Hi everyone! I am on cloud nine this week, after the most fabulous tour-de-Kyushu in western / southern Japan. I’ll section off some details of our wellness itinerary below, since it’s a little more travelogue than past weeks. We’re off to Tokyo in the morning, finally, for the majority of our final 2.5 weeks here.

In this newsletter: an Arquiste giveaway; new launches across hair, shave, fragrance, and acne; our first Rejuran video is up; AND we started posting to TikTok (which is a weird thing to say while the app is in limbo, but).

A Wellness Week Across Western Japan

After training from Kyoto, we took the ferry from Nagasaki out to the Goto Islands. They got a few blankets of snow while we were there, melting and reappearing multiple times a day. We enjoyed the show from our sea-facing balcony (outfitted with an onsen; the hotel was Goto Retreat Ray by Onko Chishin). I had my first-ever Vichy Shower massage there, too—kinda weird to me, but you know, everything in Goto was kind of weird, in a good way.

Then we returned to the main island and spent a night at tea hotel Ureshino Yadoya in onsen-dense Ureshino. Our private bathroom was this huge space with a pair of hot and cold onsens as well as a sauna. It was a bigger space than most hotel gyms, and our room wasn’t even the top tier one at the hotel. So so so cool.

Plus we had the most precious green tea ceremony where we tried various expressions of the same matcha (below photo from my IG stories). I wish we could have sprawled out here for a week.

Onwards to the south, Ibusuki to be exact, where they like to bury visitors in the hot volcanic sands. You bake like a potato for 10 minutes to boost circulation, and at our historic hotel, Hakusuikan, you chase it with a dip in the separate mens/womens bathhouses, which are jaw droppingly stunning. (Scroll down to watch the short video below, in the TikTok section of this newsletter.)

And now I write this from Yakushima, an island off the coast of Kyushu, known for its palette of greens against ocean blues; this place is the inspo for Princess Mononoke, which should clue you in to why I was so excited for a forest bath here. (I rearranged the entire itinerary just to make it work with the hotel’s availability to host; it was worth it: Sankara Hotel & Spa is one of the best I’ve stayed at, ever—the Michelin food alone, wow).

And the forest bath we took on day one with KaleidoForest? Life altering. Core memory. One of my favorite days of all time. We hugged trees. We walked barefoot and laid in the dirt. We hiked forever. We strummed a lyre. We talked about our feelings.

True forest healing. I’m not even earthy crunchy like that, but I adored every minute.

Hats off to Visit Kyushu and their 5-star PR team at Bullfrog + Baum for making sure the week’s itinerary was such a smash. They took all my requests and notes and made this a standout experience that I am so excited to relay to Robb Report readers soon.

Watch, All Ye Sadists: We Got 700+ Injections from Rejuran

Our Rejuran procedure video is up, in which I filmed André receiving all 700+ shots of the salmon DNA—as well as some pre/post procedure steps and his day-to-day recovery. (He bruised up a lot, and had yellowing from Days 3-10.)

It’s without any actual narration; I’m recording a vlog about the experience + visuals of my procedure and results today, too, which I hope to have up on the Blue Print YouTube channel soon.

We’re also finalizing a video where some of my grooming journo comrades pick their favorite fragrances for men. (Here’s a tease of those beauties.)

Follow Blue Print on TikTok: @blueprintgrooming

We finally started posting to TikTok this weekend; hey, better late than never. We kicked things off with this cute lil clip of our Ibusuki hot sand bath / stunning spa visit—and of course, the travel p*rn of it all took off with the algorithm.

Please give us a follow!

@blueprintgrooming

Ibusuki’s volcanic hot springs make for one truly immersive wellness day. #ibusuki #visitjapan #kagoshima #hotspring #onsen #hotsandbath #... See more

Once I stop moving around as much in March/April, I’ll make myself an actual conversational presence on TikTok too, as well as on our Instagram.

FYC: Replacements for the Korean Sunscreen Ban + Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 Discontinuation

We’ve got two big skincare losses to mourn.

