In our 2 previous interviews, Mr. Kawagoe, chief researcher of haircare developing team that developed the brand and its product, talked about the background history and difficulties they met in developing the product. This time he will talk about the characteristics and advantages of the product.

Yumi:

I have heard that “Clear Spa Form” from PLARMIA is a patent-pending product.

Mr. Kawagoe:

Yes, “Clea Spa Form” is the first aerosol carbonic acid shampoo in the industry.  We could control the amount of chloride ion, so we filed patent for the level of chloride ion. We also filed one for the proportion of the amount of shampoo and acid.

Yumi:

What is the breakthrough of this?

Mr. Kawagoe:

Aerosol is a can product.  We put a full limiting value of carbonic acid which by law is allowed to be used as a cosmetic product. The amount is 6-7 times more than the standard air pressure under a normal environment.

Shampoo contains surface-activating agent which creates chloride ion, even if we were not planning to include it, and chloride ion stimulates oxidation of metals such as iron and aluminum  In other words, it might oxidize the can and make a hole in it.

Yumi:

It sounds dangerous to have a hole in a can which has so much air pressure inside.

Mr. Kawagoe:

You are right.  Therefore, we needed to control the amount of chloride ion which is effective as a shampoo but also minimized the amount to be used safely.  This is for the first patent. It is good to minimize the amount of chloride ion in terms of protecting healthy hair, so the research was also effective and meaningful for our future studies.

Yumi:

What about other proportion?

Mr. Kawagoe:

We put the maximum amount of acid, but the problem is that carbonic acid doesn’t associate with water easily.  If an agent for shampoo is too viscous, carbonic acid cannot belnd, but if it is too runny it cannot create enough bubbles, so it was difficult to come up with the perfect proportion.

Yumi:

You created a formula that creates effective bubbles and carbonic acid to be diffused at the same time.

Mr. Kawagoe:

Yes, but we had to be careful about proportion; if carbonic acid is too much diluted , it only creates creamy bubbles that does not last long, therefore, the proportion of carbonic acid and shampoo was also an important factor to consider.  The perfect proportion which we found is the second patent that we asked for.

Yumi:

I see. Since it was the first product on the market, it won customers choices.  I heard that you did not have enough products on day 1.

Mr. Kawagoe:

Well, nobody expected that it could be such a successful product.  There was a product using  carbonic acid for the preparation of another professional one, however the carbonic acid shampoo did not exist   before.  The convenience of using it at home won customers’ choice, I believe.

Yumi:

I heard that the product is also popular among male customers.

Mr. Kawagoe:

I heard a nice story from a man who is working for a company we have relation with. Usually his wife tells him that his hair smells terrible after a night being out for drink. Since he started to use our product, his wife stopped complaining.

Yumi:

You have many products to choose from.

Mr. Kawagoe:

We have a few variety of product for customers to choose from.  Based on the “Clea Spa Form” and depending of the needs and type of sense of discomfort with hair, there is a big selection of products. Please consult with your hair dresser to choose the right product for you.

(The End)

Clear Spa Form, an aerosol shampoo, from PLARMIA brand

Yumi:

What was the difficulties while developing the product?

Mr. Kawagoe:

We knew that hair looses strength and firmness with age, but it was difficult to come up with solution to diminish a sense of discomfort with it.  Just creating a product to give  firmness would not satisfy hair dressers and customers would not be satisfied.

Yumi:

You are right.

Mr. Kawagoe:

We spent a lot of time to find out customers’ benefit and added value to our new product. It had to be a special product different from other products.

Yumi:

I see.

Mr. Kawagoe:

We had case study with people using beauty essence which we had been developing for 3 months, and checking every 2 weeks. During the case study, we had response from people not only about the change in the actual hair condition but also positive message that they got more confident about themselves.

As a conclusion, we realized that “age beauty” keeping the current one was a more important message than “anti-aging,” and that what our customers were looking for was not necessary instant result but real ones when people become truly beautiful from the inside.

Yumi:

The product should be one that we can use on a continuing basis.

Mr. Kawagoe:

That is right.  We wanted to create a product which our customers can use on daily basis to grow healthy and beautiful hair for long term rather than a product which aim for instant result.  This idea became our philosophy for developing the new product.

