Japanese cosmetics company Shiseideo has released their predictions for 2020’s makeup trends, as well as a look back at Japanese beauty throughout the last century. Will geisha makeup be making a comeback? Read on to find out.
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This compilation of the makeup transformations of Japanese girls has sparked debate on whether anyone shows their ‘real’ face on the internet any more, and just what counts as a ‘real’ face these days anyway. Read on to see more of the startling power of makeup and good lighting, and find out the point these women are trying to make.
Sometimes, people are subconsciously bound by their cultural habits and traditions, and fail to see beyond the appearance of things. To the Japanese, a bamboo makisu (sushi mat) is used to make sushi, but in the hands of someone outside of Japan, the traditional culinary item is transformed into something completely unrelated to food. If you’re looking to add some Japanese element into your daily life, read on for the simple DIY instructions to make your own sushi mat brush organizer!
We’ve demonstrated the power of makeup before, so it’s fair to say that we’re believers in its mystical ability to transform wearers. That said not every makeup experiment will work perfectly–or at all–but we do still enjoy seeing the attempts. While it can be used to help people change their appearance almost entirely, makeup can only stretch reality so far. But just what are the limits?
Well, if you’re Paolo Ballesteros, an actor and comedian popular in the Philippines, not many! Check out his numerous transformations into popular female celebrities using only makeup, wigs, and contact lenses below and see what can be done with some well-placed blush.
It’s already October, which means Halloween is right around the corner. Have you picked out your costume yet? Trick-or-treaters in Japan were treated to some extra inspiration by Daiso, a discount store where everything is 100 yen (US$1), in the form of an impressive variety of Halloween lashes featuring cobwebs, haunted houses, and swirly stars. Early wearers of these accessories have been praising them for their high quality (but really, would you expect any less from Daiso?). Let’s take a closer look at these outrageous falsies!
We’ve previously seen the creative cyber citizens from the Philippines use their amazing makeup techniques to instantly transform themselves into superstars such as Brad Pitt and Miley Cyrus.
Well, things have gotten slightly out of hand since then and makeup transformation enthusiasts have apparently attained the ability of turning themselves into non-human forms. It’s totally bizarre! Check out their super transformations after the break!
Face packs haven’t quite caught on in the global market, but those moist face-shaped towelettes packed with vitamins and other skin-enhancing goodies are particularly popular in Japan. The most standard versions come in plain white, making you look like something out of The Grudge, but beauty product makers have recently been getting creative, bringing us face packs that turn its user into a cat, a panda, or a kabuki actor.
The newest fancy face pack is another one for kabuki fans, but this time it adds an extra splash of color and was created by international makeup artist and leader of Japanese contemporary fashion, Kansai Yamamoto.
We’ve previously witnessed the gender-bending, face-changing prowess of makeup on several occasions. With some technique, even a man can transform into a glamorous chick. Taking makeup to a whole new transformation level, London-based makeup artist Laura Jenkinson takes on a slightly different approach with her technique, using her skills not to cover imperfections, nor to turn monolids into double eyelids. With vivid colors and artistic flicks of her makeup brush, she transforms her lips into lively, adorable characters! How many of these can you recognize?
“Through makeup I want to become unbelievably cute!” Hasn’t every girl had this thought at some point? In Japan there are words like “seikeikyuu meiku (cosmetic surgery-level makeup)” and countless features on makeup techniques designed to conceal problem areas. But now, the queen of makeup techniques, “Zawachin” has hit the big time.
Almost overnight, Zawachin was showered with attention for her monomane meiku (imitation makeup) which made her look exactly like popular former AKB48 member Tomomi Itano. Currently, there isn’t a day when one cannot see her on television or in magazines. Zawachin’s makeup techniques not only easily cross over the borders of “cute transformation”, but also those of ethnicity and gender, allowing her to become completely different people.
Beauty standards and trends differ from culture to culture, so something that’s fashionable and pretty to one woman can be completely can be bizarre, sometimes even ugly, to another half the world away. This is especially true in the case of Japanese beauty fads, which often leave Westerners thinking, “Why on earth are you doing that to yourself?!’ while Japanese fashion magazines insist that it’s the path to ultimate kawaii-ness.
