Shu Uemura said it best: "Beautiful makeup starts with beautiful skin." I couldn't agree more, and I can't stress this eno...

Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil, BB Mousse and Clarifying Balancing Moisturizer

2:04 AM Joanna C. 0 Comments

Shu Uemura said it best: "Beautiful makeup starts with beautiful skin." I couldn't agree more, and I can't stress this enough: makeup application is definitely easier and looks best when you already have healthy, clear skin. It's much better to have a proper skin care routine than cake on a lot of foundation, powder and concealer - and you can always opt to go makeup-free if you have good skin. I would rather spend more on quality skincare than buy an expensive foundation to cover up skin that's not well taken cared of. I am also not a facial or skin procedure type of person. I would rather buy good products than spend money on expensive dermatological treatments.

I have not invested in any Shu Uemura makeup products yet, but here are the skincare products I've chosen to spend on:

Top to bottom: Clarifying Balancing Moisturizer, UV Under Base BB Mousse, Cleansing Beauty Oil

It is hard to come by Shu Uemura products where I live, which is in Cebu City, Philippines. I think the nearest retail outlet where we can purchase them is in the capital, Manila. In the last couple of months, I was lucky enough to be invited by Big Seed PR to Shu Uemura's two retail events where they not only brought their products to Cebu, but also gave free makeup workshops and gave a 10% discount on most products to attendees. The first event that I went to was for the launch of the Tsuya line, while the second was for the launch of the Karl Lagerfeld Holiday Collection.

Perhaps Shu Uemura's most famous skincare product is the Cleansing Oil, which they claim sells one bottle every so many seconds. It's my first Shu product and the one that built my trust in the brand. It only takes a small amount to gently but thoroughly cleanse the face. To use:


  1. Squeeze out a couple of drops on clean fingers. Apply to your face (with or without makeup on) and gently massage it in.
  2. If using as a makeup remover, tissue off and repeat Step 1 until all makeup is gone. I find it's easier to use a cotton bud for removing eyeliner.
  3. Rinse with cool water. No need for another cleanser or additional moisturizer, although I still apply my eye cream after drying my face.

Because the cleansing oil is quite pricey, I only use it when I need to do some pretty heavy-duty makeup removal. But it's fantastic, and you wake up with skin that feels really soft, smooth and moisturized. And, how great is it that it can be used on its own? I highly recommend it to all skin types including oily, even if using oil on an oily face sounds funny. If there's one Shu Uemura product you should invest in, this is it.

My more recent purchases from Shu Uemura are the UV Under Base BB Mousse and Clarifying Balancing Moisturizer. During the Tsuya event, I asked their brand manager and makeup artist which products are best for my combination skin (oily T-zone, normal on other areas). These are the two that they recommended, and these are definitely the two best products I've used so far for controlling an oily T-zone with the humidity I live in. I only need a light touch-up of powder on my nose after maybe four hours applying both products. With other products, I start to get oily within an hour after application, unless I use my Urban Decay De-slick Setting Spray - a lifesaver, but more on that in a future entry.

The BB mousse I got comes with a beige tint (another type has a pink tint), so it can be worn by itself to even out the skin, as a friend who is more into skincare than makeup likes to do, and she loves this product as well. I am not big on foundation, so I find being able to skip this, and even powder, very convenient. Another great thing about this product aside from how it looks on, is that it has SPF 30 and  has PA+++ protection from UV rays. You can apply the mousse with fingers, but I prefer to use a makeup wedge.

Normal skin can get away with wearing just the BB mousse on its own. If you have dry skin, combining both products may dry out your skin too much. I would recommend applying a moisturizer for dry skin before the mousse.

The moisturizer feels very, very light on but still makes skin feel soft. If you are a basics kind of girl (not into much makeup) with combination or oily skin, this will work well for you.

The BB mousse and moisturizer retail for about Php2,000 each (65 grams and 50ml, respectively) but you only need one squeeze of the moisturizer and half a squeeze of the BB mousse for your entire face, so these will last several months before you run out. Be particularly careful with the BB mousse. A full pump will be too much and the product will only end up going to waste because there's no putting it back in the can.

Shu Uemura products can be pricey, but it's well worth the money spent. But for people who live with a budget like mine and cannot afford to use all Shu all the time, there will be a future entry about my usual skincare routine and the (more affordable) products I use. 

Skincare entries might get a little long because I have to go into detail about how it feels on and the type of skin it works best with, and I just reviewed three. But, I promise that makeup and individual product reviews will be shorter than this!