Tonoike Sake Brewery visit and Kuramoto Bijin skincare haul

Wait!
Sake brewery and skincare haul all at the same time?

Yep. Totally possible if you live in Japan.


Sake based skincare has been around for a long time, even since before SK-II patented their Pitera.
And in recent years there has been a virtual explosion of sake-inspired, sake-infused, sake-blended, and sake-based cosmetics. At least in Japan.

Why? Because sake is virtually everywhere here, sake by-products are full of vitamins and anti-ageing compounds, and fermented products are probably one of the oldest beauty treatments known to man.

Kuramoto Bijin rice oil and sake serum (the red one) has been my friend since last year. I loved it so much that I began to spread the joy to my friends in foreign lands.

A few weeks ago I was finally getting ready to write about it (and as always, the review is still pending) and had the mother of all eureka moments.

Tonoike Sake Brewery that makes the product is literally down the street from my house. It's located in Mashiko in Tochigi prefecture.

A quick look at the company's website revealed that the brewery is very visitor friendly.
You didn't have to tell me that twice.

And so last Monday I hopped in the car and zoomed over to Mashiko.
Mashiko is famous in its own right - it's one of the main pottery centers in Japan. It holds two pottery festivals a year and if you're into expensive tableware and pretty things, you should definitely consider visiting.

I don't drink alcohol. I dip my tongue in sake only during official ceremonies when it absolutely, positively can't be avoided. I am no sake expert. I only know what wikipedia tells me.

But what I do know is that sake kasu (a.k.a. sake lees) makes for a wonderful face pack.

With that in mind, I had no idea what I could expect during my visit to Tonoike Shuzouten in Mashiko.

As it turned out, I worried needlessly. A visit to a sake brewery is great fun even for a non-drinker and a sake noob like me.

 I was met by Mr Shigeki Tonoike, the boss himself, who kindly volunteered to be my guide.

The Tonoike family has been making sake in Tochigi prefecture since 1829 and the brewery in Mashiko was established by Mr Tonoike's (the current boss's) grandfather in 1937.
And apparently, as evidenced by numerous domestic and international sake competition awards, the Tonoike family really knows their stuff.

My tour started with a video explaining the sake making process.
After that I donned special slippers, a white smock and a hat and went to see the fermenting rice up close and personal.

What makes sake special is how the rice is polished. The more of the outer layer you remove, the fancier the sake later on.

When polished and washed, the grains don't look like rice anymore. They resemble tiny white pearls. And are just as shiny.

And here you can see it fermenting in huge vats:

There's your sake being made. And cosmetics :-)

Actually Tonoike Shuzouten doesn't manufacture beauty products in-house. Instead they send their raw materials to proper, licensed plants that do the work for them. They also work with cosmetic chemists and scientists to make sure that their products are up to the highest standards.

Mr Tonoike explained that the cosmetic side of things started 10 years ago with soap.
Sake bottles are heavy, and while they make great gifts and souvenirs, they are big and hard to transport. And not everyone is a drinker.

Sake based soap seemed like a perfect solution. It was small, light and something that everyone uses.

Then came sake-infused hand cream. And let me tell you, it really does smell like sake. If you're a drinker you might end up licking your hands. A lot.

But what about those who are not fans of the sake smell?

The answer was very simple - tochiotome strawberries - Tochigi's most famous crop.
And that's how the strawberry infused cream was born. And let me tell you, it really does smell like strawberries. I wanted to lick my hands. A lot.

Then came sake and strawberry infused bath salts. If you ever wanted to bathe in a sake smelling soup, this one's for you. I used to plop a chunk of sake kasu into my hot bath, now I can use proper bath salts. Saves a lot of work when scrubbing the bathtub later on.

Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Ferment Lotion was new to me. I can't wait to try it.

Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Ferment Milk was made famous by Ratzilla's best pick feature.

I am on my second bottle and it has become my winter dry skin savior.

Ratzilla also wrote about Kuramoto Bijin Komeyu Rice Oil.

I have been using it on my eczema patches and works better than any other facial oil I have tried. Eat your heart out tsubaki!

