Shiro Mandarin and White Tea Body Milk

 Shiro, a natural brand from Hokkaido, opened its first US store last spring. At the time I wasn't remotely familiar with this high end (rather expensive to me but cheaper than Jo Malone) niche (I threw this word like popcorn but Shiro is indeed selective even in Japan) brand, because I don't know much about it.

Being surrounded by a sudden influx of it-shall-not-be-named  and pretend-Japanese lines, I suddenly found this unicorn of a brand very alluring. I first stopped by their west Broadway store around late March of last year (I go to Chinatown weekly and Soho is down the street), when my friend and I got there, the chic little store just had a sign it would be back "In a moment".

We waited (by visiting all the neighboring stores at that intersection then routed back to Shiro to take a peek (the Aesop dude next door must have thought that we had a deep crush on him), but it stayed closed... 

On Memorial Day weekend I tried my luck again since we had too much crap around, I didn't want to add onto the load.  

Later on when I have done enough rearch and playing with the testers, I decided to try their body milk, supposedly their star item. I have very dry skin for most part of the year and never bothered with body lotion, I feel like buying a pricey one like Shiro would make sure I at least reach for it.  

There are many scents available and I got Mandarin and White Tea (this is supposedly their star product that is frequently out of stock). Both version had a light lotion texture that's lightly fluffy, like the mousse yogurt.

On the skin, the light texture spreads on skin easily and becomes dry touch within 10 seconds, I can put on stocking right away. It's not the most hardcore item combating winter dryness but the overall feel is so pleasant that I would pick it over other similarly priced body cream without a second thought. 

For example the Sol de Janeiro Bum Bum cream keeps my legs smooth for a whole day but the scent is way too strong and artificially sweet, not to mention it stays damp before putting on my pants. 

 

I always like anything citrus scented and Shiro's mandarin body milk is just delightful. It doesn't smell like citrus zest, orange soda, orange juice (actually I think OJ smells like vomit) or furniture polish...Just like a basket full of fresh sweet mandarins. It's familiar but unlike any products I have tried. 

White Tea in the other hand isn't as natural (maybe due to the fact that white tea doesn't have that much of a fragrance?) for a split second it reminded me of some fragrance spray I got from CVS back in 2006, admittedly a little cheap. It's still a fresh white floral with a good staying power and it isn't invasive to other people's personal space. (Gotta hate coworker's cologne...)

Overall they are both very pleasant to use and effective enough for dry climate (better for temperature above freezing). I will very likely go for other scents when I finish with the two.