The story behind Naris Up Read the full story

The parent company's defining product was born of an accident with a permanent-wave solution. In the 1930s, Naris Cosmetics founder Mitsuyoshi Muraoka noticed that the chemical left skin unexpectedly smooth, and from that observation came CONC — an exfoliating 'peeling lotion' that, decades later, still holds the number-one market share in its category in Japan. That is the lineage Naris Up was born into.

Naris Cosmetics itself dates to 1932 in Osaka, built on a hands-on, door-to-door model in which consultants taught customers how to actually use the products — an education-first approach unusual for its era. By the late twentieth century, though, Japanese shoppers were increasingly buying cosmetics off drugstore shelves rather than from a visiting advisor, and the consultant-led model that built the company looked less suited to a self-service age. Naris answered that shift in 1999 by establishing Naris Up Cosmetics, a separate company aimed squarely at the self-selection retail channel, free to set its own pricing and packaging for a younger, value-minded shopper.

Where the flagship line leaned on personal consultation and premium positioning, Naris Up was designed to sell itself: affordable, accessible, and built for the drugstore aisle and online marketplaces. It became best known abroad for high-turnover everyday items — gentle micellar and oil makeup removers, the sheet-mask ranges, sunscreens, and cleansing products — the sort of unglamorous workhorses that travel well through cross-border e-commerce and fill a lot of bathroom shelves across Asia.

The honest read: Naris Up is a competent, sensibly priced mass-market line backed by a manufacturer with genuine depth and a near-century of formulation experience. You're paying drugstore prices for drugstore products — reliable, pleasant, and good value, especially the removers and masks — rather than cutting-edge actives or clinical breakthroughs. Judged on those terms, it's an easy brand to recommend for routine, no-fuss steps; just don't expect the marketing or the price to promise more than dependable basics, because it doesn't.

Sources:[1][2][3][4][5]

Founded
1999
Origin
Japan
Parent company
Naris Cosmetics
Heritage
Established
Type
J-beauty
Verdicts
4 Strong choice · 0 Good choice of 5 assessed
5 products reviewed

All Naris Up Products

Full protection sun damage
No.1
Naris Up Parasola Essence-In UV Cut Milk Japanese drugstore sunscreen 70ml Japanese Drugstore Milk Sunscreen Value
Naris Up sunscreen

Parasola Essence-In UV Cut Milk

Excellent affordable Japanese drugstore sunscreen — quadruple photostable UV filter system at SPF 50+ PA++++ ratings, integrated beauty serum layer (HA, collagen, ceramide, niacinamide), milk format suitable for dry-to-normal skin. Punches well above its drugstore price point.

Key Octinoxate · Hyaluronic Acid

normalcombination
4.3 (1.9k)
$14.00 $5.91/fl oz
Full protection sun damage
No.2
Naris Up Parasola UV Cut Gel Japanese drugstore sunscreen 90g Japanese Drugstore Gel Sunscreen Value
Naris Up sunscreen

Parasola Essence-In UV Cut Gel

Gel-format companion to Naris Up Parasola Essence-In UV Cut Milk — same photostable quadruple UV filter system with beauty serum layer at Japanese drugstore pricing. Lightweight gel format suits oilier skin and humid climates.

Key UV Filters · Hyaluronic Acid

normalcombination
4.3 (1.7k)
$14.00 $4.41/oz
Full protection sun damage
No.3
Naris Up Parasola Smooth Gel Japanese sunscreen primer 80g Japanese Drugstore Primer-Sunscreen Hybrid
Naris Up sunscreen

Parasola Smooth Gel

Combines Naris Up Parasola's photostable UV filter system with pore-blurring primer function via soft-focus mineral and polymer particles. Best for users wanting combined sunscreen and makeup base in one step at affordable Japanese drugstore pricing.

Key UV Filters · Silica

normalcombination
4.2 (1.3k)
$13.00 $4.61/oz
Full protection sun damage
No.4
Naris Up Parasola UV Cut Mist Japanese drugstore sunscreen spray 90g Japanese Drugstore Spray Sunscreen Value
Naris Up sunscreen

Parasola UV Cut Mist (Fragrance UV Sun Spray)

Convenient spray-format Japanese drugstore sunscreen with photostable quadruple UV filters and surprisingly deep beauty serum layer (HA, collagen, ceramide, vitamin C, CoQ10, multi-botanical). Best as re-application sunscreen over base SPF throughout the day. Excellent value at affordable Japanese drugstore pricing.

Key UV Filters · Hyaluronic Acid

normalcombination
4.3 (2.5k)
$13.00 $4.09/oz
Not yet assessed dullness
No.5
Naris Up Nature Conc Medicated Clear Lotion 200ml clear plastic bottle with green-and-white label Drugstore Wipe-Off Workhorse
Naris Up exfoliant

Nature Conc Medicated Clear Lotion

An exceptionally well-priced Japanese drugstore wipe-off lotion that punches well above its $20 price point — Japan quasi-drug certified placental protein and dipotassium glycyrrhizate brightening chemistry plus Job's tears and multi-fruit extracts, all in a fragrance-free, alcohol-free formulation. One of the best per-dollar values in the global exfoliating-toner category.

Key Milk & Silk Proteins · Licorice Root Extract

normalcombination Fragrance Free
4.5 (10.0k)
$20.00 $2.96/fl oz

More about Naris Up

, Ltd. was established in 1999 as the self-selection retail arm of Naris Cosmetics, an Osaka house founded in 1932.

The brand inherits nearly a century of manufacturing know-how but operates in the mass drugstore tier, where independent clinical validation of individual products is limited.