The three rice grain ladies (yep, they are shaped like rice) signify women in their 20s, 30s and 40s. In other words - Kuramoto Bijin Komeyu is skincare for everyone.

Tonoike Sake Brewery is working on additional beauty products - face cream, sheet masks and a face pack (which means no more do it yourself sake kasu!). A premium line is also in the works.

And the best news is that the company is working on an English-language internet store with worldwide shipping.  How awesome is that?

Many Japanese companies are totally oblivious to the popularity of Japanese skincare overseas, they don't care and can't be bothered.
So it was so refreshing and inspiring to see a Japanese company that understands the importance of making life easy for its foreign customers.



HAUL TIME!!!

This is my entire Tonoike Shuzouten Kuramoto Bijin haul.

Kuramoto Bijin Komeyu Rice Oil and Kuramoto Bijin Komeyu Rice Oil Serum:

Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Ferment Lotion and Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Ferment Milk:

Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Ferment Soap:

Tochiotome hand cream and bath salts:

Nameraka hand cream and sake bath salts:

And... sake kasu pound cake!
It was delicious!

I seem to have missed the strawberry body lotion, but that's ok. I have an excuse to visit again!

Thank you so much Mr Tonoike and Ms Sato for making me feel so welcome!

Isn't it awesome to realize that your favorite skincare brand was born literally in your own back yard?

I will be reviewing the products in the coming weeks. So stay tuned. Because a Kuramoto Bijin giveaway is coming too. I hauled lots and I'm happy to share!


UPDATE:

If you're interested in any of these products, but can't purchase them easily online (I know they can be hard to find!), please let me know.  I'll be happy to help. Because, hey, Tochigi pride! Represent! :-)

DHC Kakonjuka Lotion, Essence and Cream

Life happens.
Bad, bad blogger!
And that's all you're going to get in lieu of apologies for my prolonged silence.

Today's review is long overdue.
Looong overdue.
Why? I always have a hard time writing exciting things about solid products. You know what products I'm talking about. Those... you know... solid... always dependable... boring... dependable... in simple packages... not earth shattering holy grails, but just... you know... good... dependable.

DHC is such a brand for me. Solid. Dependable. Boring. Doing what it's been designed to do. But utterly unexciting.
If I can't decide what to use, I reach for DHC. I know it's not going to hurt me. I know I can't go wrong with it. I know I can... you know... depend on it.
DHC is like a pair of my favorite shoes. Comfortable, well worn, on my feet day in and day out. Yeah, I have pairs of sexy heels, and fancy sneakers, and classic pumps, but it's the trusted, boring pair of Vans that I end up wearing every day.

So when one day earlier this year I found myself in need of some emergency skincare, DHC was the default brand I went out to buy. It helped that there was a DHC sale going on, too, and I could get every product for more than 50% off. And as we all very well know, cheap is always good. And cheaper is even better.

DHC is a pretty basic brand in Japan. It's available at most drugstores, supermarkets and even some convenience stores, however, the selection of products in stock in those locations tends to be limited. For the full DHC assortment you need to visit its own brand stores, easily found in most shopping malls, or order through the company's website or direct mailing.

If you want to know a bit more about the company, here's a handy link to the "About DHC page" on their international website.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil is well known and loved by beauty fans (even those unfamiliar with other Asian beauty products) all over the world. It helps that Lisa Eldridge sings its praises, too.
It's also one of my cleansing staples. I like trying new oils, but always find myself coming back to DHC. So yes, maybe it is my holy grail after all.

DHC in the West is considered to be a mid- to higher-level brand apparently. At least it seems so judging by the ridiculous prices. When I saw the products markups on the international website, I nearly wept. Holymotherofbatman! Speechless!
But as soon as I stopped weeping, I noticed that those DHC products that are no longer available in stores in Japan (for whatever reason), are still sold overseas.

Today's trio belongs to this category. I snagged it on sale, because, seemingly, it was being phased out of in-store assortment in Japan. I haven't seen it listed in the DHC direct mailing catalog either.
You can, however, still order it on the Japanese DHC website. The question is whether or not you'd want to, if you had to pay full price for it?

