Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Water purifier: Panasonic TK-CJ11-W

You can get this water filter on Amazon for less than 4000 yen. We chose this one because the cartridge lasts an entire year (a replacement cartridge costs about 4000 yen). And we were spending between 2000-3000 yen a month on bottled water, so this made sense.

The water tastes amazing and I love it. You can get all the specs here  (Japanese).

My new moisturizer: coconut oil from Kaldi's Coffee

I popped into Kaldi's for some coffee and picked up a jar of coconut oil. Apparently, it's the best thing out there for your skin and it has no additives so it's super safe. And, Kylie uses it, so why not.

I picked up a big jar for about 800 yen.

I applied after my shower. It was a bit oily, but absorbed into my skin well. The coconut smell was overwhelming at first, but became pleasant after a few minutes.

My skin really is super soft now.

Hair removal at Azabu Clinic


I tried out Azabu clinic in Tokyo because they have a wide range of cosmetic dermatology services and an English speaking staff. I started out with the laser hair removal for two reasons: 1) I was due for a treatment and couldn't use my American spa (which is still my favorite), and 2) I wanted to try a service I was familiar with before jumping into new territory (Thermage!)

So, staff speaks English well and there are a lot of foreign clients. Staff prefer to speak Japanese, so we did. There is a doctor who checks your skin and hair before treatment to recommend intensity of the laser. She spoke perfect English and was having none of my still-learning Japanese.

I selected two areas (face and hygiene) and did the trial price (came to a total of 4 man) for one treatment (due to my travel schedule). I found out later a groupon would have been MUCH cheaper, so you should do that.

I bared the areas to be worked on. The staff drew lines and confirmed hair patterns. Then she applied a cool gel and started with the laser. The laser was MUCH stronger than the one used at Datsumo Labo but I don't think it was as strong as the one I get in the US. There was some stinging, but I bore out the high intensity laser the entire time with discomfort only in the sensitive nether regions.

All in all, I would go back, especially if I just needed a dermatologist (she can write prescriptions for acne medication and anything else you need). The prices are a bit high, so the groupon is perfect. However, for the price you are also getting doctor supervision, so it's not so bad.