Maiko Cosme Hand & Body Cream

Maiko Cosme is another sub-brand of KyoMaiko, and I had zero expectation for this 70g jar of Hand & Body Cream Kinmokusei (kinmokusei, osmanthus, 桂花). Actually, worse than that. I was all ready to "demote" it the same way I did both the Maiko-san Sakura Cream and the Moisture Cream from the sister sub-brand Mamisango.

Why would I think this Maiko Cosme Hand & Body Cream would be any different? Over the decades, there have been facial skincare products that were so wonky, be it the formula or the texture or the scent, that I couldn't stand using them on my face. At the same time, they were fine and weren't expired or had gone bad or stale in any way, so I passed them on to family and friends. And when no one wanted to try them, and when throwing them out would be too wasteful (don't get me wrong: I have hated some things enough to have simply tossed them), that was when they got "demoted" to my hands, or worse, my feet. 

So imagine my shock: just when I thought that this hand and body cream(!) would end up being used for my feet, it got promoted to exclusive use on my face! Totally did not see that coming, did you?

Sure, there are plenty of multi-purpose products made and marketed for face and body, and I've used several that were honestly great for both: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream, Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre, Mustela Nourishing Stick with Cold Cream, Mama Butter Face & Body Oil Cream, and the now-out-of-business Boscia Cica Soothing Universal Cream! 

 

But for a product to be made and marketed for the hand and body but turned out to be fantastic on the face? I guess there's a first time for everything. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it's sacrilege to use this amazing Hand & Body Cream on the hands and body! Yes, it's that good. 

This is a very thick and firm cream, so thick and firm that it's more like a butter-balm and not so much a cream. I need a plastic spatula to scrape--yes, scrape--some out for each use. And for the photos above, I had to rub and rub to mush the "cream" in like that. And yet it's not at all greasy, goes on luxuriously, and its leaves my skin velvety and soft. It layers supremely well under my sunscreen and sets to a soft matte finish. 

 

Best of all, it smells a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Here's a funny story for you: 2 decades ago, yours truly was a fresh graduate teaching English as a JET in Takaoka, Toyama. At certain times of the year, I would smell this amazing fragrance wafting through the neighborhood I was living in at the time. The scent was so gorgeous, a perfect blend of delectable peach and delicate floral, that I was constantly, and confusedly, looking around for the source. Did someone walk by wearing too much perfume? That didn't seem right. Most folks I came across in Japan didn't wear such noticeable perfume, even if pleasant. Did someone in the neighborhood do the laundry and used too much softener? That would be crazy that I could smell their laundry from my bedroom window! And it wasn't until I opened up this jar of cream that I finally, at long last, solved this 2-decades old mystery--the fragrance was from the kinmokusei trees in the neighborhood! Like, wow. I was flabbergasted at my own stupidity. How could I not connect those dots when I was there staring point blank at those beautiful kinmokusei trees? *face palm*

 

And so I started to notice more and more that within these past few years, there's been a trend of skincare, body care, and hair care products scented with kinmokusei, which only fed my obsession with the fragrance and I've been buying kinmokusei shampoos, kinmokusei body oils, kinmokusei hand creams, kinmokusei moisturizers, kinmokusei everything! My pitifully tiny list of favorite scents has a new addition: yuzu, and now kinmokusei! 

 

But I digress. Even better is that the kinmokusei fragrance in this Hand & Body Cream lasts, and lasts, and lasts. I put it on first thing in the morning, layer sunscreen over, and around 2-3pm would still catch whiffs of kinmokusei on my own face. How awesome is that? I don't like calling anything "HG". Hell, I can count on one hand how many skincare products I have repurchased over and over again throughout the years despite my endless queue of skincare products: Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre, Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, Erno Laszlo Hydra-Therapy Memory Sleep Mask. I'm pleased to add this Hand & Body Cream Kinmokusei to the short list. Actually, I need a warehouse full of it, please! You bet I bought some back-ups (4 jars, each 70g, so it should last me a while ^.^), especially knowing Japanese brands and their penchant for discontinuing perfectly fine things. 

 

If you're a fan of kinmokusei, and you have access to Japanese things, especially Kyoto-based brands, I wholeheartedly recommend this Maiko Cosme Hand & Body Cream. Get few jars while you're at it!