Pixiq

Fujifilm introduces Astalift skincare products to the European market in February 2012... yes, this time is not a new X camera from Fujifilm making the news, but a series of skincare products.

From beautiful photography to beautiful skin seems to be the concept for Fujifilm now. First launched in 2006, the skin care line was a huge success in Japan. In August 2010 Fujifilm showed the line of products in Hong Kong, the first overseas market for the Astalift brand, curiously a name very close to the transparency film Astia, from Fujifilm, a fined grained, low contrast slide film often used for studio or portrait applications.

What does Astalift have to do with Fujifilm portfolio, one may ask? Well, skincare and photography have more in common than you think. For Fujifilm that was clear, from the first day. They have applied long-established technologies, developed for portraying ofthe beauty of photography, and to the enhancing of skin beauty.

One example? Control of Oxidation, which is the cause of photo color fading, but also the cause of skin aging. Over the years, Fujifilm has developed technologies to prevent photographs from oxidizing caused by UV, which also accelerate skin aging.

But there's more. Collagen, which Fujifilm has researched for more than 70 years, is the major component of photo film. Guess what? Collagen represents 70% of skin tissues.

And there's also that fine new world word... nanotechnology. Fujifilm learned the control of particles with nanotechnology through film manufacturing. Nanotechnology is the key to film and skin care areas. With its unique nanotechnology, Fujifilm has succeeded in preventing small astaxanthin (1,000 times stronger than CoQ10) particles from attracting each other and enlarging. Therefore they can be maintained in a form ease to be absorbed.

Now Fuijifilm is heading to Europe, with France as the starting point. And from there, the world. The President and CEO, Shigetaka Komori, introduced skincare products based on its proprietary technologies to the European market with a view to expand its healthcare business operations. The Astalift series of skincare products, which have earned high user acclaim in Japan and China, will be launched in France in February 2012, to be followed by other countries in Europe.

The Astalift series is a comprehensive anti-aging skincare brand, developed by using the findings of collagen research, anti-oxidization technology and nano-technology accumulated over many years of research and development of photosensitive materials. Containing the skin-replenishing collagen and astaxanthin, an increasingly-popular skin conditioning agent approximately 1,000 times more powerful than the coenzyme Q10, the products have received overwhelming support from women who seek to maintain beauty of natural youthful skin since the launch in 2007. The brand includes base makeup items that control light absorption and reflection launched in Japan this September. In the worldwide market, Astalift skincare products were introduced in Hong Kong and Mainland China in September last year, with the sales region already expanded to Southeast Asia.

In 2011, the European skincare market is worth approx. 1.8 trillion yen, with France, U.K. and Germany making up over half of the total demand. The market has made solid growth since 2005, riding over the financial crisis triggered by the Lehman Shock. Demand for anti-aging products, in particular, has made the most prominent increase. Convinced that the Astalift series will address the needs of many women in the European market as well, Fujifilm has decided to introduce the brand to France and other European countries, following its introduction to China and Southeast Asia.