Shiseido introduces See, Say, Do. Program tackling unconscious biases that restrict individual beauty

21 Sep 2022 --- For businesses and organizations, Shiseido is developing an interactive website and the See, Say, Do. Program to counter unintended perceptions and biases that restrict individual beauty. Additionally, the company is aiming to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a program based on empathy.

Shiseido is introducing a website that will enable users to experience unconscious beauty bias (UBB; unconscious perceptions and biases that limit individual beauty).

The company conducted an online qualitative survey under the direction of Dr. Lisa Jenkins in order to gather 5,000 first-hand accounts that would help shed light on UBB globally before the project.

“Shiseido has strived for innovation in beauty for 150 years. I’m glad they’ve taken a new step against UBB, which has caused issues for people all over the world. This survey by Shiseido clarified UBB’s impact on society,” says survey supervisor Dr. Jenkins.

“We must change preconceived notions and culture that make us think we’re not beautiful. I believe we can evolve the definition of beauty and confront our UBB to free people from discrimination, bullying, harassment and violence and make the world a place where people can live their rightful lives.”

Expanding sustainable beauty actions
Since October 2020, Shiseido has been working on Sustainable Beauty Actions (SBAS), an SDGs effort. The company has previously taken specific steps in line with the concepts of Mottainai and Harmony.

Shiseido is introducing a website that will enable users to experience unconscious beauty bias.The SBAS is based on three key pillars: Mottanai (recycle and reuse), Harmony (with society and the environment and Empathy (resonate with all). Shiseido will now create the See, Say, Do. Project to implement the third pillar – Empathy.

The project promotes UBB as a first step toward achieving the future Shiseido envisions, “where everyone may enjoy their own lives and empathize with one another’s beauty, regardless of gender, age, nationality or any other personal feature.”

The See, Say, Do. Project in detail
The See phase, the project’s initial phase, will provide an interactive website offering personal experiences gathered in a global survey to further knowledge of UBB.

Users will share and then discuss what they discovered during the See phase and their own experiences and ideas during the Say phase.

To address the issues of UBB around us, which were made clear in the previous See and Say phases, the Do phase will gradually unroll concrete activities. The See, Say, Do. Program, which Shiseido produced and started distributing, views UBB for businesses and organizations as the initial level.

The company adds that it “aspires to work toward the realization of a world where the UBB in society is recognized and where there is no barrier to obtaining distinctive, individual beauty by introducing the program in more businesses and organizations coming forward.”

Partnerships and previous eco-friendly endeavors
Shiseido previously began the fourth phase of its open innovation program, “fibona,” in China as part of its “co-creation with startups.” Medical beauty technology and holistic beauty technology are the themes for this phase. The initiative works in partnership with startup companies to introduce fresh concepts for Shiseido to incorporate into its products.

The company also introduced a cosmetic container that is “simple to open” and has a spotless spatula holder stand, maximizing the design to achieve high usability. Meanwhile, select jars and bottles from glassmaker Bormioli Luigi’s ecoLine line of ecologically friendly products are enabling Shiseido’s cosmetics brand Ulé to expand its line of environmentally sustainable products.

In a cooperative initiative, Shiseido Company, Sekisui Chemical, and Sumitomo Chemical will collect discarded plastic cosmetics containers, repurpose them as various resources and materials, and then recycle them back into new plastic cosmetics containers.

By Nicole Kerr

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