Cosme Tokyo 2021: [Show Report]

The 2021 edition of Japan’s largest cosmetics trade fair Cosme Tokyo took place as a hybrid event, with the offline show held in Tokyo’s Big Sight exhibition centre from 13^th to 15^th January.

The online version of Cosme Week Tokyo 2021 (which comprises Cosme Tokyo, Cosme Tech, Inner Beauty and Esthec Japan) opened a few days earlier and the digital exhibition booths stayed up for another week or so after the offline fair had closed. Since the pandemic is still raging over here in Europe I visited the digital edition of Cosme Tokyo 2021.

There were some 200-odd companies at Cosme Tokyo, Inner Beauty and Esthec Japan and around 150+ exhibitors at Cosme Tech. Smaller than the usual Cosme Week Tokyo shows but still impressive. According to organisers Reed Business Japan, 10,468 visitors attended the offline edition of the fair.

Here’s a bit of background about Cosme Tokyo: The first Cosme Tokyo trade show took place in 2012 as the retail beauty subsidiary of Cosme Tech, Japan’s first trade fair for cosmetic ingredients, OEM and manufacturing. Cosme Tech itself had been inaugurated two years previously. My first visit to Cosme Tokyo, incidentally, was in 2014, and back then it was a really small (albeit interesting) show; I was about the only non-Asian (and one of the very few non-Japanese) visitors there.

My next visit was in 2018, the year that Cosme Tokyo and Cosme Tech moved to Makuhari Messe, a location around 40 minutes by train outside of Tokyo. 2018 was also the year that a section for nutritional supplements and functional foods – Inner Beauty – was added to the show and the whole event was renamed Cosme Week Tokyo. I also visited Cosme Week Tokyo in 2019 and in 2020 (both times in Makuhari Messe) and it was interesting to see how much the trade show grew every each year; it is now also increasingly catering to international visitors, with more English language signage and press releases every year.

This year the fair moved back to Tokyo Big Sight and the organisers added one more show to Cosme Week Tokyo – Esthec Japan focuses on the burgeoing aethetics and salon market in Japan. In 2020, Reed Business Japan also launched an Osaka edition of Cosme Tokyo/Cosme Tech so there are now two Cosme Weeks every year: one in Osaka (which includes Cosme Osaka and Cosme Tech Osaka) and one in Tokyo (Cosme Tokyo, Cosme Tech Tokyo, Inner Beauty Tokyo and Esthec Japan). I think it’s probably just a matter of time before Inner Beauty is added to the Osaka event as well.

Anyway, Cosme Tokyo is a really worthwhile show if you’re interested in the Japanese cosmetics market. While Beautyworld Japan would be the first choice if you wanted to explore the Japanese salon sector, Cosme Tokyo is THE key show for Japanese retail beauty. And no, I don’t get paid for saying this : )

KEY TRENDS AT COSME TOKYO 2021

As in previous years, organic and natural beauty brands were very prominent at the trade fair, as were typically Japanese ingredients with their strong emphasis on terroir (geographic heritage). A beauty brand from, say, Hokkaido or Okinawa will almost always feature regional and local ingredients and very proudly communicate this fact.

Stem cells (from humans, animals and plants) were another key trend at Cosme Tokyo 2021, as was CBD (cannabidiol, an ingredient derived from hemp). The appearance of CBD at a Japanese trade show is a comparatively recent development – in most Western countries cannabidiol is now firmly established as a beauty ingredient and supplement, but for the countries in East Asia and South East Asia, the relationship with CBD (and hemp/cannabis) is a lot more complicated.

Nonetheless, food and beauty products formulated with CBD are now really starting to take off in Japan (and from what I read online, in China as well) and this was quite visible at Cosme Tokyo this year: the number of domestic CBD exhibitors (companies based in Japan who formulate their products there) had almost doubled compared to the previous year.

Now let’s go check out some of the new launches and my favourite brand discoveries at Cosme Tokyo 2021!

SILK LIFE LAB (Japan)

I remember seeing Silk Life Lab at last year’s Cosme Tokyo; it was a kind of rushed discovery (last day, 30 minutes before closing time and most brands were already starting to pack up their booths) – I took a few pictures, grabbed a brochure and left. I did feature the brand in my blog coverage and in a couple of other articles about Cosme Week 2020, so I was more than pleased to see Silk Life Lab again. And this time with English-language information material, too!

