Surveying the man-scape: Shiseido develops facial map to help men learn how to apply make-up

In 2019, the maker of SHISEIDO, NARS and Clé de Peau Beauté surveyed 439 men and 447 women in Japan regarding their attitudes on male grooming.

The study revealed that there was a rising interest in colour cosmetics among men in its home market.

However, though male consumers are curious about colour cosmetics, they may not necessarily know where to start, said Shiseido.

“In Japan, the men's cosmetics market has been growing in recent years and there is a growing interest in makeup as well as skin care. On the other hand, there are many people who don't practice because they want to put on makeup but don't know what to start with or don't know the best way to do so.”​

As such, Shiseido developed this tool to help men learn how to use colour cosmetics.

To develop this tool, the firm gleaned insights from the experience of its own hair and make-up artists and the years of research from its Global Innovation Center.

It also followed the model of a facial map it designed in 1996 for women.

Mapping male features

Shiseido explained that this tool would educate men on how to analyse their own facial features so they can learn what best works for their facial features.

To create this map, the research team worked with Shiseido hair and make-up artists to evaluate the facial feature similarities between men using photographs before performing statistical analysis processing on the data.

“This allows the artist to scientifically interpret the morphological features of the face that are important when identifying the facial features of men,”​ Shiseido explained.

The team then rendered four models and surveyed around 7,000 men and women about their first impression of those models.

The end result was a map that consisted of four rendered face models the researchers profiled as active, cool, kind and master. These four models were placed on two axes measuring the angles and shapes of eyes and eyebrows.

Shiseido explained that it focused on eyebrows as it greatly affects how the face looks.

“You can change the impression by adjusting the eyebrows so that the size and angle of the eyes and the distance between the eyes are emphasised or de-emphasised.”​

Male consumers can use this map to decide which facial profile they prefer and follow the guidelines to match their preferred profile.

“For example, you can create various impressions by drawing the eyebrows in an arched shape with a slightly more rounded shape or by weakening the angle.”​

Social education

In addition to this map, Shiseido has launched a YouTube Channel called the Men’s Grooming Channel to teach male consumers about make-up.

The channel features Shiseido hair and makeup artist Jun Nakamura, who works at the Shiseido Beauty Creation Center researching hair and makeup for advertisements for the company.

Nakamura is an alumnus of the Shiseido Academy of Beauty and Fashion (SABFA) and has been with Shiseido since 2008.