A testament to the growing popularity of clean skincare in the luxury space, Shikohin, our favorite forest-forward skincare line is now available at Neiman Marcus. I've been a fan of the line since discovering it last year and am pleased that a new (and rather discerning) audience will get to experience its earthy, mushroom-centric formulas.
Goldilocks Wellness editor Hadley Henriette spoke to founder Takeshi Nobuhara about the brand and this exciting milestone.
HH: It's interesting that while department stores are struggling, they are still a very big deal.
TN: “For us, it was really important to be in an iconic store like Neiman Marcus. We are very high quality, but we are also new. So it really helps our brand positioning to be qualified by a strong luxury retailer like that.”
HH: Shikohin finds itself smack in the middle of the mycelia zeitgeist. Did you plan it that way? Did you know fungi were about to be the next big thing?
TN: No! I didn't know that mushrooms were about to blow up! I just wanted to use them because, in Japan, we use a lot of mushrooms. They have always been a huge part of our culture from food to traditional medicinals. After all, Shikohin is based on Kampo, a Japanese herbal medicine system.
HH: Regardless, your timing is impeccable. You have an incredible natural skincare line full of fungi! You've got tremella, reishi, chaga, maitake, and wood ear mushrooms.
TN: It was always about ingredients for me. I knew I wanted to use these botanicals and sort of design the product around them. Tremella, or snow mushrooms, have 15% more moisturizing effect than hyaluronic acid! We've always known these things are very good for you to eat, but have not traditionally been used in skincare. Some of these things have, like Yomogi, which is extremely popular in Japan and Korea, but virtually unknown in the United States. [You can see all of Shikohin's herbal ingredients here]
HH: Your Soothe Hand & Foot Cream was the first product of your I fell in love with. It smells like a forrest!
TN: Yes! It was inspired by the Japanese concept of forrest bathing. When I was a kid, the forrest was my safe space growing up in Japan. The star ingredients is tremella with maritime pine bark, CBD, and japanese cypress. We try to stimulate multiple senses with texture, fragrance, and tactile packaging.
HH: Interesting. I take maritime pine bark daily as an anti-inflammatory. Inflammation is something that is often overlooked in the skin.
TN: Absolutely! CBD is also an anti-inflammatory and antioxident. If the quality is high, it is very effective. Another thing that we always cherished in Japan was seaweed so we are using algae like dulse.
HH: While there are a lot of interesting ingredients, you show a lot of restraint in the formulas. Is this a nod to Japanese "Shibui"?
TN: In Japan, we love simplicity. The feeling is that not a lot is needed, especially when you have high-quality ingredients.
HH: That is the opposite of K-Beauty!
TN: K-Beauty has been very successful due to their complex routine. They have been innovative making up a lot of innovative protocols for people to follow. Japanese skincare is less commercial. Japan is the fourth largest economy in the world and a lot of Japanese retailers can do a good business just selling within Japan. So, a lot of brands haven't needed to sell outside the country. In Japan, there is a notion of homeostasis that does not require too much intervention. At Shikohin, we put a lot of emphasis on the quality of each product.
HH: So this is clean skincare at its best. Is it sustainable?
TN: Yes, it's sustainable skincare! We believe in sustainability and are using aluminum and glass as much as we can.
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