I was invited to the Hada Labo Media Intimate Session held at Marina At Keppel Bay yesterday. Hada Labo is a renowned Japanese skincare brand. Their star product is the Super Hyaluronic Acid (SHA) moisturizing “lotion” (which translates to “toner” for the Western skincare system). According to statistics, 7 million bottles of this lotion was sold in Japan within one year to the 16 million women there. That’s approximately 1 bottle every 2 women.
Hada Labo is launching its products in Singapore in June exclusively at Watsons stores. There are three main ranges of products as seen below:
On the left in white packaging is the Moisturizing SHA range that consists of a makeup remover, face wash, lotion, milk (moisturizer), sheet mask and serum. In the middle is the AHA/BHA face wash range consisting of a self foaming wash and a creamy wash. The self-foaming wash was really interesting when we tried it out. On the right is the Whitening SHA range, which is essentially SHA range + arbutin, a whitening complex derived from plants. The whitening range consist of lotion, milk, serum and mask. Ideally, you should use the AHA range to exfoliate before using the whitening range for maximal effect.
Upon query with the staff, the products will be sold at an affordable price range of $20-$40.
This is a picture of Niwa-san from Japan explaining how SHA works.
Hada Labo is developed by Rhoto- Mentholatum. Rhoto is a pharmaceutical company that specialises in eye medication. Contact lens users might have used Rhoto C-cube eyedrops before – the one that comes in a square bottle. Mentholatum is also a medicinal brand that produces useful things such as Deep Heat (I love), and lipbalms. At press conference they showed pictures of the production line that’s sanitised and sterilized, so we can use the products with ease.
Demonstrating how powder SHA absorbs water and swells
At the media session we took part in a skin hydration test. They first measured the hydration level of the skin on the back of our hands, and then applied the lotion, and measured again. Somehow I didn’t see a huge increase in my hydration level, but some of the other attendees reported as much as a doubling of hydration.
(Someone else's arm)
My card
An increase of 13.7%. Interesting.
At the session they also employed young girls to demonstrate how to apply the skincare effectively. It’s more than just spreading it all over the face; optimally we should pat it in.
Hada Labo girls
At the end of the media session we were each given a full set of the SHA range (without the makeup remover) to try out at home.
I will report back in a week or two with my review of the products. I used the lotion last night, and it was divine. But the review will come later.
I enjoyed myself at the media session! Thanks for the invite. All these launch session are spoiling me. Heh.
[...] I attended the Hada Labo Media Intimate Session? So I came home and tried the products, mainly the Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion. Hada Labo SHA [...]