Stash Debut (15): Laurel Verbena Body Cologne, Sakura 219 Body Cologne, Savon Body Cologne & Yuzu Hand Cream

Today, in my Stash Debut series (in which I review my first purchases from beauty brands/lines), I will be sharing my thoughts on several items from Japanese beauty brand Laurel.

First of all, some background information. Laurel was founded in Hokkaido, and, according to the brand’s Wikipedia page, it opened its first store in Stellar Place in Sapporo in 2009. In October 2015, Laurel (the company) changed the brand name to Shiro (which means “white” in Japanese) and revamped the product packaging, but it kept the brand’s “Simply Simple” slogan.

Currently, Shiro carries skincare, bodycare, haircare, scalp care, hairstyling, fragrance and home fragrance items. It also carries items for washing, softening and scenting fabrics. The sub-brand Shiro Life mainly offers food items.

(image from shiro-shiro.jp)

Shiro currently has two flagship stores. One is in Sunagawa in Hokkaido (the brand’s birthplace). It carries both Shiro and Shiro Life items, and there you will also find Shiro Cafe (exclusive to the store), which serves pancake, bread, rice and pasta dishes. The other flagship store is on Omotesando in Tokyo. In addition to Shiro and Shiro Life, you will find Shiro Beauty (exclusive to the store), which features a face and head spa and a hair salon.

(The only two other stores that carry items from Shiro Life are Shiro’s retail branch in Stellar Place in Sapporo and Shiro’s on-line store (delivery within Japan only). (In Stellar Place in Sapporo, Shiro is on the first basement floor and Shiro Life is on the third floor.))

Laurel had an idyllic and relaxed image, while the new Shiro is clean and minimal. Personally I prefer Laurel’s look, but I do like the fact that Shiro’s style of packaging is a lot more unified across the products.

The brand has a nature-inspired ethos, and it regularly releases seasonal limited-edition ranges to reflect the distinct seasons in Japan. So far this year, we have had Yuzu (a type of citrus fruit) and Cherry in February, Peony in March, Gardenia in April, French Savon (the brand’s popular (regular) Savon range with an additional limited-edition blend of lavender, geranium and mint) and Ice Mint (a recurring limited-edition range) in May and Mandarin Orange in June. In August, there will be the White Fig range. The Ice Mint and Mandarin Orange ranges look especially tempting to me.

(Ice Mint)
(images from shiro-shiro.jp)

(Mandarin Orange)

(White Fig)

Today I will be sharing my thoughts on four items from Laurel: Verbena Body Cologne, Sakura 219 Body Cologne, Savon Body Cologne and Yuzu Hand Cream. (The first three items are available as regular items under the current Shiro brand name. There is more information below.)

Laurel Verbena Body Cologne (ローレル ヴァーベナ ボディコロン, 100ml, ¥1800) has a light, zingy and refreshing citrusy scent without being overly sheer or subtle. The scent lasts for a few hours, and I think the staying power is good as a body cologne and very good as a citrusy scent. It is great for warm weather. (It contains lemon peel oil mainly as a scenting ingredient.)

Laurel Sakura 219 Body Cologne (ローレル さくら 219 ボディコロン, 100ml, ¥1800) can be categorized as a floral woody. It has a combination of a restrained and elegant cherry blossom scent and a dry woody aroma. (The woody note is pronounced from the beginning of wear.) The staying power is good as a body cologne. Cherry blossoms are of course associated with spring, but I think this product, with its depth from the woody note, works well for fall as well.

While I do like all of the three body colognes I got, Laurel Savon Body Cologne (ローレル サボン ボディコロン, 100ml, ¥1800) is probably my favorite. The Savon range is one of the brand’s most popular ranges, and I can see why it is well-received.

I initially found it hard to describe the scent. There was something familiar about it, but the only two words I could come up with at the time were “fresh” and “sweet”. (The name of the range suggests a sense of soapy cleanness. However, I don’t think the scent is soapy at all. Also, “clean” is not the first word that comes to mind when I think about this scent.) Then I realized that it smelled almost exactly like Calpis (or Calpico), which has the combination of refreshing tartness, sugary sweetness and comforting milkiness. For me, it is a happy fragrance that lifts my mood. The staying power is good as a body cologne, and this scent particularly suits spring and summer.

Based on what I remember, Laurel Yuzu Hand Cream (ローレル ゆず ハンドクリーム, 35g, ¥1000) was a limited-edition item from the limited-edition Yuzu range when I purchased it. It is a lightweight hand cream with a lotion consistency. It is easy to spread and it is absorbed fairly quickly. Its ingredients include glycerin, shea butter and olive oil. It has a citrusy scent with a bitter and astringent quality. (In addition to fragrance, it contains yuzu peel oil.) The scent is a good representation of the scent from yuzu.

I find the product to be reasonably moisturizing. It is not as moisturizing as Garnier’s Hand Repair Intensive Restoring Hand Cream or Kosé’s Precious Garden Hand Cream in Honey Peach. (Also, Kracie’s Aroma Resort Hand Cream in Happy Sweet Peach is marginally more moisturizing.) I usually apply it fairly liberally to get a decent moisturizing effect from it.

Most of Laurel’s core regular ranges are available under the Shiro brand name, and currently you can still find the Verbena, Sakura 219 and Savon ranges from Shiro. The scents from these ranges are likely to remain the same.

(Verbena Body Cologne (100ml, ¥1800))
(images from shiro-shiro.jp)

(Sakura 219 Body Cologne (100ml, ¥1800))

(Savon Body Cologne (100ml ¥1800, 200ml ¥3200))

The Yuzu range may be a recurring seasonal limited-edition range (like the Ice Mint range). Shiro’s Yuzu range from February 2016 included a hand cream, but it is not available from Shiro’s on-line store at the moment. (I think Verbena Hand Cream might be a good alternative.) The on-line store still features Yuzu Body Milk (from the February 2016 lineup) and Yuzu Lip Balm (released in 2015), and you might still find these two items in the brick-and-mortar stores in Japan.

(Yuzu Body Milk (150g, ¥3800))
(image from shiro-shiro.jp)

(Yuzu Lip Balm (3g, ¥1800))

(Verbena Hand Cream (50g, ¥1500))

Overall I enjoy using these items from Laurel very much. In the last couple of years, the brand has been increasing its presence in Japan, and, currently, Shiro is available in Sunagawa, Sapporo, Sendai, Kanazawa, Tokyo, Funabashi, Urayasu, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka). At the moment, Shiro is only available in Japan. If you do have a chance to visit Japan in the future, I do recommend having a look at products from Shiro.

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