So, let's try to answer it. Shall we?


And with that in mind, I'd like to introduce today's contestants:

DHC Kakonjuka (or Kakon Juka) line.

Yes, as you've probably noticed, I have this unhealthy habit of buying not just one product from a particular line, but the whole damn thing. All the bits, whether I need them or not.
On one hand it's very convenient, because I can see whether the products work separately, or together, and can determine the best combination for the best results. If there are any results, that is.
On the other hand, good grief! I have too much stuff already! I don't need more skincare products!

Still,  I hate piddling piecemeal, and because they were all on sale, I just got the entire DHC Kakonjuka line:

• - DHC Kakonjuka Lotion (80ml)
• - DHC Kakonjuka Essence (25ml)

and

• - DHC Kakonjuka Cream (30grams).

What the eff is this Kakonjuka anyway, I hear you say.

It's pronounced ka-kon-ju-ka, and means “flower, root, tree, fruit” in Japanese (花根樹果).

With a name like that you'd expect it to be full of extracts and good-for-you natural stuff? Right?
Some bloggers, like Musings of a Muse, fell for this trick and said that Kakonjuka is "all natural skincare".
Of course that's a crock of kaka, as we will shortly see.

Kakonjuka is "all natural" in about the same way that I am an innocent, blushing virgin.

Having said that, it's not a bad line. But is it as great at DHC would like us to believe? Heck no.


Let's start with the DHC Kakonjuka Lotion - 80ml.

Some bloggers were confused why it's called a "lotion".
So here you have it - it's called a "lotion", because that's what we call toners in Japan. It's not a lotion in the western sense. It's a toner. And as most toners, it goes on your face after cleansing to prep the skin for the rest of your skincare products.

Kakonjuka Lotion is supposed to plump and hydrate your face. DHC says that it contains six Asian botanicals to "prepare your complexion for your moisturizer and promote collagen for firmer skin and fewer visible fine lines."
Those botanicals are: maitake mushroom, Platycarya strobilacea, great burnet, purslane, reishi mushroom and licorice.

The lotion has a pretty thick texture. DHC calls it "rich" and "serum-like."  It absorbs completely and doesn't leave a sticky layer. It has a vague earthy smell and is alcohol-free. So that's the good stuff.

Now for the bad. The botanicals are at the very end of the ingredient list, which means they do diddly squat. I guess the only reason they are there, so the company could say they are there.

DHC Kakonjuka Lotion ingredients:

water/aqua/eau, dipropylene glycol, glycerin, propanediol, pentylene glycol, butylene glycol, phenoxyethanol, glycosyl trehalose, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, arginine, grifola frondosa fruiting body extract, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, aureobasidium pullulans ferment, hydrolyzed platycarya strobilacea fruit extract, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, polyquaternium-51, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) leaf extract, sodium hyaluronate, ziyu glycoside I, portulaca oleracea extract, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, ganoderma lucidum (mushroom) stem extract, ethylhexylglycerin

My opinion:

I noticed decent hydration and zero plumping. Firmer skin and fewer lines? Hahaha!!! Surely you didn't take that product blurb seriously.

So, does it do anything? Yes, it does. It's a very basic, alcohol-free toner that does what a basic toner is supposed to. It's perfectly serviceable, it doesn't make my face erupt in angry cysts, and its fragrance doesn't make my eyes water. In fact, the earthy smell is kind of refreshing.

