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Presentation of Shiseido R&D’s Latest Findings

Shiseido Innovation Conference 2023
- Beauty for the Future - Event Report

Steadily Execute R&D Strategy Toward 2030 Vision: “Personal Beauty Wellness Company”
‘Create innovations and maximize their value.
Implement them into new brand to offer new beauty solutions.’

The key to executing the company’s vision, “Shiseido’s unique beauty algorithm based on the relationship between skin, body, and mind,” was introduced. A measurement experience event was also held, including a measurement tool that will be introduced for the inner beauty business in February 2024.

Date: Tuesday, November 28, 2023, Part 1: 12:30 -1:50 p.m.; Part 2: 2:00-3:00 p.m. / Location: Shiseido Global Innovation Center (S/PARK) ​

Shiseido held the “Shiseido Innovation Conference 2023 - Beauty for the Future –” on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 at the Shiseido Global Innovation Center (S/PARK) to present its latest research results.
At the conference, Shiseido presented its latest findings in the three pillars of its R&D strategy: “Skin Beauty INNOVATION,” “Sustainability INNOVATION,” and “Future Beauty INNOVATION.”

Shiseido Innovation Conference 2023 - Beauty for the Future -

Shiseido Innovation Conference 2023 - Beauty for the Future -

[Execution of R&D Strategy That Realizes Shiseido’s Vision for the Future] Combine the perspectives of both R&D and marketing, maximize the value of research results, and deliver them to consumers as new beauty proposals

Yoshiaki Okabe

Yoshiaki Okabe, Shiseido Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer, made an announcement about the steady implementation of the R&D strategy and its transformation into value that realize Shiseido’s future vision. Okabe, who was previously involved in marketing as the person in charge of the brands SHISEIDO and Clé de Peau Beauté, has been appointed as the head of the marketing division in addition to the R&D division as of this September.
“Our mission is further make the results of basic research bold, maximize their value, transform them into new beauty proposals, and deliver them to consumers, thereby contributing to the business and brands” he said.

In particular, as the company’s future outlook, he pointed that“the ‘Future Beauty INNOVATION,’which we have promoted with the aim of creating a new business foundation for the future, is a pillar of our strategy that will be strengthened from next year onward. We will apply our unique beauty algorithm for skin, body, and mind, and implement it in our inner beauty business, which will be fully launched in February next year, to realize Shiseido’s 2030 vision of becoming a Personal Beauty Wellness Company.”

[Skin Beauty INNOVATION] - Results of Shiseido’s more than 30 years of “Skin Immunity Research”
We discovered that skin with more immune cells has fewer aging cells; that is, immunity “prevents skin aging”

Kajiya Kentaro

 While developing unique technologies to visualize the state of blood vessels, nerves, and immunity that exist deep within the skin, Shiseido has successively clarified the relationship to skin beauty, and has been preaching the importance of “holistic beauty,” meaning to be more beautiful from inside of the skin.
As a cutting-edge leader in the beauty industry, Shiseido’s research results have received multiple awards at IFSCC*1 conventions and recorded the highest number of awards received, even among the cosmetics manufacturers globally. Furthermore, the latest findings of skin immunity research were published in Cell, one of the world’s most prestigious academic journals.
Kajiya from the MIRAI Technology Institute introduced the latest findings from Shiseido’s more than 30 years of skin immunity research: immunity “prevents skin from aging.”

He explained the new finding that skin with more immune cells has fewer aging cells and that immune cells play a role in removing aging cells from the skin. Lastly, he concluded by saying “please look forward to our skin immunity research and the solutions that will be discovered from it in the future” and raised expectations.

  1. *1:IFSCC: The International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists

[Sustainability INNOVATION] - Another focus on initiatives to increase transparency of the ingredients and formulations of cosmetics We announced initiatives for the future to develop and utilize circular raw materials by strengthening collaboration within and outside the industry

Shiseido has been focusing on the development of circular containers and packaging, formulas and ingredients, and recycling models, including the KPI of “achieving 100% sustainable containers*2 by 2025.” In the opening part of the presentation, Shiseido communicated that cosmetics ingredients and formulations are also expected to be even more sustainable, and introduced Shiseido’s initiatives to date, by saying “We are working to promptly comply with regulations and promptly respond based on scientific evidence. For example, we have quickly proceeded to shift ingredients in products that are subject to restrictions on UV absorbers, which are said to have a negative impact on the marine environment and are regulated by the state of Hawaii and other areas. In addition, in collaboration with research institutes and startups, we have established a policy for the use of ingredients based on scientific evidence, including environmental assessments, and disclosed it on our website as Shiseido’s ‘Ingredients Policy.’” Shiseido then informed the audience that Shiseido would focus its efforts on ingredients and formulations contained in cosmetic products from now on.
In the latter half of the presentation, we invited a guest speaker, Tomohiro Fujita, representative of the CHITOSE Group, with whom Shiseido started a strategic partnership in July this year, and discussed the “MATSURI Project,” an all-Japan initiative to strengthen cooperation within and outside the industry, together with Oyama from the R&D Sustainability & Communication Department. The project aims to create new sustainable and premium beauty solutions “with algae as the starting point” from a long-term perspective, looking 1,000 years into the future.
Oyama also announced milestones of the project. Currently, the selection and contracting of algae raw material manufacturers has been completed. She stated that the project aims to create a prototype of an algae-based cosmetic product by 2025 and to commercialize it by 2030.

