‘Uncovering more miracles’: SK-II’s latest breakthrough boosts PITERA relevance to younger consumers

With more awareness on skin health and skin ageing, the Japanese brand is preparing to meet the skin ageing needs of increasingly younger consumers.

“Consumers as early as in their 20s will view skin ageing differently from here on – they’ll be highly aware of it and look out for skin care solutions that will keep their skin youthful,”​ said Suda Sudarsana, SK-II global research and development leader.

“We expect that consumers will start taking an interest in anti-ageing products and innovations earlier in life, and we must be present to meet the need,” ​said Dr Kukizo Miyamoto, SK-II global principal scientist.

This has spurred the firm’s research into skin ageing and led to its breakthrough discovery of the Ageing Trigger Factor (AT-0).

According to Miyamoto, AT-0 “accelerates signs of ageing via a chain reaction as early as in the 20s”.​

“We live in a time where we all have very hectic lives, which sometimes include poor sleep, unbalanced diet and many other daily stressors which affect how our skin looks and feels. This isn’t a new thing, but we wanted to go deeper, and what we found was that AT-0 is created in the skin. ​

“This then causes an ageing chain reaction which, if left untreated, can lead to accelerated remarkable ageing signs prematurely in life. According to our research, successfully targeting AT-0 causing the ageing chain reaction, will tackle and prevent skin ageing signs.”​

Power player

This discovery, which was first presented in July at the 25^th​ World Congress of Dermatology in Singapore, led to the development of SK-II’s latest innovation, SKINPOWER Advanced Cream.

Sudarsana told us that SK-II’s hero ingredient, PITERA, remains at the heart of its technology by preventing the proliferation of AT-0 “at the root”.​

“We developed SKINPOWER Advanced Cream with a game-changing formula combining PITERA, kinren bio extract to protect skin from daily stressors that can produce AT-0 and white peony root extract to maintain skin elasticity, reduce roughness, and plump up skin. With this, SKINPOWER Advanced Cream stimulates new skin regeneration and reduces signs of ageing.”​

He emphasised that PITERA was key to the effectiveness of the formulation.

“PITERA mimics skin’s natural moisturising factors, which allows it to be welcomed deeply into skin. It is a unique mixture of over 50 micronutrients that cannot be achieved artificially or synthetically. PITERA is SK-II’s secret key to consistent crystal-clear skin.”​

The latest research on PITERA’s effects on ageing skin elevates its relevance to younger beauty consumers.

“PITERA is relevant to beauty consumers yesterday, today and in the future because it continues to be a very key ingredient in solving her most pressing skin concerns and achieve own crystal-clear skin,” ​said Sudarsana.

“The main and biggest reason is that while PITERA has remained essentially unchanged, we continue to uncover more and more of its miracles on skin. For over 40 years, SK-II has partnered with some of the world’s top scientists and dermatologists to carry out extensive research studies on PITERA. And we’ve not yet stopped discovering more insights into its transformative powers on skin.”​

Through SK-II’s contactless skin counselling tool, Magic Scan, consumers will soon be able to visualise AT-0 and its effects on the skin.

“Consumers are also smarter and savvier with research to understand more about their own skin. Now, with this latest discovery, she will understand that skin ageing is not something that happens later in life, but a concern that is very present even in her youth,” said ​Miyamoto.

In sync with skin

In addition to the discovery of AT-0, SK-II has recently uncovered the underlying cause of season skin issues.

“In summer, you may experience ‘natsu-bate’, or a midsummer slump with specific skin concerns such as lack of firmness, dullness, and more visible pores. In autumn, with the drop in temperature and humidity, you might experience an increase in skin dryness, roughness, and other multiple skin concerns,”​ explained Miyamoto.

These skin issues, he said are the result of skin not being “in sync”.​

“When we experience seasonal variation in our skin condition, it is because skin is out of sync. And if skin remains out of sync, these skin issues can accelerate skin ageing signs in the long run.”​

Miyamoto explained that PITERA was the perfect ‘one-stop’ solution to this specific skin issue as well.