Shiseido Cosmetics America Ltd.
According to Yushin Fukuhara, founder of Shiseido Cosmetics, “Beauty is universal, thus the products which serve beauty should also be universal.”
This belief, combined with the philosophy of “true beauty, in the Japanese ideal, is a harmony of spirit and form; an outer reflection of the inner self,” are what have driven the company from 1872, when it was founded by Fukuhara as Japan’s first western-style pharmacy, to today, where it is the fifth-largest cosmetics company in the world with subsidiaries in about 65 countries.
“Shiseido is a company rich in Japanese tradition yet fiercely contemporary, for people of all nationalities, backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures,” it says. “Shiseido is dedicated to high quality, high image and high service and has created skincare products and regimens for every phase of a woman’s life. Within its full range of product offerings are three basic skincare lines, a high-performance category for special care and a brightening line.
“In addition, Shiseido has a body care, sun care and a men’s line. Shiseido is best known for its signature facial massage service that is practiced daily at its counters. Years of Shiseido research have shown that regular facial massage strengthens and tones the skin’s muscles to help prevent sagging and wrinkling.”
Shiseido Cosmetics America Ltd. was established in 1965; its manufacturing operation is Davlyn Industries Inc. In the United States, the company is dedicated to providing a full range of prestige skincare, makeup, fragrances and beauty accessories, while remaining dedicated to “high quality, high image and high service.”
“We are a company with a mission to identify new, richer sources of value and use them to create beauty in the lives and culture of those we serve,” Shiseido says. “We are culture joined with technology, [and] oriental restraint expressed with occidental flair. We are constantly forging together principles of art and science and the philosophies of the East and West.”
The company continually works to develop new products by focusing on its “three approaches” of functionality, sensitivity and safety in its products. “Value is born from the integration of cosmetics with information and beauty techniques for the customer,” it says. “Only then will customers become repeat users of our products. Accordingly, our cosmetics’ R&D prioritizes functionality, sensitivity and safety.
“Functionality research aims for beautiful, youthful skin by exploring skin’s physiological mechanisms and developing effective remedies and ingredients. Sensitivity research explores usage, fragrance, color and beauty techniques to enhance product enjoyment. Our primary focus, however, is on safety research to ensure that what we offer is equally friendly to both the customer and the environment.”
As part of its focus on science, in 1989, Shiseido America partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital to create the Cutaneous Biology Research Center (CBRC), which is the world’s first comprehensive center focused on dermatological research. The CBRC mission is to enhance the scientific understanding of fundamental biological processes that underlie the formation and homeostasis of the skin.
“The CBRC maintains an intellectual environment conducive to collaboration, and is staffed with principal investigators of the highest quality who study fundamental biological processes in mammalian skin, in other mammalian tissues or in model organisms,” it says. “Such a combination of principal investigators in an environment [of] academic freedom and conducive to collaborative efforts accelerates progress toward achieving the CBRC’s mission.”
Eco-Friendly Beauty
In March 2009, Shiseido became the first cosmetics company to be certified under the Japanese Ministry of the Environment’s Eco-First designation. The Eco-First Program was created by the Ministry of the Environment in April 2008 to “encourage leading companies in each industry to redouble their environmental protection activities by having them make a commitment to the Minister for the Environment concerning their environmental protection initiatives … geared toward compliance with targets mandated by the Kyoto Protocol.”
Shiseido says it has pursued an array of activities based on the philosophy of “striving to protect the Earth’s environment in all its business activities” since adopting its environmental management policy in 1992. These programs include environmentally responsible product design, establishing a recycling system for used cosmetics glass containers and implementing a zero emissions policy at its manufacturing factories. In 2007, it installed a solar power generation system at its East Winder Factory in New Jersey.