Japanese Skincare Is My Secret For Softer, Plumper, Smoother Skin

The first time I heard Vicky Tsai speak was on a podcast. She was chatting with NPR’s Guy Raz about how she built her phenomenally successful skincare company Tatcha. It included quitting a job on Wall Street, travelling to Kyoto, meeting with a modern geisha and discovering the potent properties of the face creams and blotting papers they had used for centuries. Fast forward 15 years and Tsai is one of the most popular and bestselling skincare brands in the US: in 2020, it sold to multi-national conglomerate Unilever for $500 million. Tsai, a revered founder, had struck on something incredible, bringing the wisdom and rituals of Japanese skincare and beauty to the United States and, eventually, the rest of the world. 

“The geisha, our first muses and the first beauty icons, are such an inspiration. Everything in their make-up and their approach to skincare is so symbolic and rich with meaning and history,” she shares with The File. “I try to learn from the intention that makes their beauty so much more than aesthetic. It’s artistry and culture.”

So, what is it that makes Japanese skincare so covetable? Is it the inclusion of fermented ingredients (something that underpins many of Tatcha’s products) or the championing of naturally derived ingredients such as rice bran, green tea and sake? A long-time devotee, using Japanese skincare products has transformed my sensitive, finicky, sallow skin – giving it a plumpness, softness and a hydrated sheen no other products have been able to.

“Japanese skincare works from a preventative philosophy. It’s based on a holistic mindset, as well as methods and products, designed to be used daily, as part of your routine. By contrast in Europe, we look at finding solutions once a problem has occurred,” Nathalie Broussard, Shiseido’s scientific communication director explains to me. Japanese skincare rituals incorporate the products you use but also how you use them, the food you eat, stress and the general health of your body. 

“Each step of Japanese skincare has a meaning and goal. This layering (of habits) is more than something people do for good skin; it’s a philosophy of leaving nothing to chance and treating your skin with the utmost caution. It perfectly aligns with the Japanese way of detail-orientated thinking and the precise, rigorous protocols they undergo for the best result,” says Broussard. 

As for the process, Japanese skincare tends to follow a set series of steps, designed to prevent and protect from future damage. This includes a cleanser, an exfoliator, a softener (essence or toner), a moisturiser and UV protection. Textures and sensoriality –the way a product feels on the skin and in the hand – are also a priority of formulators and developers. 

“The core of our collection is a four-step ritual anchored by the classical skincare traditions that have been followed in Japan for centuries,” Tsais tells me, describing the crux of Japanese skincare is to be effective without irritating. “First, purify skin with a cleansing oil, next polish it like a jewel with a daily non-abrasive exfoliant, then plump with an essence to flood the skin with hydration, and finish by nourishing with a moisturiser.”