Quick brand recap: The company behind Silk Life Lab is Kimono Brain from Tokamachi in Niigata prefecture. Kimono Brain runs its own silk worm farm and the company produces silk textiles and other fabric blends for kimonos and kimono accessoires – they also have a textile experimentation lab. In 2018 Kimono Brain branched out into cosmetics and launched the Silk Life Lab brand. Silk Life Lab’s initial product line-up was compact, with sericin (silk extract) derived from silk cocoons as the key active, and the packaging design looked rather charmingly home-made.

Over the past twelve months Silk Life Lab has launched a whole clutch of new products (with new and much more stylish packaging), including a Hair and Body Shampoo from April 2020, an Antibacterial Hand Gel with silk extract which was launched last November 2020 and a particularly interesting sounding face mask, the Felisheet Nano Sheet (see screenshot above) which hit the shelves in June 2020.

Felisheet is a set of undereye masks made from fibres saturated in silk cocoon-derived sericin – the term nano refers to the thin diameter of the carrier material which looks almost invisible on the skin. As a reminder for all my European readers: in J-beauty nano technology and nano-sized ingredients are considered a highly desirable aspect because they make the cosmetic products more effective. Nano technology is a very positive and valuable product claim for any Japanese skin care brand, especially the luxury and high-end anti-ageing sector and the average domestic consumer loves her nano beauty products. Nano = good!

Based on the Google-Translated descriptions the Felisheet masks are, I think, dry masks (i.e. the material is not actually submerged in a liquid serum like sheet masks usually are). After you peel of the backing you apply a few drops of you favourite lotion or essence on it and then place the mask underneath your eyes.

The brand recommends applying a layer of cream on top of the mask to make it adhere to the skin even more thoroughly but even without an additional lipids the Felisheet mask is said to stick to the skin firmly enough that you can actually go to sleep wearing it. In the morning, peel off the mask or gently moisten it with water and roll it off. A pack of 24 mask sheets retails for 7,000 Yen (just under 70 Euro).

JUBAN JUBAN (Japan)

Silk Life Lab also launched an entirely new silk extract skin care brand which is rather interesting: the 3-sku Juban Juban (the name refers to the undergarment “juban” that is traditionally worn underneath a kimono) is a modern, fresh range aimed squarely at young consumers.

Silk extract is an ingredient usually associated with expensive anti-ageing products but with this range, Silk Life Lab wanted to create a more accessible entry point to the luxe world of traditional silk cosmetics – or as the Google Translation of their website puts it: “luxury but friendly”!

The Juban Juban range comprises a Cleansing Lotion, a Lotion (this is a typically Japanese type of product which is comparable to a Korean essence – a hydrating liquid) and a Milky Lotion (a liquidy moisturiser). All products are formulated with Silk Life Lab’s green cocoon silk extract (hydrolyed sericin) which is claimed to be highly moisturising, with a strong antioxidant effect. The Juban Juban line is priced at around 2,500 Yen (just over 20 Euro) per product which makes this brand eminently suitable for mass market distribution.

AXXZIA (Japan)

Here’s another interesting eye sheet mask launch: Japanese salon beauty brand Axxzia’s Beauty Eyes Essence Sheet Premium. Axxzia (the XX in the brand name refers to the female chromosomes, but the brand’s pronounced Azia, like Asia) was launched in 2011 and the company’s line-up comprises three luxury anti-ageing beauty brands – salon-exclusive Le Ciel de L’Aube which was launched in 2013, retail brand Axxzia which was introduced a few years later and Aither (another salon brand). On the supplements/functional foods side there are two retail brands, AG Theory and Venus Theory.

Axxzia’s Eye Essence Sheet Premium was introduced last November and the shape of these eye masks is markedly different from just about any other product on the market: usually eye masks are shaped like half-moons and designed to be placed underneath the eyes.

The new Axxzia eye masks are ultra-thin (0,3 mm) serum-saturated ovals with an eye-shaped cut-out and they are placed ON the eyes like individual googles. That way the entire eye area gets a dose of hydration! A pack of 60 eye sheets (so you get a month’s worth of treatments out of a jar) retails for around 8,500 Yen (just over 80 Euro).

Axxzia has a solid distribution in Japan and internationally. In its domestic market the company operates shop-in-shops in most major department stores chains (including Isetan, Lumine and Atre) and the products are also sold in retail chains like Loft, Tokyu Hands and Urban Comfort. Plus, there’ll be a fancy flagship store opening in Tokyo’s Ginza Six luxury mall in March 2021! The brands are also sold online and, I think, through TV sales as well (an important distribution channel in Japan).

