These reviews were originally posted on Reddit (now deleted) on May 22, 2021. I’ve replaced links with archive links if necessary (and available) and made minor formatting changes and corrections, but otherwise haven’t done any editing or updating. I think all three products haven’t been reformulated since I first posted this, though, so the reviews are probably still relevant.

Disclaimers (2026)

• This is all specific to the products as sold in Japan as of 2020 or earlier. What seem like the same products may have different formulations etc. in other countries (example) and in the present day, so make sure to double check specifically for what you would be buying. (And also, double check in case I got anything wrong or got different products mixed up or something.)
• I’ve added my usual disclaimer under all the ingredient lists, but take it all with an extra large grain of salt because this post was from before I learned more about ingredient names.

[Reviews] Japanese body washes: Mama Butter Body Soap, CareCera Foaming Body Wash, and Nivea Angel Skin Body Wash (Cassis and Herbs)

Skin type (on body): Dry in the winter, dryish/normal for the rest of the year

Cleanser preference: I like the idea of gentle cleansers, but I tend to start feeling really disgusting if I use cleansers that are too gentle. I don’t know whether it’s because of my metabolism, my other body products, and/or my local climate (generally high humidity, especially starting right about now). But on the other hand, my skin has reacted badly to at least a few (American) Dove and Ivory products in the distant past, so I probably can’t use anything harsh, either. Also, I’m fine with fragrance if I actually like it; otherwise I prefer that it’s fragrance free.

Disclaimer: The ingredient list translations are my own. I’m fluent in Japanese but I don’t have a background in cosmetic chemistry or anything. See the links in Japanese for the original ingredient list.

TL;DR

• Mama Butter Body Soap: Potentially HG if it were more affordable/more widely available
• CareCera Foaming Body Wash: WNRP because it’s too gentle and I hate the fragrance
• Nivea Angel Skin Body Wash (Cassis and Herbs): WRP for now (just started using it), but not consecutively because I would probably get sick of the fragrance

Mama Butter Body Soap

• Product name in Japanese: ママバター ボディソープ
• Company: BbyE
• Price (example): 1,100 JPY for a 500 mL bottle, or 880 JPY for a 400 mL refill pouch = 2.2 JPY per mL
• Fragrance-free and contains shea butter (which is the selling point of the entire Mama Butter brand)

I found this to be cleansing enough without feeling like it dries my skin at all, although I was using it during the colder months and am not sure whether it would still be as good for me in the summer. Would potentially be HG if it were a little cheaper and available at my local drugstore (and if I do also like it in the summer), though I’ve been ordering more things online over the past year anyway. —I don’t really have anything else to say, but in a good way. They come across as being “clean beauty”-ish as a brand, but in my experience this is a good basic no-frills product.

If you’re in Japan, you can generally find Mama Butter products at so-called “variety shops” like Loft or Tokyu Hands, and probably in the cosmetics section of large electronics stores like Yodobashi Camera. They also have some of their products (but unfortunately not this one) at a semi-fancy supermarket I visit on occasion. There’s also a fragranced version with bergamot, lime, and orange essential oils if that would be preferable.

Additional note in 2026: This product is still available today. The packaging looks the same, and as far as I can tell from the ingredient list, the formulation probably hasn’t changed, either. The official website still lists the same prices.

Ingredients: Water, Cocamide DEA, Lauric Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Chloride, Lauramidopropyl Betaine, Shea Butteramidopropyl Betaine, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Oleic Acid, Glycerin, Dihydroxypropyl Arginine HCl, Glycol Distearate, PEG-1 Lauryl Glycol, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Phenoxyethanol

Disclaimer: I’m just a bilingual skincare enthusiast with no background in science. If you’re allergic to anything, double-check to make sure I didn’t get anything wrong.

CareCera Foaming Body Wash

• Product name in Japanese: ケアセラ 泡の高保湿ボディウォッシュ (trade name: ケアセラボディウォッシュb)
• Company: Rohto Pharmaceutical
• Price (example): 978 JPY for a 450 mL bottle, or 698 JPY for a 385 mL refill pouch = 1.81298701 JPY per mL
• “Pure Floral” fragrance and contains ceramides (which is the selling point of the entire CareCera brand)

CareCera seems to be mentioned fairly frequently in the context of products for dry, sensitive skin. This is my own fault, but I picked this up at my local drugstore assuming it would be fragrance free because of how sensitive skin friendly it seems. I later checked out some reviews in Japanese and the fragrance seems well received, but personally, I can’t stand it. I would describe it as a kind of a powdery scent reminiscent of my grandmother’s makeup products (no offense, Grandma).

It does feel super gentle, but it’s actually too gentle for me (at this time of the year, at least) and I started feeling like I have grime building up on my body to the point where I started getting a little itchy. It might be good for people who really do need something that isn’t stripping at all.

The other versions have a “Fruity Rose” fragrance and a “Botanical Flower” fragrance, and there’s also a fragrance free version for babies that apparently feels pretty different from this one based on the reviews I’ve read. WNRP maybe unless my skin is desperately dry, which hasn’t happened since I started using my current body lotion (Vaseline Advanced Repair Body Lotion: non-AB—though I haven’t checked whether the version sold in Japan is 100% the same as the US version—and super HG).

