In this 2020 round-up, we’re featuring the biggest cosmetic stories on the Japanese personal care industry, featuring the hottest trends, the research developments and more.
In this 2020 round-up, we’re featuring the biggest cosmetic stories on the Japanese personal care industry, featuring the hottest trends, the research developments and more.
In October, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing the COVID-19 outbreak was found to survive on human skin for as long as nine hours, although it can be inactivated by ethanol within 15 seconds.
Contact transmission through human skin is considered a significant risk factor in the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
There had been other reports studying the stability of SARS-CoV-2 on various surfaces from slaughterhouses, food manufacturing facilities, and even meat, but there had been no studies on human skin.
Application of pathogenic and infectious agents to live human subjects is dangerous and not clinically feasible, hence researchers from Japan developed a model to evaluate the stability of the pathogen, using human skin obtained from forensic autopsy specimens ay Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.
In July, Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido Company partnered with Isetan Mitsukoshi Group to conduct live commerce sessions locally for the first time for its flagship brand, SHISEIDO.
Live streaming, a combination of streaming video and e-commerce, have become increasingly popular in the last few months, especially in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disruptions.
To combat the sales decline in the brick-and-mortar retail sector, Shiseido collaborated with Isetan Mitsukoshi, one of Japan’s largest retail groups which owns both Isetan and Mitsukoshi department stores chains, to conduct livestreaming sales programmes.
The live steaming sessions were held on Isetan Mitsukoshi’s Meeco, a dedicated online beauty store launched the firm launched in February last year.
Swiss-British company AP Organics is setting sights on Japan's cosmetics market for growth outside of Europe, with the firm believing it holds great prospects for its CBD ingredients and services.
The company supplies hemp and cannabinoid (CBD) materials to manufacturers across multiple sectors, including cosmetics. It also operates as an OEM manufacturer for companies that do not have the infrastructure to produce CBD products themselves.
It entered the Japanese market in 2019, dealing mainly with players in the vape industry.
However, it was hoping to break into Japan’s cosmetics industry, where managing director Gavin Ogilvie saw the most potential for CBD because of the clear regulations in place.
In May, Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido revealed a new sunscreen equipped with a protective film that can be strengthen by heat, sweat and water.
The Perfect Protector was released worldwide under the company’s eponymous brand from May 2020 onwards.
The new SHISEIDO sunscreen was result of the company’s latest research and development efforts into sun protection technology released in October 2019 known as HeatForce Technology by the brand.
According to the company, this ultraviolet (UV) protection evens out when heat from the sun heats the skin surface temperature to 37°C.
In April, the Shiseido Company jumped on the sustainability bandwagon with a new luxury brand that leverages on the ‘power of trees’.
BAUM is centred around the notion of harmonising with nature, a concept which has been valued by the Japanese people for centuries, said Shiseido.
“With the launch of BAUM, Shiseido aims to realise a sustainable society, where people live in happiness through its core business of beauty,” said Shiseido.
According to the company, BAUM’s skin care products are centred around support healthy skin through fundamental factors such as hydration and building a strong environmental defence.
Cosmetics manufacturer Pola Orbis announced in March that its edible beauty product has exceeded the company’s expectations and raked in JYP29bn ($264m) in sales its first year.
The maker of POLA and THREE unveiled Defencera under the Orbis brand in Japan at the start of 2019 and the company expanded its presence in Asia throughout the year with launches in China, Singapore and Taiwan.
Sales grew at a rapid pace and in approximately a year, the company had sold over a million units of Defencera.
The company said the product was instrumental in helping the brand gain new customers.
L’Occitane Japan said it would focus on skin care and home care product to tap into the rising interest for self-care and wellness since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Japan is the L’Occitane Group’s second-largest market and accounts for 14.1% of overall sales.
It is a strategic market for the L’Occitane en Provence and Melvita brands, in which the Group operates 128 and 35 stores, respectively.
Like most markets, Japan has been impacted by COVID-19 and related store closures and restrictive measures.
In September, Kao Corporation said it was launching a new range of shampoos intended for people with ‘mixed hair’ to rejuvenate the hair care market in Japan.
The Japanese personal care conglomerate announced that the range would be launched under the hair care brand PYUAN.
The brand was launched in 2015 as Merit PYUAN but was rebranded as PYUAN this year and focused on developing as a hair care brand specialising in cleansing.
The new range consists of four products: two Deto Cleanse shampoos and two Charge Beauty hair treatments.
In May, personal care conglomerate Kao Corporation said it would boost the production of products such as hand soap and hand sanitisers as demand outstripped supply.
The Japanese firm’s skin and hair care division saw sales increase 3.1% on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter this year.
The company credited it to sales of Bioré hand soaps and sanitiser, which grew tremendously due to the heightened awareness of hygiene over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The increased demand continues to exceed supply, so the Kao Group is working to drastically ramp up production,” said the company.
In September, Japanese cosmetics firm Shiseido Company filed a patent for a new colour cosmetic formula designed to be heated up before use, which it claims can enhance its effects.
According to its international patent, Shiseido developed a formula and a device which would allow the application of make-up at temperature of 30°C. to 70°C.
The maker of SHISIEDO, Anessa and Clé de Peau Beauté claimed that warming up colour cosmetic formulas would ensure augmented effects.
“It has been clarified that a higher effect can be obtained by using warmed make-up than by using cosmetics at room temperature, and it has become clear that cosmetics used by warming – hereinafter, make-up for warming use – are beginning to be developed,” said Shiseido in its patent filing.