Yumi:

What differentiate PLARMIA from others is that it is first aerosol carbonic acid shampoo.  What made you to focus on carbonic acid?

Mr. Kawagoe:

We were advised from hair salon that they had been studying “how hair conditions changed with age.”  According to them, when women become older, hair turn into 3 types of mixed hair.

Yumi:

What are the 3 types?

Mr. Kawagoe:

First is the original hair type, the second one is thin and fluffy, the third one is frizzy after being damaged by hair coloring, these 3 types of hair coexist on aging women.  In addition, thin and fluffy hair grows on the top part of the head, so aging hair grows from top to bottom, according to  hair salons.

Yumi:

That idea comes from the experience of hair dressers at the salon.

Mr. Kawagoe:

Yes, this theory was proved by our research with 300 people, that made us realized how hair dressers and hair salons understand their clients based on their experience. With their advise, we thought that if we stimulate blood circulation on the top of head, it could prevent people to have 3 types of mixed hair.

Yumi:

I see.

Mr. Kawagoe:

We decided to use carbonic acid to stimulate blood circulation directly, which is a different method than hair restoration tonic.  When we apply carbonic acid to the scalp, it goes into our blood vessel and increase the amount of oxygen, therefore, we thought that if we were including carbonic acid into shampoo which we use everyday, it would prevent hair to be damaged with age.

Yumi:

This is the reason why you blended carbonic acid with shampoo.

Mr. Kawagoe:

To explain it in a simple way, using carbonic acid changes the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in blood increasing the last one, with blood lacking of oxygen. So blood starts to produce more, and as a result, it stimulates blood circulation.

Yumi:

That is interesting.

Mr. Kawagoe:

Carbonic acid can create thin bubbles, so it also has a cleansing effect.  Since it is an acid, it can clean and get rid of alkaline which is brought by color and perm products.  As a result, protein level is normalized, so scalp and hair stay clean and healthy.  It also has a moisturizing effect.

Yumi:

Wow, it is good for everything!

Mr. Kawagoe:

Carbonic acid itself does not have a moisturizing effect, it spreads itself all over body 20 times faster than oxygen, so it is a high osmosis agent, also with other ones.

Yumi:

I understand.

Mr. Kawagoe:

At the beginning, our company’s directors disagreed with us about developing shampoo, however after our research on carbonic acid being effective to prevent people’s sense of discomfort with their hair, they agreed to work on carbonic acid shampoo.

(To be continued)

Clear Spa Form, an aerosol shampoo, from PLARMIA brand

“PLARMIA” was not developed in a day, but Milbon’s effort was well rewarded.

Today we have Mr. Hiroshi Kawagoe who was a member of the development team to tell us about the product story.

Mr. Hiroshi Kawagoe

Milbon Co. Ltd. Research institute

Chief researcher of haircare developing team, Group 1 laboratory office

Yumi:

As we all know “PLARMIA”, has been a big hit product.  How did you start developing the product?

Mr. Kawagoe:

Thank you for the honor.  We have been developing products for the baby boomer generation, so wee have been doing research on what kind of hair types they have and what kind of hairstyle they want. For them we released a product called “DEESSE’S” when the trend was for them to color their hair.

Yumi:

“DEESSE’S”  was launched in 1999, it was also a major product hit.

Mr. Kawagoe:

Yes, the advantage of the product was that it cares about damaged hair when coloring which won customers’ choices.  Since then, the coloring technology has improved and hair damage has become segmental, therefore we matured “DEESSE’S” and created other lines of product to treat damaged hair due to hair coloring.

Yumi:

“DEESSE’S” is a brand with such a philosophy behind.

Mr. Kawagoe:

We have always worked for the baby boomer generation to answer their needs.  They have become older and experience a sense of discomfort with their hair, and coloring cannot give them enough satisfaction.

Yumi:

That made you to think about “aging care.”

Mr. Kawagoe:

That is right.  We recognize the baby boomer generation as trend and consumption leader, so they prefer the leading-edge solution for hair design.  However with their age which cause the hair conditions to change, they no longer enjoy hairstyles as before.  Therefore, we decided to develop  “aging care” products to solve their problems.

