In this edition, we visit the Tokyo Ikebukuro drugstore AINZ & TULPE Ikebukuro Seibu, a shop whose concept is “beauty from the inside out and outside in”. This drugstore is known for its extensive selection of cosmetics products. Let’s take a peek inside and see what’s selling now!

“With its stacks of monthly beauty magazines and thriving online user communities, Japan is overflowing with first-rate beauty information. That’s one reason that many buyers look for products that contain the most effective beauty ingredients at the best price.”

Japanese women are pragmatic when it comes to their skin. What beauty ingredients are they reaching for these days? Here, we present you with the four most popular ingredients at AINZ & TULPE and the hot-selling cosmetics that contain them.

Carbonic acid has taken Japan’s health and beauty scene by storm in the last several years. The trend started with popular carbonated-water diets and moved to a huge boom in carbonated bath salts, hair and scalp treatments, and now cosmetics!

Carbonic acid lifts dirt from pores, promotes healthy circulation, and more. Blood circulation in the skin is what promotes cell turnover, which has a host of skin benefits--including fighting dullness and spots as well as combatting sagging and swelling.

Epidermal growth factor, or EGF (human oligopeptide-1) sold for more than 80 million yen a gram when it was first discovered. The price has gradually come down, and in the last two or three years EGF petit-price cosmetics have been flying off the shelves... and the popularity of this ingredient is still skyrocketing!

EGF has a huge impact on skin cell turnover, and is expected to encourage elasticity and glow while effectively reducing the signs of aging--making it a perfect product for women of all ages.

Ordinary Japanese women in their 40s who look ten to twenty years younger than their age have been attracting attention lately in the Japanese media, contributing to an endless fascination with anti-aging skin care among women in general. Much of the fervor has been directed towards the antioxidant component astaxanthin, which had already been enjoying solid popularity prior to the recent boom.

Astaxanthin is said to prevent dryness, spots, and wrinkles while boosting elasticity and making skin look brighter. With this slew of benefits, there’s no reason for any woman to pass astaxanthin up!

The popularity of placental ingredients has been on the rise as they become increasingly affordable. Placenta is an effective treatment for a wide range of skin issues, including brightening, wrinkles, dullness, dryness, elasticity, resilience, and more.

Placenta’s skin brightening function in particular has attracted followers of all ages in Japan, a country whose beauty consciousness has surely contributed to the ingredient’s popularity.