A Quick Review on some Japanese Haircare Products
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011Having tried a number of different brands of Japanese haircare products, I think I should post my reviews about these brands (listed alphabetically):
Fancl
I love using Fancl products because they are preservatives and addictives free. When I discovered that they have shampoo and conditioner (a few years back), I couldn’t wait to try them. Pricewise, they are not cheap; selling in Japan for 2470 yen (around USD24-30) for the set. And mind you, it is a 200ml bottle!
200ml set
But it didn’t work for my hair… 
The lather was so-so and after shampooing, my hair felt kind of dry. Of course, I followed with conditioner but the result wasn’t smooth and silky hair that I expected. Hair did not felt dry or rough overall, it was just MODERATE. Moderately smooth, moderately soft, moderately shiny. I believe with prolonged use, my hair can be very nice and healthy because of all the good ingredients the products have (or the absence of the not-so-good ingredients) but for the price, I hesitated to continue after my first set.
Nevertheless I like it for its scent. Very mild and soothing citrusy scent that I still remember until today. Anyway I might try it again in future, when Fancl has new improved formulations. 
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Luscious ingredients that attracted my attention to try Segreta back then
Kao Segreta
Segreta was one of the earliest Japan imported haircare brand that I have tried and loved. The brand actually aims for the more mature market but I was feeling very keen to try when I saw some of the ingredients it has such as the pomegranate extract which gives shine to your hair.
I love the smell of Segreta too. Fruity but not ‘sweet’. And did it work? Yes, my hair felt very soft and smooth to the touch. I noticed after a few uses, there was a gentle sheen on my hair.
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Kracie Ichikami
Ichikami shampoo & conditioner
This is another one of my favourite brands. I haven’t managed to try its hair pack, Ichikami Premium Mask, which was ranked as No. 1 under ‘Hair Pack/ Treatment’ category in 2010 at cosme.net yet. However, the shampoo and conditioner were good.
Ichikami Premium Mask
Shampoo had a good lather and conditioner detangled well. The products had a pleasant fresh blooming wild cherry trees fragrance. And, Ichikami is silicone-free.
Another point worth mentioning is, it did not cause irritation to my scalp as some shampoo/ conditioner brands make my scalp itchy.
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Shiseido Tsubaki
Shining (Red line) 
Tsubaki has three ranges, namely Shining (Red line), Damage Care (White line) and Head Spa (Gold line). I prefer Red Shining line over White Damage Care line but I love the Head Spa (Gold line) most because it does not only made my hair shiny, it cared for my scalp too.
Shiseido Tsubaki Shining (Red line)
A lot of users will prefer the white range because it is the Damage Care range but I found the Shining range doing a good job in repairing my damaged hair plus making it shinier too. I have used all three ranges for the shampoo and conditioner but I don’t think that the Damage care range actually repairs your hair better than the other two. Not saying that it doesn’t but I just didn’t see or feel the improvement any more than when I was using the other two.
In addition, its fragrance was much nicer than Damage Care. I really like its fruity camellia scent which is a delightful mixture of Camellia, Hamanashi or Shore Pear (a rose that grows on the coasts), Nankobai (a type of Japanese plum), Shiro Budo (White Grape), pomegranate, Ogonto (Golden Peach), ginger, and Kosuinashi or Kosui pear.
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Damage Care (White line)
Shiseido Tsubaki Damage Care (White line)
As I already mentioned above, I didn’t really like the Damage Care range but it is popular because it’s specially for damaged hair. It worked fine really but I didn’t fancy its fragrance of Camellia, bamboo, moss, willow, water lily, and sweet-smelling daphne which resulted in a very ‘green’ scent.
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Head Spa (Gold line)
Shiseido Tsubaki Head Spa (Gold line)
Tsubaki Head Spa is my favourite of the three ranges. Sometimes my scalp will get itchy when I did not rinse off the conditioner cleanly when using either Red or White range (the usage instructions did actually ask users to rinse off thoroughly), but with Head Spa, I have gotten almost no irritation. Head Spa actually helps preventing dandruff and itchiness on scalp.
As usual with Tsubaki products, my hair was shinier and smooth. The fragrance is a mind and body relaxing aromatic blend of natural essential oils which I enjoyed.
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