday", so my next facial mask review would probably be posted on Friday too. Here I have another product from Freeman which is the Charcoal & Black Sugar Mud Mask. I bought it from Guardian some time ago after I finished with the Avocado and Oatmeal Clay Mask. I noticed that these days, Guardian has a good selection of Freeman products just like Caring Pharmacy.

So, okay here's what Freeman has to say about the mask,

"This velvety, jet-black mud mask works like magic to moisturise, remineralise, and make skin sensationally soft! Skin-loving mineral collected from the Dead Sea have a natural nourishing effect that boosts smoothness and overall skin health. Activated Charcoal locks onto oils and toxins, then gently lift them away without over-drying or disturbing skin. Black Sugar helps skin hold on to hydration, which helps smooth out roughness and fine lines. Perfect for normal to combination skin."

Packaging
Huge 175ml tube with affordable price! I got mine for RM15+ on sale. I really like the packaging because it's hygienic, doesn't dry out the product and the illustration on the tube is pretty. I think Freeman came out with a newly (and nicer) packaging but they have yet to reach Malaysia.

There's no expiry date engraved on the tube except a sticker showing manufacturing date from Malaysian's supplier. I don't prefer this way because how can you ensure that they don't lie to us? it could be shady right? *overthinking lol*

How To Use (according to the body label)
Apply mask to face and neck, avoiding contact with eyes. Let dry and rinse with warm water. Use 2 times a week or as often as needed.

How I Use
As instructed, except lesser usage. I have so many other products I rarely reach for this one, so I use this only once a week. My trial period is more than 5 months already. I put this on my clear face after I cleanse with a water-based cleanser (when my face is still damp) and follow up with a toner and moisturiser or face oil. Can you use the cold water coming from the sink? yes sure, go ahead, there's nothing wrong with that. Asalkan bilas bersih, ye dak?

Ingredients
Aqua, Bentonite, Kaolin, Glycerin, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Carbon (Activated Charcoal), Maris Limus (Silt), Sucrose, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Diazolidinyl Urea, Carica Papaya Fruit Extract, Sodium Polyacrylate, Xanthan Gum, Disodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Rubus Idaeus (Rasberry) Fruit, Methylisothiazolinone, Propylene Glycol, Musa Sapientum (Banana) Fruit Extract, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Extract, Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract, Cymbopogon Schoenanthius Extract, Maranta Arundinacea Root Extract, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Extract, Maranta Arundinacea Root Extract, Santalum Album (Sandalwood) Extract, Macrocystis Pyrifera Extract, Nasturtium Officinale Extract, Aleurites Moluccana Extract, Fragrance, Iron Oxide (CI 77499)

Discussions
1) The main ingredient of this product is clay- Bentonite and Kaolin. These are good in sweat and sebum absorbing but they don't penetrate deeply into pores like AHA or BHA. However, since oil/sebum is one of the contributing factors to acne, I'd like to believe that the mask could help in preventing blackheads and whiteheads.

2) Bentonite clay consists of mostly negatively charge ions while toxins and heavy metals on the skin are positively charged. So, bentonite clay works like a magnet that bonds to them and helps in purifying the skin. Kaolin or china clay is obtained by the process of industrial mining from kaolinized granite and it has a 'hygroscopic' property (moisture absorbing), just like most mineralize clays. Therefore this mud mask could be a little drying to those with dry skin. This property is also the reason why clay mask will be dry after you put it on your face for few minutes.

3) I like the fact that glycerin is high up in the ingredient list. Glycerin is a humectant and moisturising agent so it will make your skin feeling moisturised even after the mask is being washed off from the face.

4) Magnesium Aluminum Silicate is a naturally occurring mineral derived from refined and purified clay. It is used in the mask as a thickening and filler agent. It cannot be absorbed into the skin because of its large molecule.

5) Other notable ingredients worth mentioning here are carbon (activated charcoal) and sucrose (sugar) because these are basically what giving the mask its name. Checkout Labmuffin post on charcoal, she wrote a nice scientific-based article for this ingredient! Meanwhile, sucrose is like glycerin, a humectant, therefore it plays a role in bringing hydration and moisturising effect to the skin. I'm a bit sceptical on how it can reduce fine lines and roughness of the skin though, because as far as I noticed, this mask is gritty free.

In my opinion, this Freeman Charcoal & Black Sugar Mud Mask generally has so many good ingredients.

Sources:
1) Murray, Haydn H. Applied Clay Mineralogy: Occurrences, Processing and Application of Kaolins, Bentonites, Palygorskite-sepiolite, and Common Clays. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2007. Print.

2) Elmore AR, Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel. Final report on the safety assessment of aluminium silicate, calcium silicate, magnesium aluminium silicate, magnesium silicate, magnesium trisilicate, sodium magnesium silicate, zirconium silicate, attapulgite, bentonite, Fuller's earth, hectorite, kaolin, lithium magnesium silicate, lithium magnesium sodium silicate, montmorillonite, pyrophyllite and zeolite. International Journal of Toxicology, 2003.

Verdict
I would like to think this is a good facial mask. It's meant to be moisturising and smoothen your skin and in my opinion, it stays true to what it claimed. My face becomes hydrated and indeed very smooth after using. Even though the mask is formulated with moisture-absorbing clays, there's no excessively drying experience I encountered, therefore I'd gladly recommend this especially if you have oily-combination skin. It would 'suck out' the greasiness from your t-zone but at the same time, it won't cause dryness on the other parts of your face. Sounds good right?

Another thing I really like about this face mask is the scent. I wasn't expecting it to smell good but it does. It has a slightly sweet smell to it, not anywhere near overwhelming. I prefer the scent coming from this mask a lot more better than the previous Freeman mask I've reviewed. I also like the fact that the mask doesn't leave me tingling sensation because personally, I find that clay mask can be too intense sometimes once I gave it a try. This is nice and comfortable to wear.

The mud mask is grey in colour and it looks like.....mud.

Usually, I apply this mask using fingers but I'd totally recommend you getting a mask brush to get an even layer. I've seen some mask kit selling at MR DIY and other beauty shops. Tak mahal pun, it should be less than RM5. The consistency of the Freeman Charcoal & Black Sugar Mud Mask is smooth while the texture is soft but not super thick and hard.

Meanwhile, the application is easy BUT can be messy. Freeman doesn't recommend any specific duration for how long we should leave the mask on, so I allowed it to dry for 15 minutes before washing it out as I cannot go any longer. Overly dries mask would make my face goes itchy. The mask can be slightly difficult to wash and if you're not careful, it may stick to your hair and clothing.

Overall
This is a perfect mask for those with normal to oily combination skin who want a deep cleansing product that will still provide moderate moisture to the skin. The price is affordable and it's widely available in this country. I'd rate the mask 8/10. It's not something I'd consider as 'holy grail' yet, but I do like it and would highly recommend.

Which Freeman mask should I try next?!! Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to follow me on my social medias!

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Product Info;

Name: Charcoal & Black Sugar Mud Mask

Brand: FREEMAN

Type: Wash-off Mask

Country of Origin: Made in USA
Content: 175ml

Shelf life: 36 months

Limited Edition: No

Price: RM23.21

Availability (Malaysia):
(1) In store- Leading pharmacies like Caring, Guardian & Watsons
(2) Online- Guardian [here]

Official Website: https://www.freemanbeauty.com/