Hey people!
Two weeks ago, I was introduced to ToCOO!, an online shopping mall that was recently launched by a Japanese company, Coocom Co. Ltd.
Founded in 1998, the company was more involved in the travel industry, but has gradually diversified themselves to market other Japanese brands and products as well. Today, they started an online shopping mall, selling a wide variety of authentic Japanese goods in the various categories below. 
I gotta admit that I had mixed feelings when I was browsing through the website.
While I adore Japanese products for their high quality, innovation and gorgeous packaging, it is always the price that gets to me. When I was travelling in Japan years ago, it was immensely difficult for me to find a shop that would cater to pro-budget me.
Thus, when I was browsing through the website, my heart fell when I saw the prices. Granted, some of the products looked great, especially the wooden art Japanese buildings categorised under 'Toys/Games' which should really be under 'Interior Decors/Art'. However, the price tag is definitely on the higher side, even though 'free shipping' does help to make the price less scary.
Aside from price, I would also encourage the company to include sub-categories on their website so that it would be easy for potential shoppers to look for certain products. For example, under 'Cosmetics/Healthcare' which contains so many types of products, sub-categories like 'cleansers', 'moisturisers', 'toners/essence' and 'masks' would make the page more user-intuitive. Thankfully, they have a search bar with a drop-down menu of suggested words so that helps tremendously if you need to locate a particular product on the website. 
That said, it was sweet of the company to send over a couple of Japanese beauty products for me to try, so I decided to do a review of them on this post too.
I was sent the 1) BIKAN Cleansing Oil (180ml bottle), 2) BIKAN Sun Cream WGP (30g bottle) and 3) Honey Fucoidan Toothpaste from the Sea (30g sample). While both BIKAN products are retail size, the toothpaste is a travel-size sample. The retail size toothpaste is actually a 100g tube.
These brands are not typically found in Singapore, so I am curious to know how they would fare on my skin. 
BIKAN Cleansing Oil (180ml bottle)A moisturising cleansing oil that removes makeup, dirt and impurities from your skin while keeping your skin hydrated. It is infused with two key moisturising ingredients, i.e. collagen and placenta to strengthen the elasticity of your skin.
You can use this as a regular cleanser or a makeup remover, but I prefer to use it as the latter. I started using the Cleansing Oil recently and I was surprised that it was not as oily as I expected it to be. I started to wonder if the makeup removal was thorough enough. What if it did not manage to melt my makeup fully?
I decided to do a second cleanse using micellar water to check if there was any makeup residue left behind. Lo and behold, there was none! YAY!! I shall continue to use the Cleansing Oil to remove my base makeup, while reserving my micellar water for removing eye makeup and lip colours. :)
BIKAN Sun Cream WGP (30g bottle) This product is a sunscreen with BB Cream properties. By that, I mean that besides protecting your skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, it also has added functions of brightening and smoothening your complexion.
Although there is no sign of 'SPF' or 'PA++' anywhere on the bottle, the product does contain a key ingredient, Glutathione that is known to protect your skin from harmful UV rays. Other ingredients include white sake lees, placenta, hyaluronic acid and lecithin, which lock moisture in your skin to ensure a radiant complexion. 
My first impression was that the sunscreen looked like a white paste. Surprisingly, the texture was lightweight and it did not leave behind a greasy or sticky residue when it was absorbed into my skin. I noticed that it minimized my pores and gave me a natural, radiant finish. There was no white cast left behind too.
That said, while it has BB cream properties, it certainly does not replace your BB cream, foundation or other base makeup. For one, it does not conceal blemishes, and your skin does not look the same way as if you were to apply foundation. It is more suitable for days when you want to go makeup-free but still want to look 'put together'. There is also a light pleasant scent to this sunscreen, which is a huge bonus for me.
Honey Fucoidan Toothpaste from the Sea (30g sample)
I have never used toothpaste with fucoidan in my life, so this is interesting to me. Fucoidan is extracted from edible seaweed, Okina Mozuku and is an antibacterial ingredient. As it keeps bacteria at bay, it facilitates good oral health by preventing tooth decay, removing plaque, eradicating bad breath and whitening teeth.
When I squeezed the toothpaste onto my toothbrush, I was taken aback that it did not look like the regular whitish paste that I was used to. Unlike regular toothpaste, it also took a while to foam. As the toothpaste is infused with herbal extracts and sea salt, I expected it to have a strong taste or a tinge of saltiness, but it turned out to be mild and refreshing. There was a slight cooling after-effect, which I wished could be stronger. Nonetheless, I have a general good impression for this toothpaste and will continue using it.
If you are interested in the abovementioned three products and are okay with their prices, you can click on their respective hyperlinks in the product reviews above and purchase them directly from ToCOO! .
Don't forget to use promo code 'NB2AH' for 10% off all items on ToCOO! You can apply the code at the bottom of the 'Review & Payments' page on the purchase form.
Thank you for reading!
Disclaimer: This post is done in collaboration with Coocom Co. Ltd. Reviews are based on personal experiences.
