Anti-Gravity Science V
Revolutionary
skin sagging research
Our latest discovery:
skin’s anti-gravity system
the
“Dynamic Belt”
The earth’s gravity is a natural pulling force. Thinking skin may have a natural anti-gravity system to resist this force, SHISEIDO developed 4D Digital Skin, which reveals the changes taking place inside skin as gravity causes it to sag. It also revealed that facial arrector pili muscles grow directionally, in an arrangement that supports skin against gravity. We call this the Dynamic Belt. These muscles decline with age, causing visible skin sagging.
Interview
The story behind the
Dynamic Belt
Skin sagging is caused by gravity.
As humans living on earth with this gravity, I thought that there must be some system in the skin that
resists gravity.
However, in reality, it was extremely difficult to research this topic.
There was
a need to witness the process of the skin being lowered by gravity.
Basically, I had to make a
four-dimensional observation of what was happening
inside the skin.
But such technology did not exist, so the development of this technology allowed me to determine
what actually happens in the skin when it is lowered by gravity and how it resists, and that’s
how it led to the discovery of the Dynamic Belt.
The Dynamic Belt is the name based on our scientific findings.
For the first time, we were able to elucidate the movements of the skin and found it has the power to
support these dynamics.
The power inside the skin runs in a certain direction towards gravity that allows it to function as a
belt, supporting dynamics of resisting gravity.
Hence we came to name it the Dynamic Belt.
The challenge: uncovering
the mechanism of skin
sagging
Dr. Ezure is a pioneer of skin sagging research. Before he began this work, targeting sagging was considered to be outside the scope of cosmetics. But Dr. Ezure knew that many people worried about the way their faces were changing shape with age, and he wanted to address this concern. His studies on skin sagging transcended the boundaries of cosmetics research at the time. Findings from his work over more than 30 years have received the top award at the International Federation of Society of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) four times in a row.
Award-winning history by IFSCC
-
2014
Anchor
Structure -
2016
Dermal
Cavitation -
2018
Dermal
Stem Cells
Reservoirs -
2020
Dynamic
Belt
“Anti-gravity science V”, causes of skin sagging
Interview Turning sagging skin research upside down
It has been about more than 30 years since I started research on skin sagging.
When I first began, many skincare products on the market focused on concerns at the skin surface.
This included crow’s feet and dark spots.
But what consumers were most concerned about was how
their facial contours changed dramatically with age—sagging cheeks, loose jawline, deep wrinkles on the
forehead, and sunken cheeks.
These concerns have always been viewed as issues skincare products could
not resolve.
As someone involved in cosmetics, I wondered if there was any way to address these
concerns, and began my research and development.
When I started my research, many people might have thought I was odd because I was working on
something nobody else was studying.
Research on skin sagging required starting from scratch and being creative with resources.
For
example, my team asked female employees of the company to hang upside down so we could take photos of
their face and observe the changes in the facial contours.
A lot of people around me probably wondered what I was doing.
Nevertheless, I was very confident my research could help people around the world because so many are concerned about how their facial contours change with age.
Interview How skin sagging changes your appearance
There has been research on what affects your appearance the most when it comes to aging.
The results
revealed that skin sagging gave the strongest impression of aging.
If you actually think about it, fine lines and dark spots on the skin surface can be covered by
foundation.
However, your facial contours can greatly change with age and cannot be covered with
foundation.
That’s why sagging is a major cause of an aged appearance.
Skin sagging can also cause various skin concerns.
For example, sagging cheeks can also play a major
role in the blurring of the face line and sunken cheeks.
Furthermore, once sagging occurs, you start
using the forehead muscles to lift the face during facial expressions.
This causes deeper wrinkles on
the forehead.
So, when skin sagging occurs, it can lead to additional aging signs.
Skin sagging is difficult to see from the front because it is a three-dimensional phenomenon.
On the other hand, skin sagging is very visible from an oblique angle.
Therefore, being aware of this oblique face is very important in noticing the actual state of your
skin sagging.
We hope that you understand your skin sagging condition and implement appropriate care accordingly.
Our journey to find the right
ingredients and massage
Select botanical active ingredients
-
Licorice for the
Dynamic Belt
& the Anchor Structure -
Burnet for the
Anchor Structure -
Rosemary for the
Dermal Cultivation -
Iris for the
Dermal Cell Network
Massage to improve sagging skin
Although the arrector pili muscles cannot move on their own, we explored ways to approach these facial muscles to improve sagging. We discovered that massaging them in the right direction can visibly improve sagging skin.
*Please apply a serum or moisturizer on face when massaging
Interview Finding the solution to sagging
There are several types of muscles.
The arrector pili muscles that produces the Dynamic Belt are involuntary muscles,
so you can’t control them consciously.
This makes it extremely difficult to train them through
exercise-like training.
In developing the ingredients, we have selected effective ingredients from a very large number.
First, we searched a wide variety of ingredients on a database, verified the effects of several
hundreds of them,
and finally focused in on one ingredient with the efficacy we were seeking: extract
from the plant species glycyrrhiza, commonly known as licorice.
For the beauty method, our R&D focused on the actual effects on the skin.
We did in-depth study on
how it works on the skin cells, how it regenerates the skin tissues, and conducted research and
development on actual human skin to find out what methods are most effective.
The newly developed beauty method can effectively approach the arrector pili muscles.
We hope that
our customers use this method to improve their Dynamic Belt and visibly improve skin sagging.
SHISEIDO
Global Innovation Center
Fellow Tomonobu Ezure, Ph.D.
Since joining the company more than 30 years ago, Fellow Ezure has continued research and development on anti-aging. He is the first ever to receive the top award at the International Federation Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) four times in a row. He has also received numerous awards at various domestic and international academic conferences, including the International Society of Dermatology, Japan Society of Aesthetic Dermatology, and Japan Society of Connective Tissue. In 2020, Dr. Ezure was appointed as Shiseido’s first Fellow, the highest research position established in the company’s 151 year history.
Interview Believing in skin’s potential
In terms of aging skin, I believe that aging skin has unlimited potential.
Until now, it was said that stem cells that produce skin cells are lost with age, therefore the
ability to regenerate skin was thought to decline with age.
But as our research progressed, we found
that inside the skin are areas where stem cells accumulate and are preserved in sufficient numbers even in
older people.
This tells us that even aged skin retains a high capacity for skin regeneration.
In many situations, I have experienced firsthand that “potential has no age.