Additional note in 2026: This product is still available today. The packaging has changed since, but the trade name and JAN codes haven’t changed, so I’m guessing it probably has the same formulation. (I don’t have the original ingredient list in Japanese on hand for easy comparison.) The same online store currently charges 1030 JPY for the 450 mL pump bottle and 710 JPY for the 385 mL refill pouch, so it may possibly cost a bit more now.

Ingredients: Water, PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate, Sorbitol, Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate, Cocamide Methyl MEA, Sodium Taurine Cocoyl Methyltaurate, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Dihydroxylignoceroyl Phytosphingosine, Ceramide EOP, Ceramide NS, Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOS, Caprooyl Phytosphingosine, Caprooyl Sphingosine, Behenic Acid, Cholesterol, Petasites Japonicus Leaf/Stem Extract, Tambourissa Trichophylla Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (German Chamomile) Flower Extract, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Polyquaternium-7, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Dextrin, Butylene Glycol, PPG-3 Caprylyl Ether, Ceteareth-25, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

Disclaimer: I’m just a bilingual skincare enthusiast with no background in science. If you’re allergic to anything, double-check to make sure I didn’t get anything wrong.

* This review and ingredient list are for the version of this product made for the Japanese market. I understand there are CareCera products in other countries, and they may not necessarily be the exact same thing in spite of the packaging being virtually identical, even if it’s made in Japan. (I haven’t checked.)

Nivea Angel Skin Body Wash (Cassis and Herbs)

• Product name in Japanese: ニベア エンジェルスキン ボディウォッシュ カシス＆ハーブの香り (trade name: ニベアエンジェルスキンボディウォッシュｃ)
• Company: Nivea Kao; developed in collaboration with Beiersdorf
• Price (example): 589 JPY for a 480 mL bottle, or 398 JPY for a 360 mL refill pouch = 1.10555556 JPY per mL
• “Cassis and Herbs” fragrance; contains kaolin, sodium sulfate, and PEG stearate for exfoliation, and yogurt filtrate and glycerin for moisturization

I’m still nowhere near finished with the CareCera body wash, but I desperately needed something else ASAP. I’ve been feeling inclined to trust Kao lately, and the fragrance name sounded like something I would at least like better than the CareCera product. The Japanese reviews for this product mostly seem positive (depending on whether you like the fragrance or not), but some people say it ended up drying out their skin.

I translated カシス directly as “Cassis” so that it would be easier to find if you’re in Japan, but the more common term in English is blackcurrant or black currant. Personally I think the fragrance is really strong, but some reviewers specifically say it isn’t strong, so I guess it depends on what other products you’re accustomed to using. (I tend to use a lot of fragrance free products.) Some people say the fragrance doesn’t linger, I say it does. It seems like a lot of people think it smells like the Blackberry & Bay Cologne from Jo Malone, but I’m not familiar with it. It kind of reminds me of the Baies candle from Diptyque, which is supposed to smell like blackcurrant leaves and Bulgarian rose. A few reviewers complain that it smells like it’s for older men, so if you want a girly scent, this isn’t for you. (And definitely avoid if you don’t want fragrance.)

I’ve only been using it for less than a week, but so far I don’t think it’s drying. I thought it might be because I always put plenty of body lotion on afterwards, so I tried going without it last night to see what happens, and my skin feels fine (but also, we have just entered the rainy season here—earlier than usual—and the humidity is extra high). WRP unless I change my mind, although I’ll probably switch things up and use something else next so that I don’t get sick of the fragrance.

I don’t find the exfoliating property all that notable, by the way, although I think it’s because I already have two other exfoliating body products. Also, none of them make as much of a difference as taking an epsom salt bath (at least for me).

The two other versions of this product seem to be the same thing with different fragrancing: “Savon and Bouquet” (savon being the French word for soap) and “Flower(s) and Peach.”

Additional note in 2026: I wrote that this one is from Kao in the original post, but it’s from Nivea Kao, which is a subsidiary of Kao and Beiersdorf and is in the Kao Group. This product is still available today, and although the packaging has changed, it still has the same trade name, JAN codes, and ingredient list, so I’m guessing the formulation probably hasn’t changed. The same online store currently charges 680 JPY for the 480 mL bottle and 460 JPY for the 360 mL refill pouch, so it may cost a bit more now.

Maybe most significantly, I still use either this or another product in the same line (released after this post).

Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Myristic Acid, Lauric Acid, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycol Distearate, Palmitic Acid, Fragrance, Cocamide MEA, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Butylene Glycol, Yogurt Filtrate, Laureth-4, PEG-150 Stearate, Etidronic Acid, Kaolin, Polyquaternium-7, Disodium EDTA, Polyquaternium-61, Laureth-16, Sodium Sulfate, Polyquaternium-52, Trisodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Benzoate

Disclaimer: I’m just a bilingual skincare enthusiast with no background in science. If you’re allergic to anything, double-check to make sure I didn’t get anything wrong.

* Again, this review and ingredient list are for the version of this product made for the Japanese market, if it also exists elsewhere.