The Japanese Secret To Inside-Out Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa

Japanese Secret To Inside-Out Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa singapore diy facial mask
Besides offering spa packages and selling skin care products, Ikeda Spa also occasionally  organises workshops to impart beauty tips or things Japanese to customers. Today, we got to try making our own masks from ingredients that you can easily get from supermarkets!

nightingale dropping poop japanese geisha facial japan uguisu no fun
If you remember one of the comics I drew, *ehem* this miracle poop (Uguisu no Fun) is actually very good for removing traces of dirt and commonly used by Geisha to remove their heavy makeup. You can read about my review here. Many people thought that the smell would be strong, but it actually smells nice like sesame seeds after mixing with rice bran and water.

Japanese Secret Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa singapore diy facial mask
The first step is to identify your skin type!

The best time to test which skin type you have is 1 hour after washing your face in the morning before applying any toner or moisturiser.  Use a rice paper to put on your T-zone and cheeks. If you have dry skin, the rice paper will fall off immediately or shortly. If you have normal skin, it will stick on a while and then drop off in all areas of the face. If you have combination skin, it will only stick on your T-zone but fall off shortly at the cheeks. Needless to say, if you have oily skin, it will just stick everywhere.

Japanese Secret Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa singapore diy facial mask
I think I have combination skin?

Japanese Secret Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa singapore diy facial mask
If you have oily skin, it is important not to scrub or exfoliate because that will make your skin excrete more oil instead. It is best to use products with hyaluronic acid that will add more moisture to your skin. When your skin becomes normal, you can use the scrubs. I personally think Hada Labo's lotion and moisturiser are not bad, and you can get the "light" edition if you think the normal one is too heavy for you. Of course, I will hunt for the Made in Japan ones...

Japanese Secret Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa singapore diy facial mask
Our table was the first to get all the ingredients correct for the respective skin types!
Camellia oil is actually called "Tsubaki"(椿) in Japanese, and is commonly sold at all pharmaceutical shops in Japan, mainly for hair care. You can get them too in Singapore at Ikeda Spa, Isetan supermarket or Tokyu Hands.

chidoriya organic massage cleansing oil
We won ourselves a bottle of Chidoriya massage and cleansing oil :)

Japanese Secret Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa singapore diy facial mask
Next the manager demonstrated how to mix the ingredients for your own face mask.

rice bran diy facial mask rice bran
You need this much rice bran for making a face mask.

rice bran diy facial mask rice bran
And you add water to make a paste, not too watery nor thick. I mixed this for oily skin with the expensive poop! Hehe (#soAuntie)

nightingale dropping poop japanese geisha facial japan uguisu no fun rice bran
So me and my fan next to me put on the mask on our left hands to see how it goes. You can wait for around 10-15min for it to dry then wash and scrub it away at the same time!

nightingale dropping poop japanese geisha facial japan uguisu no fun rice bran
Not sure if you can see, but the left hand is actually slightly more moisturised and smoother than the right hand!

singapore koplina collagen jelly placenta
Next we tasted some collagen jellies by a Japanese company called Koplina. Their collagen was derived from fish and placenta derived from pigs because they pigs has the closest genetic structure with humans. Don't worry, it's not just any pigs, but specially controlled SPF (specific-pathogen-free) pigs raised for laboratory use.

Here's how you pick the jellies:

  • Peach for hydration
  • Rose for whitening/anti-pigmentation
  • Melon for anti-aging

It is recommended not to intake more than 2 sachets a day.

 Now comes the fun part, recipe to add the jelly inside to make it more interesting!

singapore koplina collagen jelly placenta
The first one was watermelon, cheese, sausage and jelly.... um ok, maybe too interesting?

 It actually tasted quite ok... but not something I will make...

singapore koplina collagen jelly placenta recipe
The next one is a dessert made with milk and chia seeds. It's actually quite simple to make by pouring milk, chia seeds and honey into a glass jar, shake it and refrigerate for a night.

singapore koplina collagen jelly placenta recipe chia seeds
It's actually not bad! I can probably replicate this at home... after I clear one of my jam jars~

singapore koplina aojiru
They introduced another product called Aojiru. It actually tasted pretty good with soy milk.

I bought Aojiru from 2 different brands before when I was studying in Japan but I got lazy to drink them after some time because they were not finely milled and the mixture with water was simply too powdery for me to drink. One of the participants asked if it is similar with fermented drinks and my answer is NO, Aojiru is not fermented drink. Aojiru is young barley grass and you consume mainly for its fibre (they have other nutrients too, but I feel it is secondary benefits). It is useful for people who don't eat a lot of vegetables and have digestive and constipation problems.

Koplina had mixed mulberry leaves and matcha inside, so it actually tasted rather nice.

The last part is lucky draw!!! I didn't think I will be so lucky to walk away with any prize but yeah I did! Today is my lucky day!!!

Our workshop ended at 1pm so Ikeda Spa was nice to serve some delicious sushi too!

Japanese Secret Beauty Workshop at Ikeda Spa singapore diy facial mask
These are my loot of the day!

Samples: Jelly x 3 sachets (1 eaten!)
Door gift: Aojiru x 1,  Jelly x1 and Chidoriya facial soap x1
Small table prize: Chidoriya massage and cleansing oil
Lucky draw prize: Brand's Royal Superior Bird's Nest with Rock Sugar

I had a great day learning new things about skincare, tasting (exotic?) healthy recipes, making masks with other participants and walking away with my bird's nest. The express 10min scalp massage before the workshop was also very relaxing!
Thank you Ikeda Spa for the invitation!

If you are interested about their spa, do check out my spa review here.
You can also get a special discount when you order a package through this page for my fans! 
(P.S. Couple package is the most popular so far)

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