  1. *2:Regarding plastic containers

Shihori Oyama and Tomohiro Fujita

Shihori Oyama and Tomohiro Fujita

[Future Beauty INNOVATION] - Pillars of Shiseido’s Strategy to Become a “Personal Beauty Wellness Company” “Shiseido’s unique beauty algorithm” based on the relationship between skin, body and mind will be implemented in the new brand

Chieko Okamura

Shiseido is promoting value-added management in order to become a “Personal Beauty Wellness Company.” As a result of “Future Beauty INNOVATION,” which is an important pillar of our R&D strategy for the future, we have established “Shiseido’s unique beauty algorithm” based on the relationship between skin, body and mind.

By utilizing findings of industry-leading holistic beauty research, Shiseido has comprehensively clarified the relationship between skin, body, and mind, which had been yet undefined. We connected multiple skin conditions and internal indicators, and established a unique beauty algorithm that leads to skin improvement, prediction, and prevention to identify “elements that influence the skin.” By taking care of these previously overlooked factors, the skin is expected to receive unprecedentedly positive stimulation, becoming to be beautiful.

Shiseido has built a prediction model that comprehensively and quantitatively clarifies the physical and mental states related to skin conditions through joint research with RIKEN, a National Research and Development Agency. In order to collect diverse data from more people in the future, Shiseido will continue to participate in joint research with Hirosaki University, a national university corporation that undertakes the “Iwaki Health Promotion Project,” in which more than 17,000 people will participate by 2023 for measurement and examination of 3,000 items. In order to analyze large amounts of data obtained in the research quickly and accurately, Shiseido will be stepping up its effort with external research institutions and companies, including collaboration with DeNA Life Science, Inc., which excels at data analysis, to enhance and evolve the algorithm.

“For the future, Shiseido plans to evolve this algorithm to include more than 2,000 relationships between skin, body, and mind” said Okamura from the MIRAI Technology Institute. In order to achieve this goal, she set out plans to accumulate data on 30,000 people and 1.5 million pieces of data by 2030.

The latest findings of the algorithm will be implemented in Shiseido’s inner beauty business, which will be fully launched in February next year, providing customers with new beauty experiences.

Three measurement experiences based on “Shiseido’s unique beauty algorithm”

In the second part of the conference, we provided time to experience nasal skeletal measurements, gait measurements, and composite measurement of skin, body, and mind (autonomic nervous system, blood vessels, and grip strength) based on Shiseido’s “unique beauty algorithm.” After the measurements, the participants were given advice on skin care based on the results and enjoyed an original drink full of nutrients that lead to beautiful skin.

・Gait measurement
Attach a sensor to the foot and take pictures of the person walking.
Measure the characteristics of gait and give advices on the ideal walking style to achieve beautiful skin

Gait measurement

[Summary] Research has revealed that skin problems such as swelling, dullness, and unstable skin condition are related to a “beautiful gait”*3
For example, it was elucidated that the movement of large muscles in the thighs and other parts of the body during walking improves blood circulation, leading to a lively facial expression and skin with a good complexion. The joint research with ORPHE Inc., which is a co-creation partner in Shiseido’s open innovation program called “fibona,” has established a technology to easily score the beauty of gait based on various pieces of data on foot movements and posture by attaching sensors to the foot and taking videos of the person walking with a tablet or other device.

  1. ※3:Gait: Posture of walking

・Nasal skeleton measurement (*to be used for business in February 2024)
By using an app to read the shape of the nose (nasal skeleton), which has different characteristics with each individual, Shiseido predicts what kind of skin problems each individual is likely to have in the future and provides advice according to the results.

Nasal skeleton measurement

[Summary] Shiseido has discovered that there is a relationship between the nasal skeleton and the condition of the skin, as well as the condition of blood vessels inside the skin. To be able to leverage this knowledge more easily, Shiseido has succeeded in detecting the shape of the nose in detail by using the slight shadows created by the nose, such as the “nasal root,” “nasal bridge,” and “nasal wings,” which comprises the nasal skeleton. This has made it possible to easily detect the characteristics of the nasal skeleton with smartphones and other devices, allowing us to make groundbreaking predictions about what skin problems are likely to appear in the future based on the nasal skeleton.

・Composite measurement of skin, body, and mind

Composite measurement of skin, body, and mind

[Summary] Shiseido has discovered the relationship between the skin, body, and mind, and has compositely evaluated the skin based on mental and physical indicators.
This time, Shiseido used “Shiseido’s unique beauty algorithm” based on measurements of autonomic nerves, blood vessels, and grip strength to compositely measure the state of the skin. The measurements of muscle strength, blood flow, and autonomic nervous system disorders reveal skin characteristics such as a lack of moisture, dullness, and a lack of firmness, which in turn can comprehensively provide hints for aspects of lifestyle that need to be improved (lack of exercise, lack of sleep, etc.)

 

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