But if you're expecting fewer wrinkles and other bells and whistles, you are looking at the wrong product.

~~~

Next up we have: DHC Kakonjuka Essence - 25ml.

We have the same six botanicals at the very end of the ingredient list. And we have the same lofty promises of firmer skin. Hahaha!
I'm not going to give you a detailed summary of what each extract is supposed to be doing, because trust me, there isn't enough of any of them to do anything. Except, just like in the case of the lotion described above, justify the product's cute name.

The bottle is tiny, it holds only 25ml of product. But at least it has a pump.

The essence is off white in color, has the same earthy smell and is alcohol-free. It provided my skin with just enough hydration to stay sane during the ridiculously hot and humid Japanese summers.

It didn't break me out, it absorbed completely. It worked with the cream from the same line, as well as with a different set of products. In short, nothing to complain about.

DHC Kakonjuka Essence ingredients:

water/aqua/eau, dipropylene glycol, glycerin, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, propanediol, ethylhexyl palmitate, pentylene glycol, dimethicone, glycosyl trehalose, glyceryl stearate, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, butylene glycol, bisabolol, behenyl alcohol, polysorbate 80, PEG-75 stearate, phenoxyethanol, carbomer, arginine, grifola frondosa fruiting body extract, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed platycarya strobilacea fruit extract, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, tocopherol, polyquaternium-51, citrus grandis (grapefruit) seed extract, glyccyrrhiza glabra (licorice) leaf extract, ziyu glycoside I, portulaca olearacea extract, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, ganoderma lucidum (mushroom) stem extract

My opinion:

DHC Kakonjuka Essence is a basic, no-frills essence that gives basic, no-frills moisture. Any additional benefits are, more likely than not, purely a placebo effect.


~~~

And finally we have: DHC Kakonjuka Cream - 30 grams.

DHC Kakonjuka Cream intensive face moisturizer "features six nourishing, antioxidant-rich botanicals—used for centuries in Asia—to plump and hydrate your complexion. Promotes collagen for firmer skin and fewer visible fine lines and wrinkles." That's what DHC says.

The cream is again off white and has a "natural" smell. Again, the six trace elements extracts are all present, but highly doubtful they provide any noticeable benefits.

It turned out to be a perfect day cream. It moisturized just enough, it absorbed completely, it left the skin feeling soft and smooth.

It worked great under makeup, it didn't break me out and I didn't notice any adverse reactions.

DHC Kakonjuka Cream ingredients:

water/aqua/eau, dimethicone, ethylhexyl palmitate, propanediol, behenyl alcohol, beeswax, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, glycerin, cylcopentasiloxane, glyceryl stearate, pentylene glycol, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, octyldodecyl myristate, PEG-75 stearate, polysorbate 60, butylene glycol, bisabolol, glycosyl trehalose, phenoxyethanol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, grifola frondosa fruiting body extract, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed platycarya strobilacea fruit extract, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, tocopherol, polyquaternium-51, arginine, sodium hyaluronate, citrus grandis (grapefruit) seed extract, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) leaf extract, ziyu glycoside I, portulaca oleracea extract, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, ganoderma lucidum (mushroom) stem extract

My opinion:

DHC Kakonjuka Cream, like the rest of this line, is a decent, basic cream that serves a decent, basic purpose.

I wanted to test the moisturizing claims, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.
Here you have the before and after results when using the entire set:

Not too shabby, I'd say.

And if you are interested, here's this test:

Final thoughts on DHC Kakonjuka line:


The Kakonjuka line has turned out to be exactly what DHC is famous for - a solid set of skincare products that are low key, efficient, no frills, and doing, at least partially, what they're supposed to in that unassuming DHC way.

But the packaging... Oh gods, the packaging is awful. Just awful. Looks cheap and trashy.

For all three products I paid the equivalent of US$25.00. There were cheap.
Will I repurchase?
If I have to pay the full price - no.

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture line and Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser

I'll try to keep it short and sweet today, hence the combined review of:

• Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture line (we'll take a look at the toner, lotion and cream) 

and

• Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser.

Grinif is a Korean skincare brand, you might call it a niche brand, that specializes in "natural" skincare.
Their website is entirely in Korean, and it's of the not awesome variety that is fully and completely image based. So people like me, who are not going to learn Korean just to be able to read PR spin of cosmetic manufacturers, are sadly out of luck. You can't copy and paste the text into google translate.

Usually, that alone is enough for me to skip such brands and spend my money elsewhere. If a brand doesn't care about its foreign customers, then foreign customers should do the same. Or maybe in case of Grinif, this is a conscious choice to keep the brand "niche" and mysteriously alluring? Don't know and, frankly, after today's review, I'm not going to care.

