Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Fermented All-in-One Milk

Finished up Aqualabel All-in-One Whitening Jelly Essence a couple of weeks ago and happily moved on to this 120mL bottle of Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Fermented All-in-One Milk.

As the name suggests, this is a 3-in-1 product that's a lotion (toner), serum/essence, and moisturizer all in one. I've been using it on my face, neck, and decolletage every night as soon as I toweled off right after the shower.

Speaking of an after-shower skincare step, it all started with Aqualabel Aging Care Lotion EX--neither my mum nor I could stand to use this stuff on our faces. It was just too sticky, so while visiting with me in Tokyo, she'd left the bottle untouched. I later tried it myself, and sure enough I hated it too. 

Before this, I'd noticed the ladies at the sento/onsen slathering lotion (toner) all over themselves before applying body moisturizer, so rather than dumping out this Lotion EX, I demoted it to body use to seal in the body oil I was using at the time (Yanagiya Anzu Oil). This after-shower-lotion-all-over step has been working out so well it became a ritual for me, especially now that I'm home where it's super dry. The ladies in Japan sure know a thing or two about skincare! 

Anyway, because it's so dry year round where I am, the runny watery lotions are no longer adequate. I started using thicker, richer, and more viscous lotions and slowly branched out to multi-purpose, all-in-one products like this milk. Also, I don't slather them all over anymore, because that gets expensive, not to mention it's just not adequate for my dry arms and legs so a body lotion does a better job there.

Funny enough, just looking at the bottle alone, from the packaging to the content one would easily mistake this to be nigorizake, hence three different warnings to *not* consume this milk (red box, top right photo, and red fonts, bottom two photos) ^.^ 

Upon pouring some out onto the hand though, I think it should be clear this is no runny nigorizake. The cloudy milk only smells faintly of sake and is thicker, though not gelatinous like the Komeyu Rice Oil Serum. It feels a tad richer than the Rice Oil Serum too but is still exceptionally light and absorbs pretty quickly. 

I actually wish I'd used this milk throughout the colder months and save the Aqualabel All-in-One Whitening Jelly Essence for the summer instead. The milk is more moisturizing, and the tingling menthol in the Aqualabel Jelly would probably be more refreshing when the weather is hot. Either way, the milk leaves my skin baby soft and ready for the subsequent Rice Oil Serum and Boscia Sake Balm. I absolutely love it and I totally recommend giving it a try.