BALDUCCI CO., LTDBalducci Junko

Please tell us about the development of "TRES MARIA," a Japanese brand for feminine care by BALDUCCI.

BALDUCCI CO.,LTD focuses on the blind spot of beauty care in Japan, and develops and sells products for the care of women's delicate and important feminine area under the brand of TRES MARIA. In other countries, the care of the feminine area is developed as a habit. Education on the care starts from around the age of first menstruation in three different routes, namely school, home, and medical care, as something necessary for women's healthy and happy life.

＜Special items for Sensitive Area displayed in supermarket in China＞

In Japan, nearly 90% of women have some kind of trouble related to the feminine area, including smell, sweating, itching, drying, darkening of skin color, and urine trouble. If these symptoms are left untreated, serious problems caused by bacterial infection such as vaginal inflammation, bladder inflammation, infertility, and premature delivery may develop. Therefore, it is important to eliminate bacteria from and delicately add moisture to the feminine area using specialized products, and to live together with resident microbiota while keeping the area sanitary and healthy.

＜Ranking for Concerns on the Sensitive Area＞

TRES MARIA offers its original, simple three steps for appropriate care: wash with TRES MARIA Soap, add moisture with TRES MARIA Milk, and watch with TRES MARIA Mirror. The products are gentle to the feminine area, hypoallergenic, pH-balanced, and free of seven kinds of additives, namely artificial colorants, ultraviolet absorbers, paraben, silicon, mineral oil, petroleum surfactant agents, and ethanol. The products are all made in Japan under the guidance of a specialist, researched and developed by taking into consideration the skin type and amount of hair of Japanese people, and perfectly safe to use.

＜(From left) TRES MAEIA mirror・soap・milk＞

We hope that people's awareness related to the topic of the feminine area will change from something embarrassing to something essential. By supporting feminine area care in becoming a common practice and leading to the prevention and early detection of diseases, TRES MARIA encourages women to be healthy, beautiful and independent.

Tell us what made you start your own business.

It all started with my experience while studying in the U.S. My Argentine boyfriend saw my laundry and said, “Your panties are as big as a bath towel!" I hastily depilated my feminine area, started specialized skin care, and felt satisfaction being able to wear cute, small panties. After a while, I was thrilled to find out that I was free of all the troubles of the feminine area I used to have every month before, including smell and itching.

In Italy, I was surprised that an exclusive soap for feminine area care was provided as one of the toiletries in the hotel I stayed at. In the UK, I made a significant discovery that products for feminine area care are sold in two different corners of a pharmacy, namely “women's health" and "feminine care."

I was astounded by the fact that feminine care also became common in China from about 20 years ago. Feminine care is a very important issue, related to women's health and happiness. Since there were no such concept in Japan and there were no products made in Japan at that time, I decided to make them myself.

Tell us about the future developments.

The brand was launched in July 2017.
We have business with department stores (Isetan Shinjuku Store, Hankyu Umeda Main Store, Seibu Ikebukuro) and a clinic in Daikan-yama. We are scheduling to start business with Sogo Yokohama and Seibu Shibuya this autumn. In addition to marketing as cosmetics, sales on lingerie and maternity floors and collaboration with these areas are being planned. We aim to cover major cities in Japan, including Nagoya, Kobe, Sapporo, and Hakata, through sales in department stores.

Outside of Japan, we are intending to enter the markets of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, starting with cross-border e-commerce in China, and by taking part in “Cosmoprof,” an exhibit held in Hong Kong in November. We also recognize Singapore, where the training session of this program is held, is an important hub in Southeast Asia and Islamic regions. By effectively advertising in Singapore, we would like to gain a foothold in expansion towards Thailand, Indonesia, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.

＜Pop-up Shop at Hankyu Umeda Main Store ＞