I found myself with a few Grinif items purely by accident. And yes, I admit, at the same time I was curious about the brand as well.

Grinif's tagline is "Skintherapy by nature" and its products are supposedly made of imported, European ingredients. What? Korean ingredients are not "natural" enough? Or European are more prestigious? Whatever the case, it's supposed to be "natural", because natural sounds trendy. And trendy sells.

We have plain paper boxes to match the natural image, and at least for the products purchased in Japan, there are no leaflets in the boxes.  How very "green" and eco friendly!

Big mistake, in my opinion, because if you're going to sell in foreign markets, and clearly, this is Grinif's intention, as the ingredient lists are also provided in English, please respect your international customers.

Dear Grinif people, the bare minimum of relevant information in a language that non-Korean speakers can understand goes a long way, trust me.
But I guess Grinif was so focused on creating pretty and "green" boxes that the more practical side of things simply slipped the company's honchos minds. Oh well, it happens.

So let's start, shall we?

Grinif O2 (Oxygen) Bubble Mask Cleanser

I like those bubbly "oxygen" cleansers. It's the stuff that takes all the work out of cleansing. You spread it on your face and wait. And then simply rinse off. Done.

This cleanser is supposed to be ideal for sensitive skin. It's supposed to be as soft as whipped egg whites.
You can check out the entire, barely comprehensible, description on Skin18 (no, I am not affiliated with the store), which was evidently copied in its entirety from Cosmetic Love (no, I'm not affiliated), including the same illogical mistakes. Both stores claim that the product is 8-free (meaning free of 8 "hazardous" substances) and later in the description say that it's 5-free.
So which is it? 8-free or 5-free?

The back of the bottle helpfully clarifies that the product is indeed 5-free, meaning free of: parabens, triethanolamine, artificial colors, mineral oil and animal oil(?).

We get 100ml of cleanser in a pretty, white pump bottle.

Grinif is one of those rare Korean companies that list their ingredients according to the international standards following the same ingredient list order as the US, EU and Japan.
How do I know that?
I compared the English list printed on the box with the Japanese list printed on a sticker. They're identical. Usually the Korean list has to be reshuffled to conform to the Japanese labeling laws, which are the same as the laws in the US and Europe.

Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser ingredients:

I had high hopes for this cleanser.

If you've never used an "oxygen" cleanser, you should definitely try it, if only for the novelty value.

This is how it looks in action:

The upper dot (which, oddly, looks like an oversized sperm cell) is freshly squeezed out of the bottle.
The lower blob is what the upper blob is going to look like after about 20 seconds.

You can wait until all the bubbles disappear, or if you're impatient like me, you can just wash it off when the foam is still in full bloom.
No scrubbing required. Just rinse off.

Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser is supposed to do double duty as a makeup remover, and the company claims there is no need for double cleansing. Unfortunately, that didn't work for me.
This cleanser was my SECOND cleanser and I used to remove the leftover oily residue from the initial oil cleansing.

And it was wonderful and great and all things awesome exactly three times when I used it.
On the fourth try, the pump broke. Just broke. Something went "poof!" and the pump was no more. You could keep pressing it until the next presidential election in the US and nada.

I had better things to do with my time, so the cleanser went straight into the trash.

Pity.

Moving on...

~~~

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture line sounded exactly like what my dry and sensitive skin needed.
Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, moisture. I was sold.

The unfortunate bubble mask on the left... buuuu...

I went ahead and decided to try these three products:

• Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Toner
• Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Lotion

and

• Grinif Vitamin ACE H2O Moisture Cream.

~~~

Since right after cleansing, we need a toner, let's start this story with this product:

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Toner

Packaged in true Grinif style in the same pretty, quasi-cardboard box. 

Inside we have a white pump bottle with 100ml of toner.

The company claims that:

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Betaine, Retinyl Palmitate, fruit extracts, fruit oil, Tocopheryl.

Let's take a closer look at the ingredient list (arranged according to the American, European and Japanese ingredient order).

