Shiseido Discovers “Ring Collagen®,” a Collagen Structure That Creates Tension to Maintain Facial Shape

Shiseido Company, Limited (“Shiseido”), in joint research with Dr. Kyoichi Matsuzaki, Chief of External Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine at the International University of Health and Welfare, together with researchers at Jichi Medical University and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, has discovered that facial skin contains a characteristic ring-shaped collagen structure called “Ring Collagen®,” which generates tension in the skin that serves to maintain a firm, youthful facial appearance.
Based on these findings, Shiseido revealed that moderate physical stimulation applied to the skin improves the structure of Ring Collagen®, which becomes disrupted with age, and this stimulation contributes to reducing sagging. Shiseido also found that rosehip extract and safflower extract (“benibana extract”) may improve the structure of Ring Collagen®.
To study this, Shiseido developed “Digital-Skin Reality®,” a groundbreaking technology that visualizes forces generated within the skin by rendering them in 3D. This technology has revealed the mechanism by which tension is generated to maintain facial shape and appearance.
Part of this research was presented at the 32nd International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) London Congress (September 2022), where it was selected as a top 10 finalist. In addition to this honor, the congress also featured a keynote speech on this research.

Figure 1 Mechanism by which Ring Collagen® helps maintain facial shape: 1. A contraction force is generated within the ring.
2. Based on that, tension is created as the rings pull against each other. 3. As a result, a force that wraps the face is generated.

Figure 1 Mechanism by which Ring Collagen® helps maintain facial shape

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Research Background

Gravity-induced sagging becomes a major concern as people age. Shiseido has been a pioneer in sagging research, establishing a framework for defining and evaluating sagging skin and developing technology to visualize internal structures of the skin, thereby clarifying the mechanism of gravity-induced sagging. In this study, the research team set out to understand the fundamental causes of sagging.
In young individuals, the skin is firm and taut. When this skin-tightening ability, or tension, is lost with age, the skin becomes loose and sags under gravity. Therefore, Shiseido believed that the underlying cause of sagging is the loss of skin tension with age and conducted research based on this idea.

Ring Collagen® Generates Tension in Skin

The taut facial skin of young individuals contracts rapidly after being removed (Figure 2). Using its newly developed “Digital-Skin Reality®” technology to analyze how excised facial skin contracts, Shiseido found a strong contraction force in specific areas within the skin (Figure 3). In these areas, collagen exists as ring-shaped structures. It was also demonstrated that, within the facial skin, individual rings contract and pull against each other, generating tension throughout the skin (Figure 1). This tension enables the skin to wrap tightly around the face, thereby maintaining a well-defined, youthful facial shape.

Figure 3 Structure of ring-shaped collagen that generates a skin-tightening force
[Left: When facial skin contracts, a strong, ring-shaped force is generated in specific areas (white circle). Right: Collagen is present in the ring-shaped areas (red circle)]

Figure 2 Analysis of skin contraction process

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Figure 3 Structure of ring-shaped collagen that generates a skin-tightening force

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Age-Related Structural Changes in Ring Collagen® and Sagging

Ring Collagen® was found around vellus hairs and sebaceous glands, along with surrounding proteoglycans (substances with a high cushioning effect, also present in joints). It was also confirmed that the structure of Ring Collagen® is disrupted as the amount of proteoglycans decreases with age (Figure 4). This age-related deterioration of Ring Collagen® was shown to reduce tension, contributing to sagging.

＜Physical Stimulation and Plant Extracts Contribute to Improving Ring Collagen® Structure＞
To improve the structure of Ring Collagen®, which becomes disrupted with age, various stimuli were applied to cultured skin. Notably, moderate physical stimulation (stretching in all directions) increased the amount of proteoglycans associated with Ring Collagen® (Figure 5). Furthermore, this stimulation improved Ring Collagen® structure and led to reduced sagging. In addition, the research team found that rosehip extract and benibana extract promoted the expression of proteoglycan-related genes.

Figure 4 Changes in Ring Collagen® with age
[Horizontal sectional view of facial skin. The clear Ring Collagen® shape (red circle) observed in young skin was not present in aged skin]

Figure 5 Increase in proteoglycans due to physical stimulation of the skin (stretching in all directions)

Figure 4 Changes in Ring Collagen® with age

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Figure 5 Increase in proteoglycans due to physical stimulation of the skin

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Newly Developed “Digital-Skin Reality®” Technology Reveals True Nature of Tension

In this study, the key to unveiling the true nature of tension was a new AI-powered technology that visualizes forces generated within the skin. This technology sets a high density of observation points within the skin and tracks how each point moves as the skin contracts, thus enabling researchers to analyze forces generated within the skin. In addition, by combining autostereoscopy technology* with a high-speed data processing system, the analysis results are reconstructed in 3D and displayed as a digital skin image moving in real space before the user's eyes (Figure 6). This makes it possible to intuitively understand the skin’s complex structure and the forces that occur within it.
Shiseido’s “Digital-Skin Reality®” provides a paradigm shift in skin visualization from the tangible world (seeing structure and movement) to the intangible world (seeing physical forces generated within the skin). It also moves the visualization environment from the monitor screen into real space.

*Autostereoscopy technology displays images in 3D without special glasses or other devices.

Figure 6 Digital-Skin Reality®
The intensity of the force generated as the skin deforms is indicated by color (the image shows what the observer sees).

Figure 6 Digital-Skin Reality®

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(Reference) Organic European rosehip

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(Reference) Mogami-Benibana, a safflower variety traditional to Yamagata, Japan

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