Outside of Japan, Axxzia is retailed in Korea (Shilla and Lotte Duty Free), mainland China (through various skin care clinics and independent beauty retailers), Hong Kong (in the Beauty Secrets and Tokyo Lifestyle chains) and in Malaysia and Russia (primarily through online shops).

BIEST (Japan)

Japanese salon beauty brand BiEst is a regular exhibitor at Cosme Tokyo as well as Cosmoprof Asia and other trade fairs, so under normal circumstances (i.e. in a world without Corona) I see the brand quite a bit! I always enjoy meeting up with BiEst since their new launches are so interesting.

The key active in BiEst’s new Perfection serum, for example, are human stem cells which are claimed to boost and regenerate skin cell activity to make skin look younger and more resilient.In addition, the serum contains four growth factors (EGF, FGF, IGF and HGF), marine collagen and horse placenta – placenta is another very popular anti-ageing ingredient in Japanese beauty and horse placenta is said to be particularly rich in amino acids.

I would have loved to try out the texture of this serum but, well…hopefully next year!

MILPOCHE (Japan)

This is a rather charming natural beauty range for pregnant women, mothers and children. Manufacturer Melix is based in Miyakojima in Okinawa so – not surprisingly – the four Milpoche skin care products are formulated with typically regional ingredients, including shell ginger (one of my favourite Japanese ingredients, actually!) and camellia leaf extract.

The line-up features a solid hand soap, a liquid body wash, a body lotion and an All-in-One Gel Cream which can be used on face or body. The star ingredient is Tasmanian lanceolata leaf extract (in its brand communication Milpoche has highlighted this as “first in Japan” so perhaps they are the first skin care brand to use this extract?). There are refills for the three liquid products; prices range from 1,500 Yen for the bar soap over 2,700 Yen for 160ml body lotion to 3,500 Yen for 160ml of the gel cream.

I wish I could tell you more about distribution and so on, but although I contacted the brand through the digital expo’s messaging system I didn’t hear back from them. This is one major drawback I’ve noticed when attending digital trade fairs: as a virtual visitors you are dependent on the exhibitor side actually having time to respond to your questions.

At Cosmoprof Asia Digital Week (which was a fully virtual show) the organisers had to extend the trade fair duration for another few days by popular request in order to allow exhibitors and visitors to catch up on the enormous volume of online traffic (messages, video chat, audio messaging).

Cosme Tokyo was a hybrid show so the exhibitors there had to deal with the (more important) visitor traffic/enquiries on the floor whilst at the same times responding to their virtual messages. Definitely a kind of bottleneck for most smaller brands, unless you can afford to hire a social media team to exclusively take on the digital side of the visitor traffic!

ROSA RUGOSA (Japan)

Another regional organic beauty brand, this time from Hokkaido. Parent company Ciokay is headquartered in Urahoro and the key active in Rosa Rugosa is the eponymous rose variant (hanamasu, also called Japanese rose or beach rose) which is cultivated locally. The rose ingredients are paired with the moisturising extract from the leaves of Sakhalin fir (todomatsu), an evergreen tree native to Hokkaido.

The brand’s lineup offers a hand cream, a lotion (a clear thick essence), a milky lotion (a very liquid moisturiser), a serum and a bar soap and the prices range from 2,200 Yen (around 20 Euro) for the hand cream to 4,400 Yen for the serum. Not cheap but not exorbitantly expensive either – in terms of pricing, organic beauty is definitely a luxury category in Japan.

Rosa Rugosa is most widely available in Hokkaido, of course; through independent beauty and natural stores and regional department store chains rather than the major national retailers. There are selected independent offline retailers in other regions in Japan (the company’s website lists five locations for Tokyo) and the products are also available online, of course.

In fact, the company offers a subscription service which is rather interesting: you can order a set of the three liquid face care products (lotion, milky lotion and serum) and select your favourite delivery frequency: once a month, every two months or quarterly.

REFRESIX (Japan)

Refresix is another Hokkaido native, with natural formulations and the prettiest packaging. Manufacturer Hakken Beaute uses a shed-load of regional plant extracts in its new skin care brand, including jujube fruit, prune, kisuta leaf and hasukappu (took me a lot of Googling but yes, this is indeed the English plant name).

There are two ranges within Refresix – the pink-packaged line is to refresh the skin, the turquoise packaged products are for hydration. Each line offers four products: a lotion (probably a thick, clear essence), an emulsion (based on the shape of the bottle I think this is a highly concentrated liquid moisturiser), a face cream and a sheet mask.

