Earlier this year, the maker of SHISEIDO, Anessa and NARS began making this formula for medical institutions.
The firm said it has decided to produce the hand sanitiser for the general public in response to popular demand for the product.
The hand sanitisers will be available in 500ml pump bottles as well as 500ml refill packs so pumps can be reused. The company did not disclose the price of the products.
They will be available in retail outlets such as supermarkets, cosmetic specialty stores and drugstores in Tokyo first before expanding to other regions in Japan, said Shiseido.
“We plan to expand our sales area by taking into consideration the market environment.”
This newly developed alcohol-based formulation contains moisturising ingredients like glycerol and triisooctanoate glycerine.
It was designed to be gentle on ‘sensitive and raw’ hands, which tend to become dry and raw with frequent use of alcohol-based sanitisers.
The formula was approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as a ‘designated quasi drug’.
The firm has also made the formulation public in hopes other companies can help manufacture the formulation as well.
The firm began production of the hand sanitiser since April this year at its Nasu Factory and expanded the manufacture of the products at three more local factories: Osaka Factory, Kakegawa Factory and Kuki Factory.
This enabled the firm to produce 200,000 bottles a month, approximately 100,000 litres.
For the past few months, Shiseido has been producing mainly for medical institutes and facilities.
The firm donated 200,000 bottles of hand sanitisers to medical institutes in Japan through the Japan Medical Association.
Production was expanded outside of Japan into France and the US to supply medical institutions in their respective regions.
Shiseido Americas produced and donated over 120,000 units of hand sanitisers to more than 75 hospitals and non-profit organizations, to help address a shortage of sanitiser at these facilities.
Additionally, Shiseido produced more than 375,000 units of sanitisers at its two French factories located at the Cosmetic Valley in order to compensate for the shortage of sanitisers at hospitals and elderly care facilities in the country.
These initiatives were a part of the company’s policy to “consider all possibilities available to us, as a cosmetics company, to suppress the spread of the Coronavirus infection and take immediate action,” said president and CEO Masahiko Uotani.
In addition to producing and donating the hand sanitisers, the firm has also provided beauty and personal care products such as serums, facial wash and shampoo to medical professionals in Japan, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.
The company also has donated one million euros to the Red Cross which was split between the five arms of the organisation in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the UK.
