sensai

By: Ariston Anderson

I've long been a fan of luxury beauty line SENSAI, the Japanese masters of skin care and cosmetics. The key ingredient to all of their products, from their Double Cleansing Program to their Sun Care line, is silk. The rare Koishimaru Silk holds 300 times its own weight in water, giving the products throughout their line a way of softening the skin that has never been achieved by regular skin care products. They've launched a brand new line, highlighting their ever-advancing science and exclusive ingredients ready to take you through summer.


Products are available for purchase on kanebo.com, bergdorfgoodman.com, NeimanMarcus.com, or by phone at 212.872.2537/800.588.1855 x2357.

The holidays mark the perfect time to update your look, your scent, or simply to protect the skin on your back. We rounded up the top luxe beauty gifts this season that will be a joy for anyone on your list to play with and experiment with. Help your friends and loved ones ring in the new year with a gift that will last well into 2011.

Sensai Cellular Lifting Series Set

The first name in Japanese skincare, Sensai, has earned a named synonymous with rich, moisturized skin. Whether dealing with harsh winter conditions or drying sun, nothing works better to moisturize and heal delicate skin. A new limited edition set ($245) features two of the most popular products from Sensai's new Lifting series, Lifting Cream and Lifting Essence, and a revitalizing Lifting Radiance 3D Mask. Featuring a near entire bottle of the Sensai Lifting Radiance Concentrate, formulated with Sensai's Natural Musculifter and Golden Camomile Extract, the mask guarantees a fresh, youthful face by New Year's through its trademark energy activation of muscle cells and microcirculation of the skin.

Sensai has another Limited Edition Gift Set from the Cellular Performance line ($130), which features Cellular Performance face and eye countour cream, inflused with Koishumaru Silk and Shilan Extract to protect against wrinkles and discoloration. The special box set also includes the Total Lip Treatment, which Scarlett Johannson calls her "favorite thing in the entire world...feels like a million bucks."

Best Men's Skincare Line

The first nominee has a straightforward name as well as no-nonsense naming and simple packaging, while the second nominee was launched high in the mountains of France nearly 50 years ago by an intrepid biologist. The third nominee offers one of the most extensive lines for men while the fourth is known for its longevity and expertise in men's skincare. The final nominee lives by its logo that says "be healthy and look great".

Anthony Logistics for Men
Biotherm Homme
Clinique Skin Supplies for Men
Lab Series Skincare for Men
MenScience Androceuticals


Best Cosmetics Line

The first nominee was created by a makeup artist who wanted to create a natural-looking makeup line that would allow a person's true beauty to shine through while the second one was started by a painter who later became a celebrity makeup artist. The third nominee is a favorite of runway artists and film stars alike while the fourth is an eponymous beauty brand known for highly pigmented products, cleverly slim and sleek compacts, and a fearless selection of shades for people of all colors. The final nominee first became famous for its revolutionary makeup brushes, followed by its innovative cosmetics.

Bobbi Brown
Laura Mercier
M·A·C Cosmetics
NARS
Trish McEvoy


Best Fragrance

The first nominee has been the scent of choice for sophisticates worldwide since the 1930's, while the second nominee has been synonymous with opulence for generations. The third nominee is an elegant and sophisticated octogenarian while the fourth nominee is a unisex newcomer that is packaged in perhaps the most innovative vessel ever created for a fragrance. The final nominee is immediately recognizable due to its famous logo.

Acqua di Parma Colonia
Bulgari's Eau Parfumée au Thé Blanc
Chanel No. 5
Voyage d'Hermès
Polo Ralph Lauren


Best Bodycare Line

The first nominee is a Japanese line that was developed with the knowledge of Oriental herbal medicine while the second one has been concocting beautifying elixirs in New York City since 1851. The third nominee takes a scientific approach to beauty and the fourth makes distinctively aromatic concoctions that are handcrafted from fresh and organic fruits and vegetables. The final nominee is an upbeat, uplifting company with a product line that attempts to inspire its customers to live a better life by being better to themselves.