Prices range from 1,320 Yen for a set of four sheet masks to 3,850 Yen for the lotion and almost 5,000 Yen for the face cream. I don’t have any information about the distribution, unfortunately; I messaged them during the trade show but never heard back (see remark about digital trade shows in the Milpoche entry!).

RESETICA (Japan)

A cica range from Japan! Cica (centella asiatica) has been one of the biggest ingredient trends of recent years (thank you #kbeauty): the extract of the tigergrass plant is said to have an anti-inflammatory and strongly antioxidant effect on the dermis, boosting collagen production and regenerating and healing the skin.

Japanese beauty company U-Style Japan launched Resetica last March and the products sound fabulous: they are formulated with cica extract and cica leaf extract, stem cells from five plants (edelweiss, apple, sea fennel, sea holly and nigasa – not sure what this last plant is; Google Translate doesn’t handle Asian plant translations well at all!), plant extracts of Job’s Tear, ginger root, gromwell, shell ginger and Japanese plum and a blend of nine essential oils (including rose geranium, mandarine, coriander, lavender and basil).

The formulations are #cleanbeauty with a strong slant towards genuine organic and there are four face care products in the range: RR Moistveil Water Gel is a fresh moisturiser, RR Moistveil Mist is a milky face toner spray, RR Moistveil Cream is packaged in an airless container and RR Moistveil UV Essence is water-proof with SPF50+ PA+++++ (with titanium dioxide and zinc dioxide as UV filters). The pricing is moderate: the RRP starts at around 2,100 Yen (a little under 20 Euro) for the mist and goes up to 3,500 Yen for the cream.

I did some research into Resetica’s distribution and in Japan, the brand is sold online (for example through Rakuten, Amazon and Qoo10) but also offline in selected retail chains, including Loft. So that’s where I’ll be going on my next visit to Tokyo – I really want to try out the water gel and the toner spray!

MITOMO (Japan)

I first met Japanese skin care manufacturer Mitomo at Cosme Tokyo 2019 – their face care products (mostly sheet masks but also serums, toners and lotions) are formulated with typically Japanese ingredients such as brown and white rice, sake lees, tofu and yuzu fruit and the packaging is so attractive (one of their best-selling mask ranges is the Ukiyo-e line, which features classic Japanese wood-cuts on the packaging, see below). Definitely a #jbeauty brand made for the export market!

One of the newest arrivals in the Mitomo portfolio is the Goddess range of sheet masks: featuring eight goddesses from different Western mythologies and each goddess mask offers a kind of themed ingredients blend.

Demeter, for example, contains argan oil, jojoba fruit oil and aloe vera, Pomona’s key actives are avocado, pomegranate and grapefruit extracts; Artemis focuses on royal jelly, bee venom extract and propolis while Flora contains rose, rosemary and lavender extracts. Cronus, on the other hand, contains soybean extract, rice extract and sake lees extract while Gaea has been formulated with charcoal extract, diamond powder and nano-platinum.

I’m not sure if the Goddess range is intended for international distribution or for the domestic market (or both?) but it’s an interesting product concept.

SHOJIN COSME (Japan)

The first time I met Shojin Cosme was at Cosmoprof Asia 2019 and I must admit that I was surprised when I saw the halal certification of this newcomer makeup (surely the Japanese market for halal products must be tiny!).

Then I started chatting to the brand’s founder and she told me that she was looking at opportunities beyond the domestic market. With halal beauty such a rapidly growing global industry and the international popularity of Japanese beauty brands, adding a halal certificate to #jbeauty makes excellent business sense.

In addition, the entire Shojin Cosme range is certified vegan which is even more unusual – finding vegan beauty or food products in Japan is still rather difficult. So Shojin Cosme is a trailblazer in more way than one.

Anyway, I was delighted to see the brand’s virtual expo booth at Cosme Tokyo 2021 – here’s what the products look like. The last time I met Shojin Cosme IRL was at Cosme Tokyo last January so I went back to my notes from last year to compare products and I think, their newest launch is the Yuzu Lip Balm. This twist-up lip balm stick is formulated with the brand’s signature Japanese culinary ingredients: sesame seed oil, rice brand oil, tea seed oil and yuzu fruit extract. Priced at 1,000 Yen (approximately 8 Euro).

