I’ve been here for a couple months now and I am still struggling to figure out what to do in terms of body wash, shampoo, and conditioner.
Wherever I go, the “men’s” section is always a hodge-podge of products with no attention to fragrance cheap products, and X-in-1s. I have tried getting some of the more pricey items from the “men’s” section but I found the soaps so harsh I can feel tingling on my skin from the chemicals (case in point: Sharp D).
I have also tried upscale stores and find all the fragrances are towards women. I see some neutral options, but I’m hesitant and feel I might be misinterpreting. Not that I need to smell like buckhide and shrubmusk to preserve my masculinity, but flowers and fruit is a bit strange.
I would really like to hear about everyone’s experience with brands they’ve tried and what anyone has settled on for those who have explored domestic options.
Note: I would like to avoid spending 2-3x the price to get something from amazon or iherb, plus I don’t find on there exactly what it was I was using so I’d rather just adapt.
As a bonus, I am also curious about hair products, specificly matte clays with medium-strong holds.. I’ll run out eventually but I just can’t imagine Gatsby being a good product.
16 comments
Dove is usually a good option for a neutral scent. Then add whatever you want on top.
People under 40/45 do not smell here… until one gets into the Ojisan category
The struggle for deo is real … unscented seems to be the way to not disturb the force
no reason why you can’t use womens products, not all are flowery. Deoco body wash is good, and i personally use Moremo shampoo/conditioner, and Shiseido drugstore stuff for skin care. Gatsby is pretty universally used, give it a shot
For shampoo and conditioner, I’m currently using the [men’s H&S](https://hscare.jp/shop-products/men/for-men-collection) since I’ve been dealing with some dryness over winter (and the men’s one came in a set that was on special).
I don’t really care about gendered products so I’ve also tried [Tsubaki](https://brand.finetoday.com/jp/tsubaki/products/) and the original/[yellow &Honey](https://www.and-honey.com/sp/deep/product/) ones. None of them are particularly strong scented, which I prefer.
For body wash, I’m trying the [goats milk one](https://www.leivy.jp/smp/item/bsgm1150-1p.html) since it’s supposed to be extra moisturizing. It’s also not scented.
These are all usually available in general
drug stores or beauty stores. There’s a lot of unscented or light fragrances here, so I just steer clear of the overly floral looking ones. So far, I haven’t found any one product I love so instead, I focus on things that say moisturizing or nourishing and pick something new each time.
SlideFire mentioned Dove, but Nivea Biore LION Kracie etc (the major drugstore brands) also have neutral scents and CareCera, Minon, Curel, Collage Fulful are slightly more gentle options for sensitive skin
feels like most of the body wash on shelf at drugstores are generally neutral scents unless they specify “floral” etc
Fragrant options might be stuff from like Three and Aesop (cheaper stuff Botanist, Public Organic)
I like Dove’s shea butter and vanilla body wash.
As long as it says “soap” on the soap packet and “shampoo” on the shampoo bottle most men don’t care. However, conditioner should be chosen with care and I recommend “Aussie” products available from Amazon. For underarm use “Secret Clinical Strength”.
Lush, Body Shop, Marks&Web, Aesop, L’Occitane etc. Can accommodate your manly fragrance needs.
Brands: Dove, Botanist, H&S, Gatsby, Weleda, and more have products that will make u happy as well.
I don’t really care for strong florals, and have settled on Dr Bronners, a little slice of home that you can buy at Tokyu Hands and several drug stores.
We just use Dove body wash and Dove shampoo from the local drug store. Neither of us use conditioner but there is Dove conditioner, also.
Perfect Whip for your face, red Cow Brand soap for the rest of you. Pantene for your hair.
Yeah men’s sections are generally quite disappointing imo! Can’t speak for the styling products but I’ll talk about the others.
I stick to Biore for body wash. I like the Biore THE BODY foam wash in Deep Clear. Gentle with a good unobtrusive yet pleasant scent 🙂 and as it a foam it lasts for ages.
Shampoo and conditioner is a bit more difficult because I think it really depends on what works for your hair. I use Clayge personally. But when I’m in doubt, I revert to Pantene Damage Care or Moist Smooth usually, it’s not amazing but it’s mild and harmless enough.
For face, Hada Labo is cheap and I think all unscented, the lotions are all great. Curel is also unscented but it’s a bit pricier (but it’s very very good!). It usually takes a good while to find products that you like, good luck!
Sounds like you might have sensitive skin. Perhaps Weleda or other brands with organic ingredients would be a good choice? They have some smell but in most cases it’s not heavy at all and it just smells kind of plant – like. Curel is also marketed towards sensitive skin and perfume free. The Body Shop has really good men’s products too.
FYI my husband who absolutely hates anything to heavily scented, he uses these products
KAO white bar soap,
Tsubaki camellia shampoo en conditioner,
Neutrogena cream for face,
Soft Stone deodorant,
Yuskin non scented hand cream
Do you have any male Japanese friends? Ask them. You can also Google mens osusume (insert product)
I go imported for most things.
* Soap – cow brand red box
* shampoo – L’Occitane purifying freshness
* other wash / aftershave – Clarins men
* use a lot of my wife’s hadalabo lotion too.
For hair, I haven’t found anything better than Hanz de Fuko or Aveda grooming clay here.
You can get Gillette, and Old spice deodorant off iherb. As far as soap, shampoo and conditioner are concerned, just go with the dark blue and white Dove options. They are all unscented and do the job of cleaning.