2024.10.12
Mandom's Proposed "Impression Skin Research"! The Shift in Skincare from Maintenance to Impression Enhancement
It's now an era where men also engage in skincare. Nowadays, not only toners and emulsions but also men's makeup products have emerged. With such a wide range of options, many may have thought it might be good to incorporate some products into their routine and have purchased a few.
However, it’s a fact that after a few days, they often revert back to their old lifestyle, leaving skincare behind. Maintaining motivation can be quite challenging. Stepping in to change this is mandom corp.
Through its "Impression Skin Research (印象肌研究)," the company analyzes the importance of skincare while also studying the impressions it conveys to others. If skincare could help in making a favorable impression that leads to success in work, then it might motivate someone to continue with it a bit longer.
Today, we spoke to researcher Ayumi Yamaguchi from the company about the impressions created by skincare and its actual effects.
PROFILE
Ayumi Yamaguchi
mandom corp. Advanced Technology Institute Safety & Efficacy Research Group, Skin Physiology Analysis Department
Does Skincare Change Impressions?
What kind of research is being conducted daily in your research and development department?
In our research and development department, we primarily focus on formulation development and basic research.In the Advanced Technology Institute, in addition to fundamental research, we also evaluate product safety and preservative efficacy. Moreover, we have members stationed at a collaborative research course at Osaka University’s Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, where groundbreaking research towards innovative cosmetic development utilizing advanced medical technologies is conducted.
Could you tell us about the background of starting Impression Skin Research?
We wanted not just our strong area of men's styling products but also skincare to expand.Since around 1990, we have proposed skincare for middle-aged men, yet the market has not expanded as significantly as it has for women.
While women can find motivation in the desire to achieve “beautiful skin,” for men, the sentiment that it is burdensome often prevails, making it difficult to maintain motivation.
Therefore, we shifted the focus of skincare from the goal of “becoming beautiful skin” to “significantly changing the impression one gives to others.” We aimed to evoke the image that skincare could enhance one’s impression, positively influencing job and social interactions.
Therefore, we shifted the focus of skincare from the goal of “becoming beautiful skin” to “significantly changing the impression one gives to others.” We aimed to evoke the image that skincare could enhance one’s impression, positively influencing job and social interactions.
Thus, we officially began our research on men’s impression skin in 2016. This research marked an entirely new challenge focusing not only on formulations but also on realizing the value of sensitivity that aligns with the feelings of the user.
What findings have emerged from the Impression Skin Research?
Through our studies on young and middle-aged generations, we discovered that their needs differ significantly.We were amazed to find that the younger generation is particularly seeking “cleanliness.” In workshops conducted by our marketing department with male and female university students, elements like “handsomeness,” “cuteness,” and “fashionable” were mentioned; however, the interest in “cleanliness” was overwhelmingly prevalent across all genders.
It seems that many in the middle-aged generation are also mindful of cleanliness.
The middle-aged group appears to have more awareness of their skin. Particularly due to the remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, many have become more conscious of their changes, such as wrinkles and sagging.
When confirming the changes in skin and impressions due to aging in middle-aged men, it was evident that skin changes impact various impressions, especially the impression of “youthfulness.” It has been established that skin brightness significantly influences the youthful impression, making it a crucial aspect to consider.
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Recently, research has been underway on the upper middle-aged generation, which has an even older demographic. I realized that their concerns are more about the impression they create rather than just the quality of their skin. When I spoke to people, it seemed they had experiences where they were perceived as angry by those around them, or where their smiles were not seen as such.
For this generation, I recommend combining skincare with approaches from within, such as massages to stimulate facial muscles.
In your research into the skin, have you noticed any common characteristics among people with better skin than their age would suggest?
The presence or absence of a skincare routine creates significant differences. For men, there tends to be a characteristic of having more oil and less moisture. Therefore, by enhancing their moisture content through skincare, many find their past concerns alleviated.Moreover, a major factor in maintaining a youthful impression is whether they use "sunscreen" or not.
There is a term known as "photoaging," which reveals that continuous exposure to UV rays exhausts the skin. Damage accumulates in the dermis, leading to spots and sagging. It's important to apply sunscreen daily, not just in the summer, but also on cloudy days or during winter when the sun is not strong.
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