COSMETICS HALAL & ORGANIC (Japan)

We’ve already established that halal and #jbeauty is a winning combination – Japan-made cosmetics have excellent international reputation in terms of product manufacturing, ingredients quality and efficacy and with a halal certification, you gain access to an even bigger potential consumer demographic.

The Asia-Pacific region includes two of the biggest halal beauty markets in the world – Indonesia and Malaysia amongst them account for more than half of all muslim consumers in South East Asia. In fact, according to market researcher Coherent Market Insights, the Asia Pacific halal market reached 2.2 billion USD in 2019 (with market size growing by 9.9% annually until 2027 when the sector will be worth 4.8bn USD) – and South East Asia accounted for 1.3 billlion USD (10.2% annual CAGR until 2027) of this total alone.

Cosmetics Halal & Organic was launched in March 2020 and they obviously decided to kill two birds with one stone (so to speak) when they selected two major beauty claims for their company name : )

Spoiler alert: I looked at their INCI listings in more detailed and the product formulations are completely conventional – but the company’s product ranges are indeed certified by Japan’s halal certification association MPJA (Muslim Professional Japan Association). The MPJA, in turn, has reciprocity agreements with halal certification bodies in 25 countries, including MUI (Majelis Ulama Indonesia) and JAKIM (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia).

Cosmetics Halal & Organic offers two beauty brands at the moment: the 4-sku Ocean face care range offers “luxury halal cosmetics containing marine collagen and marine elastine”. The line-up comprises the self-heating cleanser Sky Hot Cleansing Rose, Treatment Essential Rose Serum, Treatment Essential Rose Essence and Treatment Emulsion Rose.

Then there’s a really cute 3-sku manga-themed Tokyo range certified by the Indonesian MUI (says the company website): Light Snow Wash Foam, Light Snow Booster Serum and Light Snow Lotion. All products are scented with zesty notes of yuzu.

I have no info about the company’s distribution at this moment (I contacted them through the digital message system but, well, see Milpoche above : )) but I’ll definitely keep an eye out for this company – hopefully I’ll see them at other trade shows.

UMIKARA (Japan)

Fukuoka-based functional foods/health supplements manufacturer Aishitoto is famous for its collagen jelly (which has been the top-selling collagen jelly in Japan for 11 years). However, the company has now also branched out into beauty and at Cosme Tokyo 2021, Aishitoto presented two new beauty ranges – Umikara and Gokayama.

The 6-sku Umikara range has been formulated with marine-derived ingredients and offers three face care products, an Airless Cushion Foundation (available in two shades) and two hair care products (shampoo and conditioner).

The skin care products sound really luscious – Double Moisture Gel, for example, is a face cream formulated with hydrolysed marine collagen, soluble marine collagen, marine placenta, squalane, hyaluronic acid, ceramide and ectoine. The Moisture Barriers Lotion is a hydrating liquid toner said to contain 47 beautifying ingredients (including the key actives from the Double Moisture Gel plus who knows what else! The company brochure didn’t provide and detailed INCI listing unfortunately) and the facial soap contains royal jelly and rosemary extract to gently cleanse the face whilst clarifying the skin tone.

The cushion foundation contains 33 beautifying ingredients and promises SPF 28 / PA++ as well as weightless, hydrating coverage and the hair care products are silicone-free and formulated with shea butter, jojoba oil, argan oil, olive oil and squalane.

I hope I’ll get the chance to check out this brand in real life at some point – I’m intrigued!

GOKAYAMA (Japan)

Gokayama is the second new beauty launch in Aishitoto’s C&T portfolio and it couldn’t be more different from Umikara above. The key ingredient in the 4-sku Gokayama face care range is tofu (tofu lees – the remains of the soy beans that are used in tofu production). The line-up offers the Soya Extract Cleanser (a very gently cleansing scrub), Soya Extract Mask (a wash-off cleansing mask), Soya Extract Lotion (a hydrating liquid) and the rich yet light Soya Extract Cream.

The tofu used in the formulation of the products is made with a very specific type of soy bean (the variant is called fukuyutaka) which is cultivated in Kyushu, and spring water from Mount Sefuri (a famous mountain range, also in Kyushu). This results in an exceptionally high tofu quality and extra creamy soy milk which, in turn, makes the Gokayama products very gentle yet effective. For beautiful mochi skin (or, as Google Translate puts it, “glossy tofu-like skin”)!

The Gokayama products are priced between 1,430 Yen (around 12 Euro) for the facial scrub to 2,750 Yen for the face cream. I really want to try out this range one day!

