Japanese cosmetics label Shiseido is soon to release a new skincare brand, called Baum.

In response to consumers placing greater importance on companies’ and brands’ attitudes toward social responsibility and environmental considerations, Baum focuses on sustainability. It features a range of 27 products to be released on May 30 via Shiseido’s Prestige business category.

The products are formulated to support healthy skin regardless of age or gender, with a focus on three key characteristics found in trees – water storage, growth and environmental defence. The brand is positioning itself as focusing on the “power of trees, gracefully harmonising with environmental changes and living for hundreds of years”. It ascribes to a sense of coexistence with nature that it asserts has been “valued by Japanese people for centuries”.

Production of the Baum range is particularly attentive to sustainability concerns, with use of up-cycled wood in product packaging; actively offering to refill products; using bio-based plastics and recycled glass and participating in forest conservation activities – with plans to plant and grow oak trees scheduled to begin next year.

Launch background
As efforts to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by the United Nations are promoted around the world, an increasing number of consumers place importance on companies’ and brands’ attitudes toward social responsibility and environmental considerations.

Under its corporate philosophy “BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD”, Shiseido has been working on to solve social issues and reduce environmental burden as a company that will remain vital for the next 100 years and beyond. With this launch of BAUM, Shiseido aims to realize a sustainable society where people live in happiness through its core business of beauty.

About the new brand BAUM
BAUM focuses on ”the power of trees”, gracefully harmonizing with environmental changes and living for hundreds of years. Based on the concept of ”coexistence with nature”, valued by Japanese people for centuries, the brand aims to realize a sustainable society that fully embraces the blessings of trees and preserves them for the future.
BAUM teaser site: https://www.baumjapan.com/
(Official website to launch Thursday, May 14, 2020)

[Products to embrace the blessings of trees]
◆ Skincare that draws out sustainable beauty
・ Supports healthy skin regardless of age or gender with a focus on three key characteristics found in trees: “water storage”, “growth” and “environmental defense”.
・ More than 90% of forumla is nature origin.*2 Contains no parabens, silicones or synthetic colorants.
・ Blended with mainly tree-derived natural fragrances to soothe, relax and calm, like a forest bath, bringing pure harmony between mind and skin.
*2 All cosmetic products are compliant with ISO16128.and natural origin index is more than 90% (including water)

[Activities to preserve trees for the future]
◆ Use of upcycled wood in product packaging
・ We recycle wood offcuts from the furniture manufacturing process, in collaboration with Karimoku Furniture Inc.*3, a manufacturer of wood furniture in Japan.
・ We restore fine-quality oaks collected in the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions of Japan by making the best use of and giving them a new mission, resulting in unique variations and depths of grain and color.
*3 Karimoku Furniture Inc. https://www.karimoku.com/index.html

◆ Efforts to reduce environmental impact
・ We actively offer refill products.
・ We use bio-based PET*4 for some plastic bottles and recycled glass for glass containers.
・ We sell original reusable bags to customers upon request, instead of providing free shopping bags.
*4 composing plant-derived PET

◆ Participation in forest conservation activities
・ We will mainly plant and grow oaks, used in packaging, in the “BAUM Forest” in cooperation with Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. *5, a comprehensive housing and wood products corporation in Japan. Seedlings will also be grown in the BAUM stores. The first planting is scheduled in 2021.
*5 Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. http://sfc.jp/english/