Japanese skincare is sold in two tiers, department store and drugstore, and many lines in both are sold only in Japan. Shop J-beauty products from Japanese shops, including items only sold in Japan.
What is the difference between デパコス and ドラコス in Japanese skincare?
デパコス (depakosu) is Japanese shorthand for department-store cosmetics and ドラコス (dorakosu) for drugstore cosmetics, and the split runs through the whole J-beauty market: it decides where a product is sold, how it is priced and which online shops carry it. Department-store lines such as SHISEIDO, Clé de Peau Beauté, Cosme Decorte, Albion and SK-II are sold at counters and on the brands' own online shops; drugstore lines such as Hada Labo, SENKA, Curél, Biore, Anessa and Kosé's Sekkisei are sold in Japanese drugstores and on Amazon Japan and Rakuten. Both tiers deliver inside Japan only through their main channels, and a proxy is how an overseas buyer orders from either: OneMall provides the Japanese address, pays in yen and forwards from our Japan warehouse.
Tier
Japanese term
Typical brands
Where sold online in Japan
Department store
デパコス
SHISEIDO, Clé de Peau Beauté, Cosme Decorte, Albion, SK-II
What do 化粧水, 乳液 and 美容液 mean, and in what order are they used?
They are the three core product types of a Japanese skincare routine, used in that order: 化粧水 (keshōsui), a watery lotion applied first; 美容液 (biyōeki), a serum applied next; and 乳液 (nyūeki), a milk emulsion applied third, after the serum, to seal the moisture in, with cream after it when used. Japanese packaging names the type on the front, so knowing these three words is enough to sort any listing. Many lines sell each type in a しっとり (moist) and a さっぱり (light) version, and skin-type words on the pack tell you which skin the product is formulated for.
化粧水 — lotion, first step
美容液 — serum, second step
乳液 — milk emulsion, third step
クリーム / オールインワン — cream, applied last / all-in-one gel
医薬部外品 — quasi-drug: a regulated category with approved active ingredients, distinct from ordinary 化粧品
Do Japanese skincare products have an expiry date?
Usually not printed. Japanese law requires a use-by date on cosmetics only when the product is not stable for three years unopened, so most Japanese skincare shows a batch code and no date. On new products from shops that is not a problem; on the secondhand marketplaces it means the seller's notes replace the date: 購入時期 (when bought), 未開封 (unopened) and, for opened items, 残量 (amount remaining) written as a fraction. Mercari and Rakuma allow opened cosmetics to be sold with those notes, which is how discontinued and limited items circulate; decide beforehand whether an opened product is acceptable to you.
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
数回使用 / 使用済み — used a few times / used
サンプル / 試供品 / お試し — samples and trial sizes, often sold as sets
限定 / 廃盤 — limited edition / discontinued
Which Japanese skincare items cannot be shipped overseas?
Spray products and nail polish. OneMall's prohibited items list places sprays under gases and nail polish under flammable liquids, so spray sunscreens, spray toners and nail colours cannot be forwarded from our Japan warehouse; lotions, milks, serums, creams and cleansers in bottles, tubes and jars can. Beyond that list, each carrier applies its own dangerous-goods rules to aerosols, perfume and alcohol-based liquids, and those rules determine which shipping methods are offered for your parcel. When a product comes in several formats, the milk, gel or stick version is the one that ships.
For new products from shops, Amazon Japan and Rakuten cover the drugstore tier and many department-store brands through official shops, with refills and multi-packs that are rarely exported. For a brand's own online shop or a department store's online shop, paste the product link and OneMall orders it. Mercari, Rakuma and Yahoo Fleamarket are where limited editions, discontinued shades and sample sets are sold by private sellers, listed with 未開封 or 残量 notes rather than an expiry date.
Where
What you typically find
Amazon Japan, Rakuten
Drugstore lines, refills, multi-packs, official brand shops
Brand and department store online shops
Department-store lines and gift sets; order by pasting the link
Mercari, Rakuma, Yahoo Fleamarket
Limited editions, discontinued items, sample sets, opened items with 残量
Yahoo Auctions
Older limited editions, bulk lots
What will a Japanese skincare order cost me through a proxy?
The order splits into a payment at order time — the yen price, OneMall's service fee, shown before you confirm, and the seller's domestic shipping if charged — and a second payment for international shipping after the items reach our Japan warehouse. Skincare is small but liquid, so weight drives the shipping cost, and the two habits that lower it are ordering refill packs, which weigh less than the bottled product, and consolidating a routine bought from several shops into one parcel. Import duty and any cosmetics import rules are your own country's and are applied on delivery.
How do I buy Japanese skincare from Japan if the seller only ships inside Japan?
OneMall acts as your Japan proxy: we give you a Japanese address, buy the item on your behalf, receive it at our warehouse in Japan and forward it to the USA and worldwide.
Where can I find Japanese skincare from Japan in English?
You can browse Japanese skincare listings from Japanese marketplaces on OneMall in English, including Mercari, Yahoo Auctions, Amazon Japan, Rakuten, Suruga-ya, Animate and ZOZOTOWN, and order without reading Japanese.
Can I order Japanese skincare from several Japanese sellers at once?
Yes. Orders from different sellers arrive at our Japan warehouse separately and can be consolidated into one parcel before international shipping.
Are products authentic?
OneMall does not guarantee authenticity. OneMall is a proxy buying service, not the seller: both new and used items are bought on your behalf from third-party Japanese stores and marketplace sellers, and we forward what that seller ships. Read the listing photos and condition notes in full before ordering, especially for used items.
Can you help find specific items?
Yes! Use our Free Purchase service to request specific items and we'll help locate them across multiple Japanese platforms.