First, it’s now virtually impossible to import your favorite Korean sunscreens into the US. This was a long time coming; those fantastic, new-age elegant-wear UV chemical filters aren’t approved by the FDA (shame on the FDA for making zero advancements in this tech, due to ridiculously expensive hurdles they’ve put in place of innovation; my Robb Report article from last year covers why.)

If you want something US-born that wears as elegantly, my top recs would be Cardon’s SPF 30 moisturizer (Amazon/Cardon) for a daily-wear product (hello, Korean co-founder knows what’s good); Bask’s SPF 50 Daily Invisible Gel (Bask) for no-feel radiance; Vacation’s Shake Shake SPF 50 Milk (Ulta/Vacation) for an effective and easy-blend lightweight mineral sunscreen.

Second, pour one out for the discontinuation of exfoliating toner Lotion P50 1970, whose use of phenols lasted far longer in the US than in their native France; it took the US an extra decade to ban the highly irritating ingredient—way to stay current, FDA!

So many people swore by the multi-action lotion for its skin-balancing abilities in the midst of exfoliation; P50 had high variance results; either your skin loved it or hated it (and the latter is why it’s banned).

This one is a easier to replace than Korean SPFs, in my opinion: For a balancing exfoliant, consider Buttah’s AHA/BHA Rosewater Toner (Ulta)—truly remarkable brand across the board—their CocoShea Revitalizing Cream being my favorite. Or if you just want an out-of-this-world, marble-smooth facial peel, I will never stop promoting Prof. Dr. Steinkraus’ Triple Peel (Niche Beauty) (oh how I love this brand, top to bottom).

New This Week: Leaf Shave, Uppercut, Le Labo, and Geologie

Four notable launches this week.

1. LEAF SHAVE: Just today, Leaf Shave—one of the best and most innovative razormakers in the biz—is launching a shave brush/bowl duo (the campaign is called “Super Shave Bowl Sunday”, heh). You can get them in green or black; both products are wrapped in slip-proof silicone, and the brush is synthetic. Pair ‘em with Leaf’s exquisite shave soap to whip up a delicious lather.

2. UPPERCUT: Another launch I’m stoked about this week is the b-e-a-uuuutiful limited-edition RESIN & ROSE capsule from Uppercut. (Standalone / Kit with Keyring).

   In terms of performance, it’s the same pomade you and I love; I sang its praises in GQ for high hold and shine in my thick strands. Only now it’s got this resin-dipped lid that contains an actual rose as well as a machine-pressed safety blade; no two tins look the same, and the pomade itself is now resin colored and rose scented to match the campaign. STUNNING.

   And I repeat: Limited-edition. It’s intended to be single run, and they anticipate being sold through the stock in 4 weeks’ time, so get it now. You can store your jewelry in it when the pomade is used up.

3. LE LABO: As a sucker for eucalyptus (and anything mint-y fresh), I’m thrilled that Le Labo built their latest scent Eucalyptus 20 EDP around the note. I’ve yet to smell it but will get my chance in Tokyo next week. Early feedback seems medium-favorable for this one. (I think I like mint-like notes better than the average nose.)

   It’s also got cedarwood, frankincense, musk, and resin… sounds positively stirring to me. (And if you like mint-tinged scents, I alllways love to promote the minty-metallic coldness of Les Bains Guerbois 1979 New Wave EDP—this one with actual mint from spearmint and peppermint.)

   

   Le Labo

4. GEOLOGIE: This slightly belated nod is for Geologie, who has been building out a terrific acne assortment (Geologie / Amazon), from face and body cleansers to spot treatments and pimple patches—and which is now available at Target, too.

That’s all for this weekend, Blue Princes-Mononokes. Chat you next weekend from snowy Nikko, where we’ll be taking a 3-day chilled-out respite in the middle of our big Tokyo stretch.

Parting shot: the cherry blossoms coming into bloom in Yakushima; how lucky to see them here in the south, since they won’t be popping on the main island for another couple months.

And hey, if you read til the end, maybe you can forward this to a pal who might like to read it each week, or who may want to win some great grooming prizes like a bottle of Arquiste? I appreciate any way you can help get the word out about Blue Print and what we’re building here—a social share, even, especially amongst industry peers.