Featured Posts

To top
5 Nov

Biën, a Japanese Beauty and Lifestyle Boutique, Opens in

Biën, a Japanese Beauty and Lifestyle Boutique, Opens in

PARIS — Biën, a Japanese beauty and lifestyle boutique, is opening Friday in the guts of Paris.

Step contained in the streamlined, light-filled store positioned at 10 Rue Casimir Delavigne, a stone’s throw from the Luxembourg Gardens, and a way of peace descends.

To the fitting, there’s a wall decorated with Japanese beauty products cherrypicked by Keiko Suyama, who runs a consulting company and has created Japan-related retail concepts for the likes of Le Bon Marché department store, where she opened the Bijo beauty and wellbeing bar, and the Maison de la Culture du Japon.

To the left, on Biën’s ground floor, delicate ceramics are on display, while up one flight of stairs is a table set for workshops and coverings, corresponding to hand or head massages.

Downstairs, central to the 755-square-foot retail space, is a bar manufactured from Japanese cypress, where people can taste teas and get personalized advice. Hanging from the ceiling is eye-catching bulbous white lighting manufactured from puckered fabrics treated with a tie-dye technique, without the dye.

Biën sells beauty and lifestyle products.

Suyama cofounded the shop with creative director Sadaharu Hoshino. Their idea is to attach brands, craftspeople and artists all linked by an aesthetic sense of beauty.

Suyama explained they would love people “to feel the true Japanese minimalist aesthetic,” and “the great thing about usage. We really need to [have] some latest experiences here.”

Biën is an idea store. “We’re also the distributor and agent of small area of interest beauty brands,” said Suyama. “Just about all the brands are exclusive to us.”

Here, beauty products, clothes, edibles and other lifestyle products are being sold. The lion’s share of the offer is concentrated on beauty and well-being brands, that are a mix artisanal and high-tech labels. The 25 carried by Biën have been chosen for the way they reflect the Japanese sense of beauty. An emphasis is placed on clean products, with formulas chockablock with natural ingredients, especially plants from Japan.

Some examples of those are Eau de Ki, a purifying and moisturizing lotion dating from 1926; Ruhaku, billed to be the primary organic skincare brand from Okinawa, and Ipsum Alii, with formulas infused with Kampo medicinal herbs. Chosen for his or her luxurious lively ingredients are Makanai gold leaf facial masks and Cokon Lab, with products enriched with silk from Yamaga. Suyama honed in on Waphyto for its combination of phytotherapy- and biomethodology-culled ingredients.

Biën’s beauty mix also features a healthy quotient of tools — corresponding to the Suwada artisanal nail clipper, Shaquda brushes made in the normal because the end of the Edo period, and wonder rollers from Ya-Man and Slim Cera.

The textile collection was created by Hoshino, and that will likely be expanded with exhibitions by Japanese artists and artisans, corresponding to Hosoo creations from Kyoto. There are Japanese teas enriched with antioxidant plants, collagen beauty drinks and other snacks.

Biën’s lifestyle selection encompasses Kaikado tea canisters and tea utensils from the Asahi Yaki house, which has been operating for 16 generations.

“I’m really glad to work with those artisans since the latest generation is around 40, 45 years old, and so they are still continuing to bring their heritage, but they’re [also] attempting to make something very latest and [usable] in modern life,” said Suyama.

Exhibitions of varied designers and artists will likely be commonly showcased at Biën, which also might house a beauty institute in the longer term.

The boutique is open Monday to Wednesday from noon to six:30 p.m. by appointment only, then open to the general public from Thursday through Saturday from noon to 7 p.m.

Recommended Products

Beautifaire101
No Comments

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.