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Kimiko Oshiro has for 15 years been involved with therapy makeup, a combination of cosmetics and psychological support to help people afflicted with facial blemishes to restore self-confidence.
More than 3 million people in the country are thought to have concerns about their facial skin due to blemishes such as birthmarks, scars or vitiligo, a chronic skin condition that causes loss of pigment.
Oshiro, who followed her childhood dream of working in the beauty industry by finding employment at Shiseido Co., used to rush from place to place trying to keep up with the latest fashions and doing makeup for models in advertising posters and those sporting the latest looks in Paris collections.
Oshiro's outlook changed after meeting a woman who was scarred after being scalded, leading Oshiro to switch to the therapy makeup field.
"My professional pride made me want to find out how to hide scars in a natural way," Oshiro said.
The faces of women whose birthmarks have been concealed light up when they see themselves in the mirror. "Women become even more beautiful and positive toward life when the beauty of their natural features is restored," she said.
Oshiro, 60, is now in charge of a specialist facility offering free advice on therapy makeup that opened last June at Shiseido's headquarters in Ginza, Tokyo. The facility has received more than 500 patients to date.
From her patients' expressions, Oshiro can see how important it is to also heal their mental scars. She can really feel the depth of her patients' concerns when they ask her if they can keep the makeup on permanently.
Three years after starting out in the field, she discovered a foundation that could cover birthmarks with just a light application, and she is now giving counseling at medical institutions across the country where she instructs patients in therapy makeup.
Yet to be developed are cosmetics to conceal uneven wounds such as burns. "I'd win a Nobel Prize if I could discover them," she said.
© The Yomiuri Shimbun.
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