Shiseido from Japan

Which Shiseido lines are made for the Japanese market?

Shiseido, founded in Ginza in 1872 as Japan's first Western-style pharmacy, sells many lines in Japan that are not sold in the US or Europe, and the lines built for the Japanese market are what overseas buyers order through a proxy. The global SHISEIDO brand and Clé de Peau Beauté are sold worldwide; ELIXIR, the ANESSA sunscreens, the MAQuillAGE and INTEGRATE makeup lines and d program for sensitive skin are developed for Japan, distributed mainly in Japan and other Asian markets, and sold through Japanese drugstores, department stores and online shops that deliver inside Japan only. Refill packs, seasonal limited editions and Japanese-market sizes of the global lines also stay domestic. OneMall gives you the Japanese address those shops require, pays in yen and forwards the parcel from our Japan warehouse.

How do I read the Japanese product types on a Shiseido listing?

Japanese skincare is sold in a fixed sequence of product types, and the type name on the bottle tells you where in the routine it goes. 化粧水 (keshōsui) is the lotion applied first, 美容液 (biyōeki) the serum applied next, and 乳液 (nyūeki) the milk emulsion applied third, after the serum, to seal the moisture in, with cream after it when used; these three are the core of a Japanese routine and are what ELIXIR and the SHISEIDO line are built around. Many lines sell each type in a しっとり (moist) and a さっぱり (light) version, and the choice is printed on the front of the pack.

• 化粧水 — lotion, the first step
• 美容液 — serum, applied after lotion
• 乳液 — milk emulsion, applied after serum
• クリーム — cream, the last step
• 洗顔 / クレンジング — cleanser / makeup remover
• 日焼け止め — sunscreen
• しっとり / さっぱり — moist / light versions of the same product
• レフィル / 詰め替え — refill pack, sold for many Japanese-market lines
• 医薬部外品 — quasi-drug, a Japanese regulatory category for products with approved active ingredients

Why do Japanese cosmetics not show an expiry date?

Because Japanese law does not require one on cosmetics that stay stable for more than three years unopened; under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act, only products with a shorter shelf life must print a use-by date. Most Shiseido products therefore carry a batch code rather than a date, and Japanese sellers describe age instead with 購入時期 (when it was bought) and 未開封 (unopened). On secondhand marketplaces, opened cosmetics are listed with 残量 (remaining amount), usually as a fraction such as 残量9割, nine-tenths left; decide whether a used product is acceptable to you before searching, and prefer 未開封 listings from shops if not.

• 未開封 / 新品 — unopened / new
• 購入時期 — when the seller bought it
• 残量9割 / 残量半分 — nine-tenths / half remaining, on opened products
• 使用済み / 数回使用 — used / used a few times
• サンプル / 試供品 — sample sizes, sold in sets on Mercari
• 限定 / 数量限定 — limited edition

Can sunscreen sprays and other Shiseido products be shipped from Japan?

Not all of them. OneMall's prohibited items list names spray products among gases and nail polish among flammable liquids, so an ANESSA spray sunscreen or a Shiseido nail colour cannot be forwarded, while the lotion, milk and cream formats can. Each carrier also has its own dangerous-goods rules for aerosols, alcohol-based liquids and perfume, and those rules decide which shipping methods are available for a given parcel when you choose one at our Japan warehouse. Check the item format against the list before ordering; the sunscreen milk and gel formats are the usual alternative to a spray.

OneMall's prohibited items list for shipments from Japan →

Where in Japan does Shiseido stock come from?

Shiseido sells through two retail tiers in Japan and each tier has its own online presence. The department-store lines, SHISEIDO and Clé de Peau Beauté, are sold at department store counters and on Shiseido's own online shop; the drugstore lines, ELIXIR, ANESSA, MAQuillAGE and INTEGRATE, are sold at Japanese drugstores and on Amazon Japan and Rakuten, where the shops delivering domestically are the ones a proxy orders from. Mercari and Rakuma carry limited editions, discontinued shades and sample sets from private sellers.

What does buying Shiseido from Japan through a proxy cost?

At order time you pay the yen price, OneMall's service fee, shown before you confirm, and the seller's domestic shipping if charged; after the items reach our Japan warehouse you choose a shipping method and pay the international shipping. Cosmetics are small but liquid, so weight rather than volume drives the shipping, and a routine of lotion, milk and serum bought from three sellers is best consolidated into one parcel. Refill packs are lighter than the bottled product and are the format experienced buyers order in multiples. Import duty and any cosmetics-specific import rules are set by your own country and applied on delivery.

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