Shiseido, a Japanese personal care company founded in 1872, has launched an all-new skincare brand. Entitled BAUM, the brand made a debut with a total of 27 products and 45 items.
The intention of the new brand is to work towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations.
“Under its corporate philosophy ‘BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD,’ Shiseido has been working 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,” reads a press release on Shiseido’s website.
How exactly is BAUM going to be sustainable? Taking inspiration from humanity’s coexistence with nature, a philosophy valued by the Japanese throughout history, Shiseido says that the new brand will be centered on “the power of trees”.
The mission of BAUM is four-prong.
First, it aims to “embrace the blessings of trees” through its products by using formulas that are almost entirely (90 percent) made up of natural ingredients. This means no parabens, silicones, or synthetic colourants are used. Furthermore, all products will contain tree-derived natural fragrances.
The second part of BAUM’s mission is to “preserve trees for the future”. To do this, upcycled wood is used for all packaging. Specifically, recycled wood offcuts from furniture manufacturing and restored high-quality oaks collected from the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions of Japan are used.
Third, BAUM actively reduces environmental impact by offering refills, creating containers with recycled glass, replacing one-use bags with reusable ones, and using bio-based PET for some plastic.
Lastly, the skincare brand promises to participate in forest conservation activities. This involves the creation of the BAUM Forest, where oak trees will be planted starting in 2021 in cooperation with Sumitomo Forestry. In addition, seedlings will be grown in BAUM store locations.
