Snowy Skin Skincare Review: Olive skincare by Inoue Seikeon

inoue Seikoen olive skincare cleansing oil sunscreen — Inoue Seikoen olive skincare products

I have three secret weapons when it comes to looking after my skin (apart from the homemade DIY facemasks!)

These three products are from Inoue Seikeon- a Japanese oilve farm on the beautiful island of Shodoshima (think Osaka and a bit west, on the Seto Inland Sea). On this island, the climate is similar to that of the Mediterranean, so it's suitable to grow olives and citrus trees and there has been three generations growing and harvesting olives and citrus.

I first tried their products in Singapore, at Tangs department store and since then I have been purchasing from either Tangs or directly from their website in Japan.

I have tried many of their products: sunscreen, cleansing oil, peeling gel, olive beauty oil, extra virgin olive oil, olive soap, olive squalene (bought but haven't opened it yet!), olive shampoo and "beauty ball of citrus and olive oil". Even though I usually prefer Korean skincare products, but this Japanese brand is definitely right up the top for me!

Olive Sunscreen

The Aussie Sun is particularly strong in summer and although now summer is over and we're heading into winter, it is still very important to wear sunscreen, especially if you want to get or keep your snowy skin!

There are so many sunscreens out there and I've tried many but my favourite is Inoue Seikoen's olive sunscreen.

I would like my sunscreen to be able to protect me from ultraviolet rays both UVA and UVB. These rays can penetrate the skin with the UVA penetrating deeper into the skin than UVB.

In general, I also look for sunscreen with high SPF and PA++++ (yes with 4 +'s).

SPF and PA were a mystery to me... but in short, SPF basically indicates how long the sunscreen can protect you from UVB before your skin starts burning and PA++++ indicates how much protection the sunscreen can offer again UVA. So the higher the SPF is, the longer you can stay in the sun (before your skin starts to burn) and the more + signs after PA, the better protection the sunscreen offers.

The other thing I also look for is a sunscreen that doesn't contain fragrance or artificial colour.

Inoue Seikoen's olive sunscreen has a SPF of 48 and PA++++, no fragrance or artificial colour, it doesn't make my skin go white, it does't dry out my skin, it spreads easily and best of all, it feels very smooth on my skin.

It comes as 50g bottle with a screw on lid. It is easy to squeeze out the sunscreen and easy to apply as it has a lotion-like consistency. I use it everyday except if I'm doing water activities as I don't think it is water-resistant.

I highly recommend this sunscreen as an everyday sunscreen.

Cleansing oil

In the past, I didn't pay too much attention on the cleansers that I was using. What's the point, I thought, they just clean. However, some cleansers clean more deeply than others and some cleansers actually dry out the skin.

So I've started trying different types and brands of cleansers but there wasn't one that I was particularly attached to... until I discovered Inoue Seikoen's cleansing oil

At first I didn't think it was anything special and I've never been a huge fan of cleansing oils but when I tried it, I immediately liked it and now I use it regularly. It can remove makeup as well and is very gentle on the skin.

I only need 1/2 a squirt from the pump bottle and it is easily spreadable on the face, it doesn't feel sticky or clingy. I spread it all over my face and neck, I then add a little bit of water, draw circles all over my face before washing it off. My face then feels clean and clear.

The oil feels quite luxurious and very nice on the skin. I actually feel that it is moisturising while cleansing my skin. It doesn't feel oil or drying. Again, this has no fragrance, no artificial colour and it is formulated with about 40% virgin olive oil. It comes as a 155ml pump bottle.

I bought three bottles of this during my last purchase.

Peeling gel

I can't sing enough praises about the peeling gel because it is so gentle on the skin. One of my friends has very very very sensitive skin and she can use this gel without any problems!

I use this gel once or twice a week and it draws out all the dead skin and impurities deep from the pores. I put a little bit of the gel on my skin and draw circles and little white bits forms (that's the impurities from the skin). I then wash it off with water and my skin feels sparkling clean.

I find this peeling gel very gentle and very effective and doesn't cause any redness nor does it dry out my skin. It comes as a 150ml tube and I only need a little bit at a time so a tube can last a long time.

I use this cleansing gel after cleansing (for example, after using the cleansing oil).

I would definitely buy this peeling gel again.

I really love Inoue Seikoen's products however, there are two major drawbacks for me:

1. It is a little tricky to buy unless you live in Japan or Singapore. I bought my bottle of sunscreen in Singapore's Tangs department store. I've discovered that you can buy directly online from their Singaporean or Japanese website but neither sites offer international shipping.

2. The products don't come cheap. At the moment, the sunscreen is advertised on their Japanese website for ¥3780, cleansing oil for ¥3024 and the peeling gel for ¥3024 which is approximately $30-$40 US dollars for each of those products.

Despite all these drawbacks, I still buy from them because I really love their skincare products.