SPEIO BEAUTY (Taiwan)

I’ve liked this Taiwanese colour cosmetics brand ever since I first saw them at Cosme Tokyo 2019 (not China Beauty Expo as I mistakenly stated on Instagram; mea culpa! I actually had to do a brand search on my own blog because I couldn’t remember where I had seen them – I do visit a lot of trade shows). Speio Beauty was launched in 2018 and their exceptionally pretty packaging is made from cardboard and paper fibres (highly unusual for an Asian beauty brand back then – even now most cosmetic brands from East Asia still use plastic/synthetic packaging.

I actually just went back to my Cosme Tokyo 2019 article to refresh my memory and yes, even the lipstick packaging is/was cardboard! I can’t really tell if Speio’s current packaging is still paper; it certainly does look that way but since I can only see the products online there’s no way of telling what the composition of the packaging material actually is.

Anyway, Speio has always had gorgeous packaging and at Cosme Tokyo 2021 the brand presented a whole range of new products, including the limited edition collaboration Speio X Akane. Akane must be a video game/manga/anime/gaming app of some sort, not sure which – I did a quick Google search but only found Facebook profiles from people with “akane” in their names – but the pack design is so attractive! I’m not even a gamer and I wanted to buy the new powder palettes and lipsticks immediately : )

There’s also Magic Season, a collection of four multi-use cheek and lip tint sticks – Spring is a nude-rose tone, Summer is an orangey-red shade, Autumn is a darker berry colour and Winter a shimmering highlighter. Really pretty.

YAMAMOTO PERFUMERY (Japan)

Japan has handled the Corona pandemic pretty well so far although I read that case numbers are now rising again. Still, I don’t think there were any lockdowns over the past 12 months – or at least no lockdowns as severe as the ones we’ve had over here in Europe. Still, Covid-19 has of course left its mark on the Japanese beauty sector and in line with international #covidbeauty developments, many exhibitors at Cosme Tokyo presented disinfectant launches, hand care, face masks and mask accessories.

I found the Aroma Stickers from Yamamoto Perfumery particularly interesting: these are little adhesive squares scented with natural essential oils. You apply the stickers to the inside of your mask and can then enjoy a relaxing or invigorating aromatherapy/wellness experience. It also makes having to reuse disposable masks much more pleasant. There are four different aromatherapy scents to chose from: yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit), bergamot, peppermint and “cool mint” (perhaps spearmint?).

The company has also brought out a 5-sku range of mask refresher sprays which you can spray into your fabric or disposable mask. The scents available are hinoki (Japanese cedar), yuzu, bergamot, peppermint and cool mint. Unfortunately this exhibitor didn’t upload any press materials or additional images into the expo database so I can’t substantiate their claim that they use natural essential oils.

Yamamoto Perfumery also didn’t provide a website link or any other company information – I googled them, of course, and found the link I posted above. I think it might be the company, but the website looks very much out of date and the pictures in the Cosme Tokyo database are so blurry that I can’t even make out the Japanese characters of the company name (or the company logo), so who knows.

VALLÈE DES ROSES (Japan)

Vallèe des Roses, on the other hand, has a very well maintained web presence. Parent company EZ-ES is a rose cosmetics/beauty supplements manufacturer and Rose Protect is their latest launch: a disinfecting and deodorising spray which contains rose oil distilled from damask rose buds, grapefruit extract and persimmon extract. Initially I thought this was a regular high-alcohol hand sanitiser, but no – Rose Protect is completely alcohol-free and based on water and glycerin. The actual disinfectant effect comes from the persimmon (a very common and widely available fruit in Japan), the extract of which has strong anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties thanks to high levels of tannins.

The spray can be used as a hand sanitiser but also to scent and/or disinfect your mask, or as a quick aromatherapeutical boost. I looked at the ingredients with the help of Google Translate and the INCI declaration reads almost like a gently moisturising face toner. What an interesting product! The spray retails at 2,750 Yen (around 25 Euro). Rose Protect is part of EZ-ES Vallèe des Rose brand which also offers a 4-sku face care range, rose water for facial care and a fermented rose water beauty drink. There is even a Vallèe des Roses beauty salon in Tokyo’s fancy Ginza neighbourhood.

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Well, this was Cosme Week Tokyo 2021! Next year’s show will be held at Tokyo Big Sight again, from 12th to 15th January 2022. Hopefully I’ll be able to attend it in person – fingers crossed!