STORY
O u r S t o r y
From the floor of an esthetic salon
Having struggled with acne-prone skin throughout my teens and twenties, I went independent in the beauty industry in the year 2000. As someone whose hands touched many customers’ skin, I worked through countless consultations at our salon — listening to clients who suffered from acne like myself, sagging skin, hyperpigmentation hidden behind their hair, atopic skin that hurt to the touch, or chest and neck irritation they wanted to cover up. I devoted myself to easing every one of those concerns through beauty care.
One wish ran through all of them:
“I want to be beautiful.”
I wanted to answer that wish, again and again. I wanted my customers to feel for themselves that “when skin changes, the heart changes.” That is when I began to dream of creating cosmetics that would still be by your side, ten years from now.
POLICY
O u r P o l i c y
When development first began in 2008, I was strongly encouraged to launch whitening skincare. But many of those products simply could not be used by people with sensitive skin or other skin troubles — the very people I worked with every day. I wanted to offer cosmetics that my customers would describe as “feeling wonderful on the skin” and “making my skin happy.” So I began creating products focused on “moisture” and “skin circulation.”
SETBACK
S e t b a c k
My passion and motivation were unwavering — yet failure after failure stood in the way.
How are cosmetics actually made? Through an introduction, I met someone at a factory and finally reached the manufacturing stage. But once the product was in the hands of my customers, the reality was harsh: ① breakouts, ② stinging, ③ pain, ④ redness… All of it. The product was recalled immediately. Looking at the invoice, I realized for the first time just how unforgiving this path would be. That was my first setback.
I had confidence in my ability to improve the skin of those in front of me. I believed my sense of touch was sharper than most. But that pride was its own kind of arrogance — and there was something essential about product creation that I had yet to learn.
I searched for a cosmetics factory with proper researchers on staff, and eventually found one that listened to me seriously. Together we managed to develop a serum. But once again, a problem appeared. There were no skin troubles like before — yet the results my customers experienced were not the results I dreamed of for someone who insists on “promising your skin ten years from now.”
I had thought I had identified and fixed the previous failures. But when I asked the researcher, the answers I received never satisfied me. To keep producing this product as it was would betray the standard I held for skin results. My decision was to temporarily suspend sales. That was my second setback.
ENCOUNTER
A F a t e f u l E n c o u n t e r
After halting sales, with no clear path forward, I was meeting an acquaintance in Tokyo. As I shared my struggle — “I managed to make a serum, but it’s not what I wanted it to be” — they said, “I don’t know him personally, but I know someone who can introduce you to an ingredient development expert.”
That was how I had the miraculous encounter with Dr. Takao Nakamura, a Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The development of Vavaira Serum began anew. I shared everything I had been through, and we entered the next phase of improvement together. As a true expert in cosmetic ingredients, Dr. Nakamura’s approach was completely different from anything I had seen before. He understood fully my commitment to moisture and skin circulation — and he has become an essential partner who keeps that vision intact, never letting it waver.
Preservatives such as parabens are necessary to prevent cosmetics from spoiling after opening. In recent years, formulations that achieve preservation without parabens have also been developing. Still, some consumers report skin irritation from preservatives like parabens. From many different angles, Dr. Nakamura continues to research new ingredients that can preserve cosmetics more safely and more reassuringly.
Through a joint study with ASPPM (International Council of Scientists for Peace) in Lyon, France, he investigated the antibacterial properties of distilled wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) — a plant historically used to add bitterness to foods and spirits and as a digestive aid — and successfully developed “Wormwood Oil” as a new cosmetic ingredient, achieving a preservative-free, diol-free formulation. Every Vavaira product contains this Wormwood Oil researched and developed by Dr. Nakamura.
About Dr. Nakamura’s work
Dr. Nakamura is referenced in the Japanese Wikipedia entry on Wormwood (ニガヨモギ). Source: Wikipedia — Wormwood: “In recent years, Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences Takao Nakamura discovered that distillates and extracts of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) demonstrate inhibitory effects against HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus), influenza A virus, and norovirus (using the surrogate virus, feline calicivirus). In the cosmetics field, wormwood is increasingly used in a supportive role for preservation, taking advantage of its antibacterial properties.”
DEVELOPMENT
C o s m e t i c I n g r e d i e n t C r e a t i o n
After trying countless formulations and finally completing Vavaira Serum — the first product in the Vavaira line, free of parabens — I continued to work with my customers’ skin. From there grew a new ambition: to create a serum free of both parabens and phenoxyethanol — a truly preservative-free serum.
My attention turned to the peel of Yamaguchi Prefecture’s summer mandarin (natsumikan), and to the power of plant phytochemicals. We began developing the ingredient. Four years passed, and the cosmetic ingredient “Natsudaidai Peel Oil” was completed. Customers told us, “The moisture is different with the new Vavaira Serum that contains Natsudaidai Peel Oil.” Today, every Vavaira product contains Natsudaidai Peel Oil.
Sensing that summer mandarin peel was an excellent cosmetic raw material, we began gathering the ingredient. We started by asking farmers in Hagi, Yamaguchi to share their summer mandarin peels with us. Soon we realized how difficult it was to arrange the right amount at the right time. “What if we grew them ourselves?” we asked — and so we purchased land in Hagi and began cultivating our own summer mandarins. That is the path that led to where we are today.
Dr. Nakamura, the Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences who handled the ingredient development, worked on “Natsudaidai Peel Oil” all the way in France; its international ingredient name (INCI, in English) was determined in the United States; and the official ingredient name in Japan was set afterward. Through this long, winding journey, “Natsudaidai Peel Oil” was born.
INCI Designation Notice — please contact us for inquiries.
PHYTOCHEMICAL
T h e P o w e r o f P l a n t s
So many skin concerns trace back to dryness. That is why we develop products focused on “moisture” and “skin circulation,” and why we turned our attention to the power of plants — to phytochemicals — when developing our cosmetic ingredient, Natsudaidai Peel Oil.
- Dryness lies at the root of skin troubles
- Dryness makes skin troubles more likely
- A focus on turnover
- A focus on plant power — phytochemicals, the seventh nutrient
- Plant-derived ingredients
- Product development informed by real estheticians on the salon floor
- Skin that is full of moisture is easier to bring into balance
- Building beautiful skin that doesn’t lose to age
- Every single ingredient is in the formula for a reason
Vavaira Cosmetics focuses on the power of plants, with carefully selected citrus peel extracts at its heart. Created by working estheticians who have honestly faced the skin of every customer in the salon, these products are the result of more than ten years of devotion — built so that even one more person with skin concerns can smile.
SMALL COMPANY
D e v e l o p e d b y W a t c h i n g R e a l S k i n
Because we are a small company, we can develop cosmetics while watching real customer skin results.
Our salon customers always cooperate with Vavaira product development. Rather than relying only on outsourced skin data, we conduct our final checks with the help of our own customers and partner retailers.
Consult with us now →
DEVELOP PRODUCT
H o w a P r o d u c t C o m e s t o L i f e
Step. 1
Our staff and partner retailers check each formula on their own skin.
Step. 2
Samples that feel good are then tested on the skin of customers at our directly operated salon, with their kind cooperation.
Step. 3
We spend two to three months confirming the feel and condition of customers’ skin. The product is then refined based on what we learn.
Step. 4
This process repeats until the formula truly makes our own skin happy. From start to finish, each single product takes about two years before it reaches your hands.