Kanebo's Sensai
Kiehl's
La Prairie
Lush
Philosophy


Best Skin Cream

The first nominee is made from a combination of natural ingredients including special sea kelp harvested twice a year off the coast of California, while the second nominee focuses on the inner balance and harmony of the body and soul. The third nominee uses two key ingredients: a natural extract derived from the root of the Shilan orchid as well as Koishumaru silk extract. The fourth nominee prides itself on understatement while the final nominee was launched by a Harvard-trained, board-certified dermatologist who's single product contains all the necessary ingredients to fight anti-aging.

Creme de la Mer
Darphin
Kanebo's Sensai Skin Care
Philosophy
37 Extreme Actives

Kanebo International Body Care line is nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Body Care Line. Kanebo's Sensai products also nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Skin Care Line.

Aptly named "Holistic Indulgence for Body and Mind," and part of the Sensai division, the body care line was developed with the knowledge of Oriental herbal medicine. The exclusive ingredients featured in this revolutionary body care line help to produce the highest level of skincare.

The body care line draws on the healing powers of nature with five new body care products, including three moisturizers, a body wash and a body exfoliator. These products weave together centuries-old herbal traditions with advanced skin science to cleanse and pamper the body. Developed according to holistic principles, the Body Care Line incorporates Kanebo's advanced silk technology with distinctive natural ingredients, such as bamboo, to help revitalize the skin through cleansing and moisturizing.

The body care line breaks down into two different categories: "Relaxing" for the moisturizing products, and "Refreshing" for the cleansing products. The "Relaxing" line is ivory and features the bamboo scent, while the "Refreshing" line is green in color with a fragrance that evokes green tea.

Japanese women are well-known for their flawless, porcelain complexions, so it should come as no surprise that Kanebo's Sensai Skin Care Line has been nominated for a Luxist Award Readers' Choice Award for Best Skin Care Line. Kanebo has also been nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Body Care Line.

Sensai products are unique in that they feature silk from the Koishimaru silkworm, a species indigenous to Japan. The silk from the Koishimaru silkworm is the only one proven to boost production of hyaluronic acid synthesis. Hyaluronic acid is a gel-like substance that occurs naturally in the connective tissue of the skin and serves to hydrate and cushion the skin. The Japanese Imperial family granted Kanebo's Sensai exclusive rights to use Koishimaru Silk for skin care.

Finding the right balance between moisturized skin and greasy skin is a constant struggle, especially during the winter months. With most cremes, you have to pile it on in the morning at the risk of getting dry flaky skin, and then risk getting greasy skin come afternoon. Each winter season I find myself experimenting with a new routine of moisturizers to keep my face soft and yet not oily. It's an ebb and flow between dry and greasy that makes me long for springtime skin with every cold city day.

Thankfully the kind folks at Kanebo Sensai recently sent me a preview sample from their brand new line the Sensai Hydrachange Series. Finally, I've nailed down my winter routine with two amazing products that create a balance of moisturizing and plumping. Through their breakthrough "Anti-Aging Hydration," it's a powerful combo to help improve your skin all year round.

If only Pamela Anderson had discovered the new SENSAI Platinum Edition Coffret Gift Set, before she let her platinum addiction drive her into bankruptcy. The new luxury gift set out just in time for the holidays offers for the first time ever, platinum, in a soft pearl powder and highlighting platinum body lotion. If that sounds decadent to you, it is. Forget the latest diamond cremes, platinum is the new luxury ingredient, straight from the renowned Japanese beauty line, which counts Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Aniston as fans. The Platinum Gift Set, which includes the powder, flawless brush, and body lotion packaged in a velvet clutch is available exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman, and retails for $80. It's literally all you need to take to any party this season. But use sparingly. A brush of powder is all you need to make your whole face glow.