Sakura Veil plumpers make a stop at temple in the Kyoto foothills before making their way to convenience stores.
As a Japanese cosmetics brand, it’s not surprising that Parado would draw parallels between the shades if its lip plumpers and the colors of cherry blossoms. They even have a series that they call Sakura Veil Lip, drawing inspiration from the appearance of Japan’s representative flowers.
Aside from just looking pretty, though, sakura are seen as an auspicious symbol in Japanese culture, evoking thoughts of bursting into vigorous beauty as they bloom in the spring. Because of that, the sakura motif on Parado’s Sakura Veil lipsticks would already give users a bit of a mental pick-me-up, but that boost is going to be even stronger thanks to a special batch that’s been blessed by priests at a 300-year-old Kyoto temple.
Located at the western edge of the city in the foothills of the historical Arashiyama district, Suzumushidera was founded in 1723. Though the temple’s name is officially Myotokusan Kegonji, it became known as Suzumushidera because of the soothing sounds of suzumushi (crickets) which can be heard chirping at night on the temple grounds.
Suzumushidera is also famous for its cherry blossom trees, though, and this is why Parado reached out to the temple and asked its priests to perform a blessing on two different Sakura Veil colors, with their prayers intended to channel happiness and wellbeing towards the lipsticks’ users.
The basic Sakura Veil color takes its cue/hue from cherry blossoms in full bloom, imparting a warm, soft pink glow to the lips.
The second color, Sakura Tsubomi, is a darker pink, closer to a red and similar to the color of not-yet-open sakura flower buds (tsubomi).
The Sakura Tsubomi also has flecks of yellow, which is the color of the omamori amulets that Suzumushidera offers at its temple and are said to bring happiness to their bearers. The Sakura Tsubomi also gets an extra luxurious ingredient in the form of a moisturizing agent made from Somei Yoshino (Japan’s most iconic cherry blossom variety) extract.
Because of their blessed status, supplies of these special Sakura Veil lip plumpers are limited, but they’re surprisingly affordably priced, with the standard version just 770 yen (US$5.15) and the Sakura Tsubomi just a little more, at 990 yen. They both go on sale November 28 and will be available exclusively at 7-Eleven branches across Japan.
Source: PR Times via Japaaan
Images: PR Times
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