Yumi:

I understand.  Actually our “UNIQUE PIECE” generation crossover the baby boomer generation.  Since you have been working with this generation, it has made you to truly think of “aging care.”

Mr. Kawagoe:

When I talk to hair dressers about this generation, their clients have always experienced a  sense of discomfort with their hair.  For example, hair volume goes down late afternoon, scalp becomes sticky in the afternoon, and so on, that they do not understand the reasons behind but feel the difference compared to before when they were younger.

Yumi:

I know what you mean.

Mr. Kawagoe:

However, the majority of people thinks these problems are caused by bad haircut or wrong choices of shampoo, and do not realize it is just because of aging and also because those problems are not well explained.  Therefore, we decided to create “positive aging” products which “keep” the beauty they have.

Yumi:

It is a product for baby boomer generation who have been trends leader and they will always be the same.

Mr. Kawagoe:

That is right.  It made us to develop “PLARMIA” besides “DEESSE’S.”  At that time, our company asked our laboratory to work on beauty essence which the majority of people believes is an anti-aging essential, however, we believed that shampoo would win the demand, so we kept developing shampoo behind the scene.

(To be continued)

*PLARMIA  Clear Spa Form  170g

“I found the hair salon through my friend. At the beginning, Mari’s older brother was my hairstylist, then Mari has been the One for the last 12 – 13 years.  I trust her and leave decision in her hand.  She knows me and my life well so I feel comfortable to let her create a style for me.”  Sakiko said.

This time Sakiko asked for a change to make a lighter style.

“Sakiko has strong natural growth pattern and her hair is easy to get poofy. Therefore I tried to create a style which is neat and homogeneous but with a sense of movement at the same time.”  Ms. Motojima said.

The base style is a low gradation cut, using layers for the top and the inside to make the hair volume lighter. Ms. Motojima used chopping cut to leave some bulk and give a good shape, cut the fringe at the eye level to give a cool look.

Ms. Motojima used 7 level gray color for the roots, mixed 8 level cocoa color and crystal ash color for the middle to the end to give a glossy look. The complexity of the color created a shinny, light, and casual style.

Sakiko usually doesn’t perm her hair, but use her natural unruly hair to make curls.

Ms. Motojima curled the hair along her face, the outside outwards and curled the back side inwards to give a natural movement.

Sakiko is a professional dancer, therefore, when Ms. Motojima cut her hair, she also imagine Sakiko dancing. “I wanted to create a style which has movement when she dances.” Ms. Motojima said.

Since they have known each other for more than 10 years, Ms. Motojima understands what Sakiko needs.  It seems like they are the best partner forever.

Hair salon: Hair Mission Shinsaibashi

Hairstylist: Mari Motojima

Official website:

Photo by Takuya Okamoto

Text by Yumiko Nishimura

Ayako has had super-long hair for a while.

“Since Ayako is a very tall lady, her hair needs to be in good balance with her height.  When I cut her hair I always focus on details such as cutting the hair ends neat and keeping a fair amount of volume.” Mr. Kitajima said.

Mr. Kitajima separated her layered based hair into two sections, texturing the upper section to reduce the volume, and keeping the under section without taking out the volume.  He used “mauve pink beige” for her hair color, gradually lighter the color from roots to the end by controlling the bench time.

Although Ayako is able to enjoy the style, such as leaving her fringe down and parting her fringe at the center, her favorite is “elegant” style with curls.

“Since she curled her hair by herself, I cut for easy styling.” Mr. Kitajima said.

Ayako is not conservative when changing style, she prefers a hairstylist who can come up with new idea and propose new style, therefore, a hairstylist like Mr. Kitajima is the ideal one for her.

Ayako also likes the atmosphere of the salon.

“I feel comfortable here. Their staff are friendly and  knows both keeping customers entertained and leaving them alone when needed.” Ayako said.

A hair salon where matured women can relax and enjoy their time – that is the key to win long term loyal customers.

Hair salon: TENDER Glow

Hairstylist : Jun Kitajima

Official website :

Photo by Takuya Okamoto

Text by Yumiko Nishimura

“I have an image for my style, but difficult to explain in words.” Hiromi said.

Therefore, she leaves her style to Ms. Sugioka’s hand.

“Hiromi is natural and negligent in her style, so I created a casual style with easy styling matching both her career and private life.” Ms. Sugioka said.

