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Bioré UV Aqua Rich Airy Hold Cream,
Exclusively Available at Selected Outlets
“Outer Skin”-Based Sunscreen Responds to Humidity for Day-Long Comfort
Kao Corporation will launch Bioré UV Aqua Rich Airy Hold Cream on March 8, 2025 from the flagship Aqua Rich series from Bioré UV, the top-selling sunscreen brand for four consecutive years,*1 in selected drugstores and online outlets.
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* 1 Intage SRI+® (Nationwide Retail Store Panel Survey) sunscreen market, cumulative sales and quantity from September 2020 to August 2024.
Leading up to the Launch
Japan’s climate is changing, with rising temperatures and increasing levels of UV rays and humidity. An increase in the trend of sunscreen purchase rate points to a greater consumer awareness of UV rays.*2 A Kao survey*3 of sunscreen users indicates that using sunscreen has become a habit, with 58% of women saying they use it more than six times a week. Further in the survey, 65% of women say they use a parasol, and 34% use arm covers to avoid being exposed to UV rays.*4
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* 2 Intage SCI® survey of sunscreen purchase rates between February 2019 and August 2024 targeting consumers aged 10–60
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* 3 Online survey October 2024 targeting women aged 16–69. N=3,259
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* 4 Online survey October 2024 targeting women aged 16–69. N=4,749
In another survey*5 , 61% of sunscreen users report wiping away sweat or dabbing it with a towel to manage perspiration on sunscreen-applied skin. As Japan’s climate changes, consumers are exposed to UV rays as well as temperature and humidity changes both indoors and outdoors. This highlighted the need for a sunscreen product that protects against UV rays and also keeps skin feeling comfortable all day long.
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* 5 Online survey December 2024 targeting individuals aged 16–59. N=800
Against this background, Bioré UV will launch Bioré UV Aqua Rich Airy Hold Cream from its flagship Aqua Rich series, which focuses on the skin’s humidity, in selected drugstores. The product offers the light texture and strong UV protection the Aqua Rich series excels in, while ensuring skin comfort throughout the day.
Product features
Kao has focused on making Bioré UV Aqua Rich Airy Hold Cream a comfortable-feeling product that users will want to apply liberally. A UV protective agent is encapsulated in agar gel aqua capsules, in a further advance of Kao’s proprietary technology. Adding a humidity-responsive agent to the formulation of these aqua capsules yields a product with a new, soufflé-like texture. The product, applied lightly to the skin, spreads well and gives a comfortable, instantly absorbed fit. A close-fitting film envelops the skin in a breathing veil whose thickness varies according to the humidity, yet is so light it feels as though the skin is breathing. In hot and humid conditions, humidity-responsive agent within the veil absorbs sweat and keeps the skin from feeling sticky. In dry, air-conditioned environments, the film containing humidity-responsive agents that releases moisture prevents the skin from drying out, keeping it comfortable all day long.
The product offers both effective SPF50+/PA++++ UV protection and all-day-long comfort for the skin. Carefully formulated to encourage consumers to apply it liberally, it also contains a skin-brightening powder*6 and a moisturizing agent (serum).*7
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* 6 Makeup effect.
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* 7 Hyaluronic acid, vitamin C derivative (ascorbyl glucoside), butylene glycol (BG)
Users commented positively on the product’s feeling in use, from the moment of application to comfort lasting all day long: “It spreads gently and instantly; it penetrates right away and feels smooth,” “My skin neither felt sticky nor dry, whether I was outdoors in hot, humid weather or indoors in an air-conditioned room; it remained comfortable all day long.”*8
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* 8 Trial survey August 2024 targeting women aged 20–50 N=60 (sunscreen users 5+ days a week)
Bioré UV has been offering value in products which are part of consumers’ daily lives since its launch in 1996. Launched from Bioré’s flagship Aqua Rich series in 2011, Bioré UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with its light texture was a hit with consumers. Since its launch, occasions for suggested sunscreen use have broadened from outdoor leisure and special days out to habitual daily use. In 2023, Bioré launched Bioré UV Aqua Rich Aqua Protect Mist, a whole-body non-aerosol mist pleasant to use anytime, anywhere. This encouraged consumers to reapply sunscreen away from home, further helping them with their UV protection.
Kao is also focusing on launching sunscreen products in foreign markets, with Bioré UV now available in 27 countries and regions. Kao plans to launch Bioré UV Aqua Rich Airy Hold Cream in Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan during 2025.
Bioré UV, with its purpose of creating a society where people can spend more time in the sun with smiles on their faces, will continue to enhance its global presence by providing protection from sunburn caused by UV rays, and contributing to the creation of comfortable and pleasant lifestyles for its consumers.
Product overview
| Product name | Bioré UV Aqua Rich Airy Hold Cream |
|---|---|
| Net contents | 70g |
| Product features | Film thickness adjusts according to ambient humidity No stickiness in hot, humid weather Prevents dryness indoors where the air is dry
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* 6 Makeup effect
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* 7 Hyaluronic acid, vitamin C derivative (ascorbyl glucoside), butylene glycol (BG)
Note: No suggested retail price available.
[SPF/PA labeling]
SPF (sun protection factor) indicates level of UVB protection; PA (protection grade of UVA) indicates level of UVA protection. SPF and PA follow international labeling standards for values based on application of 2 mg per cm2 and are intended as a purchase guide.
Launch date, region, outlets
March 8, 2025
Pre-release sale at Matsumotokiyoshi Group, Cocokarafine Group stores throughout Japan and MatsukiyoCocokara online stores
In 2025, Kao Taiwan, Kao Hong Kong, and Kao Thailand will gradually launch the product at local Matsumotokiyoshi Group stores in their respective regions. Availability may vary by store.
About Kao
Kao, a Japan-based manufacturer of personal care and household products, cosmetics, and specialty chemicals creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its brands such as Attack laundry detergent, Bioré and Jergens skin care products, Laurier sanitary products, Curél, SENSAI, and MOLTON BROWN cosmetics, and Oribe hair care products, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people across Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,530 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 34,300 people worldwide and has more than 130 years of history in innovation. As an enterprise that provides products people use on a daily basis, the Kao Group takes responsibility to actively reduce the environmental footprint of its products throughout the product lifecycle. This is laid out in Kao’s ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which launched in 2019.
Please visit the Kao Group website for additional information.
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Public Relations
Kao Corporation