Most skincare products have a year or two of research behind them before they hit the market. But in the case of Shiseido’s most advanced skincare innovation yet, there’s 40 years of research. Shiseido is celebrating its 150^th birthday this year and the Bio-Performance Skin Filler Serums are the latest additions to their Bio-Performance collection. “Bio-Performance has always been known as cutting-edge skincare that has been ahead of its time,” says Salina Urben, Senior Manager, US Education & Training, Shiseido. “It’s always been inspired by not only the needs of the skin, but also what was going on aesthetically, like injectables and microdermabrasion. It launched back in 1980. Our Advanced Super Revitalizing Cream was the world’s first 24-hour anti-aging moisturizer and it was one of our best-sellers for 30 years. It still looks like a spaceship.”

Urben remembers her mother using Bio-Performance and how beautiful it made her skin look. “She would say this cream is amazing; it puts water in your skin,” Urben recalls. “I think what she meant was it puts hyaluronic acid in your skin. Not only has our love affair with high tech products been around since the 80s, but this interest in hyaluronic acid has really put Shiseido at the forefront of what it really means to create high performance hyaluronic acid products. That’s what makes this next generation of Bio-Performance really exciting is that we’ve been able to leverage over 40 years of hyaluronic acid expertise, development and innovation.”

It took over three years of research and over 200 prototypes to come up with the Skin Filler Serums, a two-step system that revolutionizes hyaluronic acid in cosmetics and works like an injectable filler to visibly smooth wrinkles and fine lines, as well as treat loss of firmness. The Infill Serum is applied at night and the Full Expansion Serum is applied in the morning. To make it easy to integrate into your current skincare routine, the Shiseido’s Bio-Performance Skin Filler Serums are designed to work with other products. If you use other serums, both Shiseido serums should be put on last, but before moisturizer. As part of Shiseido’s commitment to sustainability, both serums are refillable.

Hyaluronic acid is famous for being able to hold 1,000 times its weight in water, which is what makes it so effective in hydrating and retaining water and moisture on the skin. Typically, the molecule is a very large size. “The problem with it being a large molecule is that it’s more surface hydration; it can’t penetrate the deeper layers of the skin,” Urben says. “So, what companies do is they create a lower molecular hyaluronic acid, which can go into the skin. But then it can’t hold on that same amount of water, so it loses some of its effectiveness.”

That’s where the new hero ingredient comes in, Shiseido’s proprietary MolecuShift Technology. “It takes a large hyaluronic acid molecule and shrinks it, and that’s what’s in the nighttime serum,” Urben explains. Those shrunken molecules can then go into deep layers of the stratum corneum to deeply hydrate. “Now that’s great, but I want volume,” Urben says. “We’re talking about this being equivalent to a hyaluronic acid injectable; we’re seeing filler results without the needles. So, I need to pump this up. In the morning, I take my Full Expansion Serum and those compact hyaluronic acid molecules then fully expand; they extend from the inside out, so what you’re left with is instant plumping and volume. It’s really wild because we take this high level hyaluronic acid molecule, compact it, let it work its magic overnight and in the morning we expand it.” The Full Expansion Serum returns the hyaluronic acid molecule back to its original size without jeopardizing any of its capabilities via positive magnesium irons, which essentially work as a magnet. In turn, that plumps and firms skin, which is why both serums must be used together as a two-step system.

The Shiseido’s Bio-Performance Skin Filler Serums deliver both instant results and improvement over time. “You see the results the first time you use it,” Urben says. “What’s also really cool is you get cumulative results, so the more you use it, it actually helps to increase the amount of hyaluronic acid you’re naturally producing.” After a month of regular use, clinical studies showed that it increased a person’s own natural hyaluronic acid production by three times and their skin was visibly plumped. Additionally, 91% of respondents in clinical study (with 106 participants) said their skin felt more volumized than ever and looked firmer, as though they had a medical treatment. In two weeks, it improved skin elasticity and diminished wrinkles on cheeks, under-eye area, nasolabial folds and crow’s feet.

There are other anti-aging perks too, such as ingredients to boost epidermal cell turnover to maintain a healthy skin barrier. Chai hu extract promotes collagen production, red clover extract prevents the thinning of the epidermis and cinnamon extract helps optimize the skin’s natural purification process. Those who get fillers regularly can use Shiseido’s Bio-Performance Skin Filler Serums in conjunction, though it’s also designed for people who don’t want to go the injectables route. “This is great to complement it and to maybe shave a little bit of time off of having to go in and get reinjected,” Urben says. “It has the maximum result in the skin, which is looking younger, looking plumped, you’ll see fewer fine lines, the skin will be smoother and radiant. It’s really, really neat.”