What with globalisation and everything a lot of the things in the shops here are the same as what I'd find at home; either because overseas brands (Clinque, Body Shop etc.) have branches here, or because popular Japanese products (like Biore pore packs) are sold in Australia. But if you have a good scrounge in local pharmacies you can find some pretty interesting Japan-only products... here are a selection of ones that I have found most interesting/puzzling.
Eyelid Tape: Actually, this is not really Japan only, I think it's sold in other parts of Asia too, but I first encountered it here. Some Japanese women think that "double fold" European style eyelids are more desirable than the "single fold" eyelids that are common here. Eyelid tape is a crescent-shaped piece of clear sticky plastic that you stick on your eyelid to force it to fold twice. I don't really understand this as (a) I think Japanese eyes are beautiful and (b) wearing a piece of stickytape on your eye sounds really uncomfortable. One time I was teaching a student and she started blinking uncontrollably because her eyetape had become dislodged... she had to excuse herself and go to the bathroom to fix it. However, despite these potential hazards it seems popular; it's sold just about everywhere.
Eyebrow Shaving Templates: A lot of women here shave their eyebrows rather than plucking. No, I'm not making this up. There are special mini-razors for shaving eyebrows. And, furthermore, to help you shave accurately, you can buy this Shaving Template, which is a plastic thing, shaped like two eyebrows, with a wishbone-type handle holding them together. You hold it over your eyebrows and then shave and trim around them to acheive the desired shape. This is all well and good, and when it's just been done it gives very nice, groomed-looking eyebrows, but after a few days the surrounding area becomes stubbly which is a little odd-looking.
Nose Peg & Mouth Trainer: These ones crack me up. The nose peg has a cartoon on the back, showing a person with a roundish nose looking unhappy when talking to a pointy-nosed friend, and then sitting watching TV with a peg on her nose. It looks really painful! And I'm not convinced that wearing a peg on your nose would actually permanently change the shape. The "Slim Mouth Piece" is a bit of a mystery. It says you only use it for 2-3 minutes daily for it to work. But what does it do? Maybe tighten your mouth muscles? But surely talking and eating and stuff would do that... I will have to ask someone.
Sorry about the bad photos! But it was hard enough trying to discretely take photos with my mobile phone in the chemist, I think I would have got some very strange looks if I had whipped out my camera.
