Rohto’s Hada Labo range: skin moisture science, with the art of (hyaluronic) acid

Dip a toe into the Asian beauty community, and you’re gonna hear ‘Hada Labo’ come up early on. It’s a moisturising, anti-ageing and brightening skincare range, used and recommended by a lot of people.

Hada Labo (made by Rohto) has an amazing reputation, but isn’t for everyone – no skincare product is that universal. Hype doesn’t clear up acne. Each gel, serum and lotion is created for specific skin moisture issues. If dryness is your problem, this range could be your solution.

‘Hada Labo’ means ‘skin laboratory’ in Japanese, and there’s science behind the serum. The star ingredient across the range is ‘Super Hyuralonic Acid’ (SHA). Putting hyuralonic acid on your skin isn’t a drastic move, because our bodies make the stuff. SHA’s engineered to hold double the moisture of normal hyaluronic acid. So when it sinks in, it delivers double the hydration to your skin.

And Hada Labo’s also well know for what isn’t in their products:

• No alcohols
• No mineral oils
• No fragrance
• No extra colourings or additives

That should, in theory, leave all the good stuff that dehydrated skin needs.

Hada Labo Gokujyun

The ‘goku’ bit of ‘Gokujyun’ means… extreme. And ‘jyun’ is ‘moisture’. Google Translate might tell you ‘Gokujyun’ means ‘polar bear’, like it told us, but ignore that. Hey, they do get pretty soggy when they dive off glaciers, but that’s totally unrelated to skincare!

The bright white packaging for the Gokujyun range was updated in August 2017.

Let’s focus on the leaders: Gokujyun Lotion, in Clear and Light versions. Rohto claims a bottle’s bought every 4 seconds in Japan. The lotions act like primers for the milky moisturiser to really sink in. These 2 steps are the start of many a beauty routine.

The Gokujyun Alpha range is all anti-ageing products. Spot them in the bright red containers.

A special ‘3D hyuralonic acid’ formula acts as the skin’s ‘safety net’ against the signs of aging. Extra Vitamin A, elastin, collagen, and macadamia nut oil all help prevent and minimise wrinkles. The other highly promoted benefit is plumper, ‘bouncier’ skin. It’s tempting to start using this stuff early.

And then. And then, there’s the reassuringly gold Gokujyun Premium.

Premium is a ‘rank up’ when it comes to product thickness. This stuff is substantial. It contains 5 different hyaluronic acid formulas, and comes in milk, essence, and oil jelly versions. You can feel the luxuriousness before it even touches your skin.

Hada Labo Shirojyun

‘Shiro’ means white in Japanese. So you guessed it, Shirojyun’s a selection of skin brightening products. With active ingredients that lower the amount of melanin produced and transferred into the skin. Melanin has benefits, sure, but overproduction and hyperpigmentation can be issues for some people.

Gokujyun bottles and jars are already white, so the Shirojyun range is blue instead.

Clear Lotion, a clarifying toner, is the first step in the range. (Unless you’re using the concentrated serum, that is.) Follow it up with Shirojyun Milk or Shirojyun Cream.

Rohto also makes Hada Labo Shirojyun Premium, designed to more permanently fade/remove skin imperfections. The formula’s claimed to work against pesky blemishes and freckles. The bottle and cap are both a darker blue than on the original Shirojyun range.

Shirojyun Premium formulas contain plenty of Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Along with tranexamic acid, which is more commonly used to treat blood loss. In Hada Labo products, it acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. So that’s to help calm and prevent skin conditions like rosacea.

Pat your way to clearer, plumper skin

Everyone’s got their own way of applying each product in their skincare routine, with palms, or fingertips, or cotton wool, or whatever.

Hada Labo wants you to use the ‘face patting’ technique. And only that technique – the ‘art’ that goes along with the science. The ‘pat pat pat’ style should help the lotions and milks absorb into your skin quicker.

There’s a video. Obviously there’s a video. You start typing ‘hada labo p-‘ into YouTube, and it auto-fills the ‘-atting technique’ bit for you.

Seems easy enough. That quick absorption makes Hada Labo products easier to use on a daily basis. As if anyone wants to sit around waiting for their face to dry.

Face masks for relaxation and rejuvenation

Can you really call it an Asian beauty routine if it doesn’t involve face masks? That’s debatable.

Some Hada Labo masks come in packs of 20 or 30, for very frequent use. Each mask’s packed with moisture, for quick and direct hydration. Yet they don’t drip when you take one out of the packet and unfold it.

Have you had a go with Hada Labo before?

Ever given Hada Labo products a try? Use them every week? Discovered your lifetime HG? Tell us if we’ve missed anything else great about either Gokujyun or Shirojyun.