Brunch with Luxella & Hinatahina

Hi guys, welcome back to my blog! Today I'll be sharing about my morning brunch with Luxella as well as Hinatahina, one of the brands introduced to us that day!

First of all, what is Luxella? Luxella is a website that provides a selection of Japanese Beauty products directly from Japan. They carry a range of different Japanese brands ranging from luxury (like Kose, Shiseido, LM Laduree), cult faves (like Sanrio & Dolly Wink) to trendy ones (like Anessa & Sugao). They also have worldwide shipping available!

 

The brunch was held in Ben's Pavilion, and we were greeted by a pretty floral table setting!

My company for the day! (From L-R: @reikotherainbowgirl, @evelynmarietta, @gracemyu)

Once everyone settled in we were greeted by Kaylee, the founder of Luxella. After a brief greeting from her she introduced is Miko-chan, the brand ambassador of Hinatahina!

Hinata-hina is a new Japanese brand, and we were introduced to their Ukiyoe-Hinatahina facial soap!

I'm not sure what the exact name of the soap is because on the details given to us (+ on Hinatahina's official website) it's only referred to as the Ukiyoe x Hinatahina Soap. It costs 6000 yen each

We all know that Japanese people are famous for their perfect & youthful skin, and we also know that products made in Japan tend to be very high quality. Formulated in Kobe, the UxH soap combines both science and tradition. The soap contains Hinatahina's patented lactic acid bacteria called BiProGE. Its consists of lactic acid bacteria and yeast that have been cultured in rice bran, and the strength of both of these ingredients work in unison to strengthen the skin. The soap is mildly alkaline and is suitable even for people with sensitive skin.

Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries, and both the product + the packaging is inspired by Ukiyo-e. The packaging was commissioned from a famous Japanese artist and contains original art too! Everything from the color, pattern and form of the packaging was taken into account + has a meaning, and you can actually click here to learn more about it. I think it's typically Japanese to be thorough and well thought out, and I really like the complexity and the various meanings behind every single detail.

The soap is available in 2 different boxes: blue and red. Each box contains 1 soap, 1 foam maker + 2 dishes. The dishes are made from algae, absorbing extra moisture and preventing the soap from melting like other soaps. Once you're done using it as a soap dish, you can also use it as a coaster. See what I mean by the attention to detail?! 😍

Anyways, back to the soap. The ingredient list is pretty clean and it has no parabens + is free from sulfates & alcohol.

It lathers up pretty easy:

And the foam created is pretty dense:

To use it, you simply have to create a lather and wash your face in gentle circular motions. After that, leave the foam on your face for 30-60 seconds and wash it with water.

When I tried the soap at the event, I felt like it was a pretty good cleanser and didn't feel like it stripped too much moisture from my face. After using it for around a week now, I can say that it's a pretty nice cleanser. It didn't break me out and my face feels nice and clean after using it (I think people with dry skin will especially like this soap because of the glycerin too).

However, I would prefer if it had more acne-controlling ingredients like BHA/AHA/PHA. Aside from that, it would be nice to see a whole range of products to accompany this product in the future! I think Hinatahina is off to a great start, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else they come up with in the future.

We were given the Hinatahina Tie 2 Plus Serum as well, and I've been incorporting it into my skincare routine as well. After cleansing with the soap, I usually follow up with toner, serum + moisturizer. This serum smells so delicious (like fruit loop cereal!) and I'll share more about it here on my blog after researching + trying it out a bit more

Thanks again to Kaylee for inviting me to the brunch! If you guys are interested in checking out some Japanese makeup/skincare products, remember to drop by luxella.com and browse through their selection.

And that's it for this post! I hope you guys found it fun & interesting. If you have any questions about my experience of about the products in general, don't hesitate to comment down below or DM me on my Instagram. Till then, see y'all in the next post!