“Yon”, the river of living and “Ka”, the eternal part of every being, form a symbol of constant regeneration and newfound harmony. Yon-Ka, established in 1954 in the Multaler Laboratories, are pioneers and leaders in aromatherapy and skincare. I was fortunate to get hold of a their skincare system, Yon-Ka For Men, which I have to say was an enormous surprise.

It’s very rare in cosmetics to find a complete skincare line that you really enjoy. Often a company has one or two really outstanding products but then the rest of their collection is a bit of an afterthought, a little lacklustre; even more so when you see a range stamped with the all too often daming sign of ‘For Men’. However, this trio of products are outstanding both individually and together.

Foam Gel

Blue in colour, this gel face wash foams but not overly, it’s a lot more gentle than most others and doesn’t leave your face feeling squeaky and dehydrated. Formulated with Liquorice, copper and iris, essential lime oil and ‘Quintessence Yon-Ka’ (essential oils of lavender, geranium, rosemary, cypress and thyme). It does deeply cleanse but as I said, it didn’t leave me feeling stripped and gasping for moisturiser. It’s also made of 97% natural ingredients and is completely paraben free.

Lotion YK

This is a really interesting concept. It’s essentially a toner, but in a pump-spray, aluminium bottle. I’ve always been a big fan of the La Roche Posay and Avene spray waters, so it’s nice to have something that also delivers treatment benefits. I’ve used this both when just getting out the shower and patting my face dry and during the day when I’m feeling a bit sticky and sweaty. There is a risk however of looking overly dramatic as I reach into my bag, wave this out and begin to spritz myself in public.

It refreshes, and breaks down excess surface oil whilst leaving my skin calm. Formulated with lime, orange, grapefruit and lemon essential oils as well as Yon-Ka’s ‘Quintessence Yon-Ka’.

Nutri-Creme

This feels interesting. On first contact my mind went “Uh-Oh!” as it feels incredible rich and thick, which when you have a slightly oilier skin type, is a little worrying. The odd thing is that this texture seems to instantly dissolve on the skin, sinking in like a shot, leaving my skin matte with a healthy dewy finish. Comprised of Vitamins A,C,E and B5, pumpkin seed oil and virgin live oil (is actually beneficial for oilier skin types, sounds weird but true), grapefruit extract, orange, lemon and lime essential oils and, you guessed it, ‘Quintessence Yon-Ka’. As with most of the range, this is mostly natural ingredients (92%) and is completely paraben free.

So what do I think?

The range feels luxurious, smells luxurious and its efficacy is luxurious. The range is actually said to be used by Tom Cruise, Jude Law and Johnny Depp, however I don’t know if I’d use Tom Cruise as a guide to choose my, well, anything really. From a brand I’ve never used before, I was totally blown away and for guys I think it’s great to finally found a range that doesn’t result in me throwing or giving half of it away. I honestly think you can rest-assured that you’re going to really enjoy these products. Let me know if you’ve used these products before and how you got on by dropping me a comment below!