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Toner ingredients:

Alcohol at number 3, pretty high for a product that claims "Skintherapy by nature".

At number 12 we have Triethanolamine, the very same ingredient that was considered undesirable in Grinif O2 Bubble Mask Cleanser. LOL. 

Sigh. It's not hazardous. It's a pH balancer. 

Sorry, I don't like companies that use such questionable scare tactics.

Here's how the toner behaved on the skin:

See that shiny splotch on the right?

The damn thing didn't want to dry. Stayed sticky and unpleasant to the touch. When it did eventually dry, it left a nasty layer of filmy residue.

This was not moisture. This was "hey, let's seal the skin with this horrid sticky stuff to keep the moisture in".

Unfortunately, as that was not my idea of a moisturizing toner, I gave it to my friend. After a couple of days she sent me a Line message complaining "what is this shit you gave me? Take it back, or I'm going to throw it out."

I took it back but I'm not sure what to do with it. Maybe I can use it on my feet. Or my bum. 

~~~

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Lotion

Ahhh... Grinif uses the word "lotion" in its western meaning here. This is a light moisturizer, not a Japanese style lotion (which then would be a toner).

Again, the same Grinify packaging.

In a different light the box can appear quite drab and dark.

Again, a white pump bottle (bonus points for hygiene) with 100ml of product.

Again, the same claims as with Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Toner.

And what do the ingredient list (American ingredient order style) says?

Let's check.

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Lotion ingredients:

Mineral Oil at number 3, so if you don't like that in your skincare, this is not a product for you.

Retinyl Palmitate (which is a form of vitamin A) is at the very end of the list, so how effective is it in this formulation? I'm guessing not very.

And now for the swatches:

Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture Lotion was, without a doubt, one of the most disgusting skincare products I've ever had the misfortune of using.

It leaves a heavy, sticky, filmy layer on the skin.

It smells awful. Do you know those cheap drugstore imitations of high-end perfumes? This is just like that. Like a cheap and overpowering version of Dior Addict. Dis. Gus. Ting.

And now, the final piece of today's Grinif puzzle.

Grinif Vitamin ACE H2O Moisture Cream.

Inside this simple box we have a white plastic jar with 50ml of cream.

The jar states that it contains anti-wrinkle ingredients, as well as Adenosine.

Ok, let's take a look at the ingredient list (American, European and Japanese ingredient order).

Grinif Vitamin ACE H2O Moisture Cream ingredients:

Yes, I was laughing, too. Adenosine is listed third from the end. 

The insides of the jar are protected by an inner plastic cover.

And under the cover?

This unholy mess:

I don't know if this is just my cream. Maybe it was stored improperly? Or the heat of Japan's summer got to it?

No idea.

The gluey substance inside can't be called "cream".

Searching on the internet, I saw Grinif's pretty promo photos, where the cream appears as light and soft as freshly whipped cream. 

The cream in other people's photos didn't looked freshly whipped at all. It resembled my gooey substance, but still within commonly accepted skincare limits.

I was brave and decided to swipe it on my skin anyway.

Greasy and sticky? Yes and yes. On the right you can see the sticky sheen this cream left behind. 

Gross! Yuck!!!

I have a skin moisture meter, but decided that Grinif Vitamin ACE Moisture line wasn't worthy enough to use it.

There is also a serum in this line, but mercifully, I was spared that experience.

Final thoughts:

This entire line is garbage. Total garbage. Nicely packaged, overpriced garbage.

If you have cash to burn you can purchase your own Grinif garbage at Skin 18, or Cosmetic Love, or ebay. But if you have that much cash to burn, I have a better idea. Send it to me. It will be much appreciated. 

I still have one more Grinif product to try and I'm honestly dreading it. I need a break from Grinif. I need to scrub this horrible experience from my skin and my memory.

I had been trying to use these things (because I don't want to call them "cosmetics") for three weeks. That was enough for me.

This post contains ZERO affiliate links and all products were purchased by me. Yeah, what was I thinking... Not much, apparently.

PS> Sorry, I lied, it wasn't short, and definitely not sweet.