Shiseido is counting on science and celebrity for its next phase.

The Japanese skincare brand is introducing a latest hero foundation — the RevitalEssence Skin Glow Foundation SPF 30 — while doubling down on its Benefiance eye cream with a reformulation and tapping Anne Hathaway to function the brand new global ambassador for the Vital Perfection range.

That partnership encompasses a brief film starring Hathaway, along with paid and social media. “What all of them have in common is an actual excellence, a timelessness, a legacy, a story,” Hathaway told WWD of the brands she partners with, which also include Bulgari. “They’re iconic on their very own, so why wouldn’t I would like to be an element of that?”

In the wonder realm, though, Hathaway said the important thing to results is consistency. “That’s not something you’ll be able to buy,” she said. “An excellent skin cream is admittedly wonderful, and it’s a cornerstone of a beauty routine, and I really like this one. I exploit it morning and night, but when I don’t apply it, it doesn’t work.”

The brand campaign for the Vital Perfection range also features the tag line “Potential Has No Age,” and Shiseido is betting that the aging-positive ethos will resonate with Hathaway’s highly engaged audience.

“There are two elements to this partnership: Anne is an Oscar-winning actress, a mode icon, very relevant with broad reach and a really engaged audience within the U.S. It gives us the chance to proceed to extend our brand awareness and reach latest audiences and pop into the popular culture conversation,” said Alessio Rossi, Shiseido’s executive vice chairman of U.S. marketing. “Having a high variety of followers is essential to us, but Anne manages to maintain engagement very high, which you don’t often see, and we imagine it’s because she could be very authentic.”

The corporate can also be aiming to spark a dialogue across the connotations of aging.

“The message is about how people take into consideration aging, which is generally perceived as a negative thing, but we see it as a positive thing,” Rossi continued. “We expect aging is a testament to the sum of the experiences you’ve undergone, and to say ‘potential has no age’ is a chance to have fun inner beauty.”

He said that overall, brand performance has been strong.

“The brand is doing quite well. It’s been propelled by innovation specifically this 12 months, and we proceed to imagine in our investments in science,” said Rossi. “They’re a response to the ever more demanding expectations that buyers have within the U.S. And we imagine there’s a parallel between innovation and using the tag line of Anne’s campaign.”

Rossi also said continuing to overhaul existing heroes — equivalent to the Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream, the brand’s top-selling antiaging eye cream — is a component of the plan. The reformulation debuted within the brand’s full distribution last month for $65.

“It’s a bit like fashion here — it’s never done, you proceed to boost the bar,” he said. “The relaunch got here from the undeniable fact that the attention area often suffers a couple of concern. [Benefiance] was already a longtime powerhouse in addressing eye wrinkles, but eye wrinkles and dark circles occur almost at the identical time.”

That value proposition is striking a chord. “It’s already a favourite within the U.S. market, it’s already a bestseller at Sephora, it’s above plans and it’s double over last 12 months,” Rossi continued.

In line with an investor presentation for the primary half of 2023, Shiseido brand sales grew 9 percent globally. Latest launch activity has also exceeded plans, and the brand is doubling down on the pillars of its business to ignite growth.

Amongst those are the RevitalEssence Skin Glow Foundation SPF 30, which launches today with select retailers and features pigment suspended in a skincare essence of fermented kefir and niacinamide. It retails for $56.

“It’s been an incredible 12 months for makeup usually,” said Deborah Ross, senior vice chairman of worldwide marketing for Shiseido makeup, of the business. “We see a lot robust growth across so many segments. Shiseido makeup is experiencing that especially in Asia, where we’re outpacing the market.”

Ross said the launch of RevitalEssence can even ignite that segment of the makeup business. “Our complexion and face might be accelerating double-digit increases significantly within the fourth quarter.”

Other categories, equivalent to makeup tools and formats like bronzers and highlighters, are also bolstering the business.

“Bronzers and highlighters are good examples of the skinification of makeup and the need for vibrant, hydrating, glowing skin calls for innovation in latest formats, textures and creams,” Ross said. “Social Media is driving all of that forward. After we take into consideration market segments, we’re serious about where now we have our expertise for something so unique.”

Ross began working on RevitalEssence before the pandemic, and noted that it was a response to a number of key trends: multitasking makeup products and barrier health, in addition to light-yet-buildable coverage. “We’ve at all times done hybrid foundations and at all times brought skincare technology into foundations,” Ross said. “After we got to RevitalEssence, we knew [consumers] wanted more, good-for-your-skin results.”

James Boehmer, Shiseido makeup’s global artistic director, noted the muse’s skincare advantages, backed by consumer studies. After one week of use, 94 percent of users said their skin looked smoother while 88 percent said their skin felt hydrated.

“The transient for this product was to capture the buyer mindset of people that want their products to do more,” Boehmer said. “It comes back to this concept of, is it a skincare product, or a makeup product, or each? You’ll be able to apply it with just fingertips, it appears like a serum. But it surely also works well with blushes and blenders.”