The Japanese Skincare Revolution Book Review

I have had The Japanese Skincare Revolution for quite some time now. After much use of the techniques I decided to present my readers with my humble book review for Japanese Skincare Revolution. I hope you will find this book review useful and take the existence of such marvelous manuscript into account. How “The Japanese Skincare Revolution” by Chizu Saeki came to be in my life is quite interesting. I am a photographer and might have developed a “type A” personality when it comes to examining photos and paying attention to details. I also like to go through photos which were taken of my family a few years earlier. The process of looking at photos of my children when they were much younger is very enjoyable to me. I love looking at all the happy memories we have created together. Why do we need photos otherwise, right? One day while I was going through photos I noticed an interesting reality, that my face is changing and I am losing much wanted elasticity. My face was looking droopier on the later photos, and I couldn’t help but notice that I started developing wrinkles.

Don’t get me wrong, I know it is quite alright to age. In fact, no one can really stop the process. However, there is nothing wrong with aging gracefully and taking care of your skin in the process. I am not getting any younger. So I thought, why not look into applying some unconventional techniques to help my skin to live a happier life? That’s when I found Chizu Saeki’s Japanese Skincare Revolution. Nowadays Japan and Korea happen to be the leaders in skin care. The quality of products you receive from these countries and the knowledge they pour out to the world is tremendous. However, you cannot possibly buy all the products in the world. Right off the bat Chizu Saeki teaches you to make the best out of the products you already have in your medicine cabinet. There is little need for wide array of beauty “knickknacks” to waste away in your possession. Plus vast array of products will not make you look any better if you do not know how to use them. Be a minimalist, but also enjoy the benefits of having a great skin. Isn’t that quite an attractive idea? Chizu Saeki famously states that it is not what you use that matters, it is how you use it makes the most difference. You can have a cream that costs hundreds of dollars or you may as well work with something that is relatively much cheaper. Make-up, of course, will do well to mask a bad skin condition. But I want you to imagine what it would be like not to wear make-up (or wear minimal make-up) and still look radiant. You probably already know that make-up sits quite well on a skin that is smooth, hydrated and well taken care of.

So, who is Chizu Saeki and what does she have to do with beauty and skin care?

Chizu Saeki is a beautician who has 45 years of experience under her belt, treating different types of skin and caring for women of all ages. Sometime after she started working in the beauty industry in Tokyo, Chizu joined the team of Guerlain in France. Her career later brought her to San Francisco where she started working for Christian Dior. Chizu Saeki had hundreds of cosmetic consultants to train on the craft of beauty and skincare. Aside from training so many people on techniques which work, Chizu worked directly with the clients, figuring out ways of catering to different skin types. She earned the love and respect of her clients who were waitlisted to see her by the hundreds. Eventually, her 45 year experience rendered this amazing manual called The Japanese Skincare Revolution. Why wouldn’t I take recommendations from a person like her? If you haven’t seen this woman, google her and check her out. It is not that she has a flawless skin (which, in my opinion, she does). She is also a great example of someone who chose to age gracefully, without resorting to cosmetic surgeries. You can read more about her once you purchase her book for yourself. Meanwhile, let me proceed with briefly introducing you to her book.

Skincare is often not a one sided process. While some people might be lucky with good genes and get-by fine with just the olive oil instead of array of topical creams and potions (admit it, we all have some friends like that), most of us are not that lucky. At least I am not. I have pimples that pop up out of nowhere, I have uneven skin texture and my under eye area tends to get horrendously dark. Might I be getting self critical? Maybe a little. But know that good skincare starts with self examination, and acceptance of one’s state. Being realistic is a huge part of it, too. You may see things that other people may not. What matters is you see it and that you are ready to deal with it. That’s exactly what Chizu Saeki teaches you in her first chapters. Make the mirror your ally. Mind you, not for vanity purposes. Approach the mirror as a tool which is there to help you care for your skin.

Chizu Saeki pushes forward the idea of women being able to care for their skin on their own time and learn to become their own experts. You have all the tools in your arsenal. Biggest of the tools being a mirror, your fingers and your palms. Use them and use them correctly. That’s what Chizu teaches in her book. No lying – whoever asks me why my skin have been looking so radiant lately, I have one answer – get the book!

This book consists of 6 chapters. Each chapter is broken down with different topics regarding skincare. It is chock full of information about preparing your own hydrating mask, caring for your lips, learning about a lymph massage, learning the proper techniques for a lymph massage, facial massage, water massage, importance of proper nutrition and how to correctly apply serums and topical creams. This seemingly small book carries so much information regarding every day skincare, cures from problem skin, spa secrets and diagnostics on your skin type. To say that they worked for me is an understatement. True, the results may not be of those after a cosmetic surgery. In the least, Chizu taught me to love living in my own skin and enjoy taking care of it.

The chapters are well explained. However I did have a hard time following some of the directions. Especially the water massage part. Although the photos are quite self explanatory and help tremendously with directing, for this one topic I needed a live demonstration of the techniques. On the contrary, I also need to be realistic about how much one can put in pictures or in words for others to follow. So, don’t dis this book just because of these minor issues. Which are essentially not possible to describe through a reading platform to begin with. You can search the web for her live demonstrations.

I hope you find The Japanese Skincare Revolution book review useful. I could go into itty-bitty details of every nook and cranny of this book. However, I figured you would benefit reading the actual book and always have it handy as a “go-to” reference. Do your skin a favor and get this book.