I want to tell you about the not-so-new product by Kuramoto Bijin — the Komeyu Beauty Serum. If you’re a RatzillaCosme regular reader, you’ll have seen their products featured in my Best Picks already. You may have even used their “star” product, the Komeyu (rice oil), which is one my all-time favourites. Kuramoto Bijin (roughly translates to “beauties of the brewery”) is produced by Tonoike Shuzouten, a renowned traditional sake brewery in Japan, and their products are beautifully put-together. They aren’t fancily fragranced or coloured and they come in simple yet very aesthetically pleasing packaging.
Kuramoto Bijin’s Komeyu Beauty Serum contains a blend of organic cold-pressed Japanese rice bran and germ oils. As well as more organic rice-derived ingredients — Ginjo Sake, Rice Koji, Rice Bran Sterol, Gamma-Oryzanol, Ferulic Acid, Rice Bran, Hydrolyzed Rice, and Fermented Rice — the formula is packed full of potent actives that naturally address dryness and strengthen the skin’s barrier as well as providing antioxidant protection. Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, and Elastin to tackle hydration. It’s free from added fragrance, alcohol, sulphates, and silicones as well.
The actual visible results of this serum would be, you would think, slow to make themselves apparent. Protecting your skin against environmental damages is a bit of a long-term investment — it’s not until much later (years if your skin is still fairly young) that you reap the rewards. But actually the visible results were quite prompt: glowing skin that felt smooth, calm, and altogether tip-top. During dry winter months, I liked the intense hit of moisture that it provided without making my relatively normal skin sticky or greasy. Now that I’m on my second bottle and it’s near summer, I find it to be nicely moisturising, so much so that I’ve skipped moisturiser and just go straight in with my SPF or whatever I’m using next.
Kuramoto Bijin’s Komeyu Beauty Serum is a brilliant “basic” serum — it doesn’t promise any overblown anti-ageing or dark spot-vanishing miracles — it takes care of the skincare basics. But this actually stands up to serums that are multiple times the price, and I’ve found myself repeatedly reaching for it when I want something gentle and moisturising to apply after more aggressive chemical treatments or serums. You can find it, 30ml, online for ¥1,944 HERE from Amazon Japan — international shipping via AmazonGlobal.
