SHISEIDO’S GENTLE ANSWER TO AGE
Byline: Kerry Diamond
NEW YORK — When it comes to anti-aging, Shiseido is not looking to launch a major attack on wrinkles or offer virtual facelifts in a jar. Instead, the company wants to make aging a friendly process.
According to Dr. Shoji Nishiyama, senior research scientist at the Shiseido Research Center in Yokohama, Japan, Shiseido’s three new products fit in with this kinder, gentler approach. The fall lineup includes the company’s answer to alpha-hydroxy acids, a new Shiseido hair product and a moisturizing foundation that covers fine lines with the help of an ingredient called moonlight powder.
“We think three things are important in terms of anti-aging — skin resilience, skin clarity and hair energizing,” said Dr. Nishiyama, who unveiled the products at a reception last week at the New York Public Library. “These are three themes our research is focused on.”
One of the results of the research is Bio-Performance Intensive Clarifying Essence, a creamy lotion with exfoliating properties. The product is Shiseido’s response to alpha-hydroxy acids, which it refuses to use in its products. “Through usage of alpha-hydroxy acids, skin gets softer, but the product sometimes causes irritation,” said Dr. Nishiyama. “We wanted to avoid alpha-hydroxy acids, so we went to other ingredients.”
It is priced at $65 for 1.3 ounces and will be distributed to 750 doors in September. Shiseido would not comment on sales projections, but industry sources estimate first-year retail sales at $5 million.
Shiseido researchers created a new ingredient called plant bio-exfoliant that is said to energize the trypsin enzyme that helps break apart certain bonds between cells in the skin’s horny layer. Because a natural skin-shedding process takes place, albeit at an accelerated pace, irritation is avoided, said Dr. Nishiyama.
Bio-Performance, packaged in a short silver and glass pump bottle designed to fit into the palm of the hand, is meant to be used after cleansing and before moisturizing.
The second product, Benefiance Enriched Revitalizing Foundation SPF 15, is Shiseido’s sixth foundation and the newest addition to the Benefiance skin care line for dry, mature skin.
The product will go on sale in September in 100 doors and will retail for $40 for a 1.2-oz. bottle. Industry sources estimate first-year retail sales at $1 million.
The foundation was created in response to skin care surveys conducted by Shiseido, in which women revealed that they are concerned about spots, dull complexions, visible pores and uneven skin tone in addition to wrinkles, rough skin texture and sagging skin.
Dr. Nishiyama said the four specific functions of the revitalizing foundation are to intensively moisturize the skin, prevent oxidation, promote skin vitality and protect from ultraviolet rays.
In addition, the creamy foundation camouflages fine lines and pores thanks in part to two ingredients: light-dispersing powder and moonlight powder. The first powder diffuses light in many directions, minimizing the visibility of fine lines and pores, while the moonlight powder emits a beige-toned glow when light hits the skin’s surface, making uneven areas less apparent, said Dr. Nishiyama.
Benefiance Enriched Revitalizing Foundation SPF 15 is packaged in a slender pump dispenser designed to prevent contamination by fingers, and it is available in 13 shades, including two new shades for darker skin.
Although Shiseido has a line of salon hair care products under the label Senscience, there has only been one hair care brand available in the U.S. under the Shiseido name — Flowlin Revitalizing Hair Tonic, introduced here in 1988 and available at a select number of doors.
But that will change with the release of Shiseido Hair Energizing Complex, a unisex product based on the premise that beautiful hair starts with a healthy scalp. The product will be available at most Shiseido counters. The product, which is packaged in a futuristic-looking silver plastic bottle, is meant to be applied to wet or dry hair and massaged into the scalp. It is priced at $40 for a 6.7-oz. bottle and will be available, beginning in July in 250 doors.
Industry sources anticipate the product will do $500,000 in first-year retail sales.
Dr. Nishiyama said the hair complex contains tetracosamine, which energizes the hair at its core and coriander extract to keep hair strong and supple. The Hair Energizing Complex also absorbs excess sebum while moisturizing the scalp.
