Cosmetics for cosmos: Japan firms launch space skin care rocketing to ISS in 2024

29 Aug 2023 --- Cosmetics firm Pola and ANA Holdings have revealed skin care products specially designed to be used by Japan’s space agency JAXA, while also planning to install them on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024. The Cosmology Space Crew Kit will be released in October this year.

JAXA will adopt the Cleansing Wash and Lotion Cream from the Cosmology line, meant to be used for the face. 

In March 2022, the space agency launched a call for ideas to create products or services for “Household Goods to Solve Common Issues Between Life in Space and Life on Earth.” Pola and ANA Holding’s project was selected to enact this aim.

The companies initiated the project “CosmoSkin” in September 2020, intending to solve global issues with space-inspired ideas to “enrich” the future of space and Earth. They share a passion for space business and have been creating products that are comfortable to use in the extreme environments of space.

Concise and condensed care
The kit is designed based on the theme of “borderless communication” that enables connection between anyone, anywhere and enriches the mind in a harsh environment.The kit is designed based on the theme of “borderless communication” (Image Credit: Pola).

The products are created to combat dryness with moisturization and promote the skin’s barrier function using Pola’s original complex moisturizing jojoba clove extract.

The skin range is condensed into two steps for conciseness and functionality that satisfies space conditions while enriching the user’s mood.

Since water on the ISS is precious, there are restrictions on water use. The skin products make up for the lack of water with a “fresh texture” that “makes the water overflow the moment” it is touched.

The Cleansing Wash is described as feeling like “water droplets bursting open,” leaving the skin smooth and clean. The Lotion Cream is a milky gel-like cream that “melts into the skin,” bringing smoothness and freshness.

Additionally, the products are designed to prevent spreading away in zero-gravity.

Set to launch
The kit is set to launch in about 2,800 stores, including Pola shops and on its website, including 12 domestic airport duty-free shop corners. ANA international in-flight sales are also in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, Astronaut Kimiya Yui will install the Cosmology Space Crew Kit during his long-term mission to the ISS in 2024.

Cosmology is a new space-inspired skin care brand that pursues the “future richness” of the universe and the Earth.Cosmology is a new space-inspired skin care brand that pursues the “future richness” of the universe and the Earth (Image Credit: Pola).

Space-based innovation
In line with its anti-aging serum launch, PCA Skin had its parent company, CP Skin Health Group (Colgate-Palmolive), link up with NASA onboard the ISS to investigate the effect of microgravity on skin’s physiology. 

Personal Care Insights previously interviewed Kao’s hair care R&D director, Dr. Hiroshi Yoshida, who shares the inspiration behind creating a waterless shampoo that was sent with Crew-5 to the ISS. 

Kao’s 3D Shampoo offers a convenient hair-washing method that can easily wipe off the dirt from the scalp and hair, and the Space Laundry Sheet removes stains and odors from clothes. In April this year, the company also launched sales of a new dry shampoo called Space Shampoo Sheet.

Julie Droux, senior technical marketing specialist, actives and natural origins at Clariant, previously spoke to Personal Care Insights, highlighting the difference between Earth and space-based personal care and essential ingredients to protect skin health. 

By Venya Patel