Medium layered style as a base, Ms. Sugioka used solid layers for hair along her face and the top so  she can have a glamorous style when she curls her hair. She cut the fringe to create a round shape but not blunt to give a soft impression.

(photo)

Ms. Sugimoto used apricot color to make Hiromi’s hair to be shinny and glossy. She mixed copper apricot color which makes her face bright and cocoa brown to give glossiness and staid impression.

Hiromi curled her hair with hot curlers for her work, so Ms. Sugimoto curled hair inward, except for her fringe where used hair spray wax to give a glossy look.

Hiromi has a cheerful character with a big smile. She spends her day off for her daughter.

“My daughter asks me to take her to school, wants to eat home made sweets, I am easily swayed by her requests.” Hiromi smiled.

Although Hiromi has a busy life between her career and taking care of her daughter, she is single and looking for a boyfriend.  Her dream is to have a date at the salon.

If anyone interested, please contact UNIQUE PIECE!

Hope her dream will come true in the near future.

Hair salon: emu

Hairstylist: Mai Sugioka

Official website:

Photo by Takuya Okamoto

Text by Yumiko Nishimura

“As a representative of our company, I am concerned about my outfit and hair style.” Junko said.

The first meeting with her hairstylist, Mr. Mikasa, was through her daughter who had found her fashionable hairstyle in a magazine.

“I went to his hair salon with my daughter when she was 18 years old.” Junko said.

The first hair cut he did for her daughter convinced her about Mr. Mikasa’s skilled techniques and his personality. Since then, for more than 10 years, both Junko and her daughter have been clients there.

Junko is currently growing her hair longer and Mr. Mikasa proposed her a “fashionable, chic, and intelligent style” with short fringe.

Mr. Mikasa used layers from the neckline, which a chin length, and with the side of her hair above chin level.  Then a graduated cut to create a round shape.

He chopped her fringe roughly above eye brows, which creates a fashionable style as well as a bright facial expression.

“Although she is in a middle of growing her hair, she can enjoy a style with just slight changes.” Mr. Mikasa explained.

How does she like the new style which was created by Mr. Mikasa’s proven techniques for cut, color, and perm?

“The is a very easy styling although I am growing my hair. I am happy with my new style which is fashionable and easy to maintain.” satisfied Junko saying about her style.

Mr. Mikasa used Perl ash color as a base, gray cover color for the roots, and 9 level tone fashion color from Milbon company for the ends. The important point was the gray cover color and fashion color not to be mixed and muddy.

Junko has a natural growth line which makes her styling difficult, so Mr. Mikasa permed her hair slightly to fix the growth line and boost up the volume on the top.

“This perm is not to be seen as a style but more as afunctional perming technique.” Mr. Mikasa said.

He used ten 30mm – 25mm rods mainly for the top.

Why has she been his client for more than 10 years?

“He is a reliable person with proven techniques and a true sense of fashion.  He listens to me carefully to understand my needs. Top hairstylists often show off their ways and preferences, but Mr. Mikasa never behave like them. I am every time satisfied with his cut.” Junko said.

It is great to have a hair stylist who can help us growing hair but keep having a style based on our moods and tastes.

Hair salon: Tierra

Hair stylist: Tatsuya Mikasa

Official website:

Photo by Akio Nakamura

Text by Hanako Maruyama

“I have  been to DOOR for the past 5 years.  Stylists at DOOR have proven techniques and they understand my picture for hairstyle and always make it happen.” Kumiko praised DOOR a great deal.

“I tried to keep the feminine and lovely character of Kumiko and reflect that image to her hairstyle.” Chikako Toda, Kumiko’s hairstylist, said. Kumiko is growing her hair so Ms. Toda kept the length of it using layers on the surface to boost the volume, cut the fringe round to make her face look small.

For perm, Ms. Toda curled the top pulling up the hair to boost volume, used hair iron to curl the bottom, curled her fringe to give soft and feminine image.

For hair color, Ms. Toda used gray cover color for the roots, put light pink color at the end, and highlighted the surface randomly to create a natural graduated color.

Due to her career, Kumiko could not dye her hair before. Since she recently quit her job, she decided to try a new style with brighter color. She is open to try new styles.

