THEn travel with iO Woman in Japan we enter a very elegant beauty lounge of Tokyo, the one of Shiseido. A wave of pure white light, large mirrors in the shape of a stylized camellia, the same as the logo we know well. We can see a lady of indecipherable age waiting for her make-up. It is a fleeting moment, but what a charm…
A journey of beauty with iO Donna in Tokyo
We are in the Ginza districtthe quintessence of luxury, a string of designer towers, glittering shop windows, big international brands. The cosmetic maison was born there 150 years agocelebrates an important birthday and is more than a brand: it is an ambassador of the philosophy of Japanese beauty, which in this country involves everything and improves everything.
With our thirty traveling readers we boast a small record: we are the first guests in the headquarters after the pandemic, the reception is one of those reserved for foreign dignitaries. Impeccable, with all the honors.
The traveling readers of iO Donna in Tokyo at the Shiseido headquarters.
Yumi Oshinomi (with a made in Italy mini bag, Fendi), pr Shiseido The Store, which awaits us on the doorstep like a true hostess; a team of assistants all bows and smiles who offer us a cocktail opening up the parlor; Hiroyuki MaedaBrand Director The Ginza Brandwhich invites us to try theHybrid Gel Oilof a tender milky pink, the Moisturizing Lotion and the Moisturizing Emulsion of the new high-end line, so exclusive that it is only sold here and at Haneda airport. He specifies: «The Ginza is also good for gentlemen». The format? From travel, destination Milan.
The beauty lounge of Shiseido the Store Ginza (Photo Takumi Ota)
150 years of history
Then, the story in pictures of the founders’ adventure Arinobu and Shinzo Fukuhara, from the western-style pharmacy to the combination of scientific research and oriental tradition that has made the history of make-up and treatments. Holistic approach and innovative technologies, with Japanese attention to detail.
And the journey into beauty continues. The grand tour of the four floors makes the ladies’ heads spin, among imaginable and unimaginable creams, oils with an oriental mood, sophisticated make-up, but also furnishing accessories, bijoux and “origami” bags that the readers of iO Woman they contend… For themselves, for their friends, for their daughters, so many as to induce them to restock the stand!
Past and present of Shiseido beauty
Pastries, restaurants & Co.
It doesn’t end here, rather it starts again in Parlor, the Shiseido building next door. Camellia red, project by Spaniard Ricardo Bofill. Host one pastry shop where even the packaging of sweets is tasteful, coffee room and conference room, multiple restaurants: the panoramic one on the tenth floor, Faro, serves delicious… Italian dishes.
There would be one as well contemporary art gallerybut time flies. A young employee from Alessandria, Nicolò, tells us “sayonara” politely handing us a very decorative box with a drawing of a cat, neko in Japanese. Inside, delicious colored sprinkles. How sweet is the memory of Tokyo.
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