Read on for four Japanese beauty fads that are all the rage among Japanese girls, but which are hard to understand from a Western perspective.
While people around the world are still in love with Disney’s Frozen, in Japan it’s all about Anna and the Snow Queen. The Japanese title for the animated movie puts the focus firmly on the two heroines at the centre of the story, and whether you’re a fan of Elsa, the Snow Queen with the X-Men-like ability to create snow, frost and ice, or Anna, the younger, darker-haired sister, you’ll be in awe of the dedication this Japanese netizen shows to her favourite Disney princess. With some clever hairstyling and awesome makeup, it’s like Anna stepped out of the frozen kingdom and into the real world!
The power of makeup is both awe-inspiring and downright terrifying. With the swipe of a single brush, people can transform themselves into completely different beings (just take a look at Ukraine’s real-life Barbie when she’s not wearing makeup). After you get used to someone wearing makeup all the time, it can even be a shock to see that person bare-faced.
Take this panda, for instance. On the left you see a typically adorable panda. On the right, well, we’ve got an image of what a panda would look like without any of its trademark “eye makeup.” And boy, what a difference it makes!
If there’s one thing women are probably consistently jealous of men about, it’s the fact that a girl often feels that she has to go through a whole morning ritual that can last 20 minutes to an hour or two before they feel comfortable showing their faces in public, whereas guys can just hop out of bed, put on some pants (probably the same ones as the day before) and stroll out the door in 30 seconds flat if need be, and no one would be any the wiser.
But, if this Japanese dude is any indication, the fellas may have been doing it wrong the whole time and, just maybe, all that hard work on women’s part is worth the trouble after all. Here are some before/after photos of cosplaying Twitter user Chyaraizumi with and without women’s makeup on:
Are you a guy wanting to try out makeup for the first time? Well Japan, the land where anything goes, has just the thing for you. Allow us to introduce the ‘my first makeup set’ especially for otokonoko! Otokonoko is written with the kanji character for ‘man’ and ‘young woman’ or ‘daughter’, and is a word used to describe men who look and dress like women.
When it comes to product quality and innovation, Japanese makers are the cream of the crop, with exceptional achievements in the automobile and electronics sector. Apart from high-tech machinery, the Japanese also create beauty products of excellent quality and value, something that they’re rarely recognized for outside of Asia.
Beauty and fashion website, The Cut by New York magazine spills that makeup artists backstage at Fashion Week often use beauty tools and cosmetics from Japan. The Cut, together with Japanese makeup artist Maki Ryoke, shares seven Japanese drugstore beauty buys that even women in the West are in love with!
We’ve shared with our readers quite a few Sailor Moon products in our past articles, from sexy Sailor Moon lingerie to sparkly Sailor Moon chopsticks. Now, while fans may be delighted with the wide range of Sailor Moon goods available, particularly the cute gadgets from toy maker Bandai, there are so many of them that it probably isn’t realistic to try to collect all of them, especially considering that some of the items aren’t exactly cheap.
In fact, some of our reporters at sister site Pouch who are die-hard fans of the series, had just recently been wishing aloud that Bandai would come out with an affordable range of Sailor Moon transformation compact mirrors. Well, it seems their wish has now come true! Just this week, Bandai released a new range of lovely compact mirrors, and more importantly, they’re cheap and can be bought right from a Gashapon vending machine!
At first we weren’t entirely convinced that this was the same girl in both pictures. They’re just so… different. Look closely though, and beneath those layers (and layers) of makeup and the fake eyelashes, you’ll see that it really is the the selfsame young lady. Her little mole is there; her duck-face smile curls in the exact same way; the shape of her jaw and cheeks are the same. But, just, wow. Welcome to the world of “power makeup”.
Ladies, have you ever taken a picture that you absolutely love, but wished you were wearing a bit of makeup at the time? Ever had to take a headshot for a job application but were too lazy to throw on a bit of eyeshadow and lipgloss?
Now there’s no longer any need to spend hours in front of the mirror putting your face on. With the Panasonic Lumix FX80 camera, makeup application is simply a click away.
Also, fellas, we know you’ve been secretly wondering what you look like wearing makeup but were too embarrassed to actually put some on…this is the camera for you!