“I like Ms. Toda, we can chat about cats, traveling… She is calm which make me feel comfortable.” Kumiko said. The personality and character of Ms. Toda are also reasons why Kumiko keep going to the salon.

“I enjoy their tea. They serve a different flavor every time.” Kumiko said.  Since DOOR is a female stylists only salon, it seems like they know about hospitality and detailed services.

Hair salon: Hair room DOOR

Hairstylist: Chikako Toda

Official website:

Photo by Takuya Okamoto

Text by Yumiko Nishimura

It is the beginning of the fall season.

Hama-chan:

Hair in fall and winter gets dry as we all know.

Yumi:

And our hair gets dry as well.

Hama-chan:

The topic for this lesson is how to deal with dry hair during those seasons.

Hama-chan:

Healthy hair contains 11 – 14% of moisture, which means hair has a capacity to retain water.

Yumi:

I see.

Hama-chan:

When hair looses its healthy condition, it looses the ability of restraining moisture with only 6 – 8% of water kept.  When hair looses moisture, it alsos loose its softness, gets frizzy, and break. When hair contains enough moisture, it is soft and has a smooth texture.

Yumi:

That is why moisture is so important for our hair.

Hama-chan:

Yes, this is a reason why we feel our hair gets rough and less smooth when it is dry.

Yumi:

What shall we do for this matter?

Hama-chan:

There are two solutions.

1. Keep our hair to the condition which hair can keep moisture
2. Apply moisture directly to hair

Yumi:

It is similar to the discussion we had before on how to deal with moisture during rainy season.

Hama-chan:

Solution no.1 and no.2 sound similar but are slightly different.

For the solution no.1, we take care of our hair give it the ability to keep moisture inside. For example,

• Use effective and moisturizing in-the-bath treatment everyday
• Have a moisturizing treatment at hair salon
• Apply mist type out-of-bath treatment

For the solution no.2, we apply oil when the hair is wet to also keep hair moisturized.

• Use oil type or milky out-of-bath treatment to keep the moisture inside

Yumi:

I understand.

Hama-chan:

Of course, the best way it to combine solution no.1 and no.2.

Let’s keep shinny hair and go through the dry season with those solutions.

Lecturer: Yuichi Hamaguchi

Hair Salon: Cura

“My children are 19 and 17 years old. Since they are grown up, I started business on my own. I used to live in NYC for 7 years due to my husband’s work. When I was in NYC, I realized the  importance of techniques depending on hair type. In general I highly respect the Japanese hairstylists ones.” Kumiko said.

Kumiko has been to the hair salon Garland since it opened 2 years ago.

“It is difficult to find The One from so many hair salons in Tokyo.  I was introduced to Garland by my friend who has similar taste than mine, and I really appreciated to find Garland and hairstylist, Mr. Akinori Sakakihara. Garland has a relaxing atmosphere like being at home, there are beautiful green plants and sunshine coming in.

Kumiko’s request this time was a matured style which suits to her age and easy to be maintained.  She is concerned about her bulky, dry, unruly, and enlarged hair due to humidity.

Mr. Sakakihara proposed her a natural style with easy styling that she can just comb with her hand.

The base style is medium length slightly longer on front, volume boost for the top creating layers and giving a natural movement. Mr. Sakakihara used “slide cut” technique from the middle to the end to leave some bulks that give a cohesive impression.

“The straight style suits her personality and lifestyle.” Mr. Sakakihara said.

The new color for her hair is lavender ash, 6% Tamarind’s LA8 level for roots, 3% LA10 level for the hair ends. The muted color was completed with a single treatment.

“I am satisfied with my new style which is elegant with a united impression. I am rather conservative and not easy with new challenge. Mr. Sakakihara knows my character and time to time he encourages me to try new style.  I am mow comfortable with new challenge because I truly trust him.” Kumiko said.

“It is important to have basic care especially when we get older. Especially since my 17 years old daughter is critical and makes good comment for my hairstyle which others never tell me.” Kumiko smiled.

It is precious to have a hairstylist who gives good advise based on the understanding of hair type as well as one’s life style.

Hair salon: Garland

Hairstylist: Akinori Sakakihara

Official website:

Photo by Akio Nakamura

Text by Hanako Maruyama