We are pursuing beauty

A haircare product becomes available through development involving a lot of people, including architects of electrical design, marketing experts, designers and more. What I do here is to have ordinary people test products at each phase before the finalization to analyze them and suggest some improvement from the viewpoint of a professional. I also develop how to use a product and gain evidence data by using an almost-complete product.

Having people test a product is crucial to its development. It differs from person to person how to use a product; some people keep blowing their hair from above and others put their head upside down to blow the back of the neck. Curling irons are also so common that they’ve developed their ways of using them. Of course, their skills and expectations of the finish are not the same; those who are familiar with blowing and making coiffure tend to prefer a simple design and sophisticated finish of a product to multi-functionality or easiness of use, while those who are not, love otherwise.

I, as a stylist-turned-researcher, believe that it’s what I’m expected of that I get aware of such details, and analyze and test them to make a product more satisfying and easy to use.

Mitsue Wakabayashi
Born in 1959. She has been interested in coiffures since childhood when she cut and did the hair of her dolls. When she was a high-school student, she recognized her dream to be a stylist and made it come true; at one of the busiest salons, she honed her skill and sense for coiffures. In 1994, she joined Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd (the current Panasonic).

What I do is difficult to describe; I would say it’s leading the product to mass production. Now I’m architecting a dryer. It’s a device we hold up head height, so we should consider the size, weight and shape. When we make a totally new model, I decide where to set a heater, motor and fan to make it as small, light and powerful as possible. Then I choose where to set what kind of heater according to the concept of the development team and arrange the layout of components to make it less wobbling when hold in hand.

I juggle detailed designs expected by the development team, robust structures for durability and the possibility of mass production. To make the product affordable, I often consider an alternative way; if an inexpensive material is available for the product without compromising the design or functions, we may use it.

Once a prototype is made, I focus on the phase of mass production; we make a product by adhering to some part, compromising other part and another team solving issues. Everything happens on the fine line.

Now that I’ve been working for haircare products for 7 years, I want to create something totally new and disruptive. For example, the current dryers blow and heat hair to dry it, I’m wondering about another approach; I’m wondering how to fix our hair with a flat iron, but without heat. They are still a castle in the air, though.

A new approach takes a broad view; I often think about something other than beauty-care products, about how other devices using heat, blow or water work. Such insights may not pay off immediately but can in the future.

It’s an era when anybody, regardless of gender, uses beauty-care products; thus the trend brought about different demands, which I want to meet.

Yusuke Saiki
Born in 1991. While the dream in his childhood was building a house, he majored in design engineering in college, followed by joining Panasonic when he graduated. He loves basketball.

I am in charge of R&D for improvement of dryers. To efficiently dry hair, we research what kind of blow is required through fluid analysis and visualization of the blow.

Plus, in order to make hair more beautiful with a dryer, we are researching and developing what kind of effects are made on hair by our own technology, nanoe™ (ion of fine particle the size of nano level, which is generated by applying high-voltage electricity to water in the air), at the micro and macro levels. A hair is usually less than 0.1 mm width, so it’s difficult to know the difference by looking at one hair. However, the ratio of water contained in each hair and the condition of the surface make differences to the looks or feeling, improving the impression. So, we must think about how to change each hair at the micro level.

However, it’s not enough if the outcome is not satisfying. So, we ask experts with licenses and specialists in hair conditions or hairstyles to check the resulting quality. Without the green light from these specialists, we don’t bring a product out; we make efforts and keep overcoming the challenges to make them say “Go.”

Several years ago, a product I believed that was great was denied by the specialists and I had to make another try again and again. It was so tough; I was almost about to quit the job. However, in the end, the product was finalized in the way all the people are satisfied with the quality. When I watched the face of people who tried the sample change and heard that they were impressed, I thanked myself for not quitting the job on the way. Such an experience is why I’m working here.

We appreciate that the products by Panasonic are popular in Japan, but it’s not the case yet abroad. However, somebody in other countries uses our dryers and feels that drying hair is now much more fun as it makes their hair more beautiful. Different people in different countries have different hair; I will keep researching and studying technologies to satisfy all of them and make such a product.

Some people abroad love their hairs thick and others have curly hairs that are less common in Japan. I want to, ultimately, solve all the issues just with one dryer. There are still many technologies, challenges and insights we should face and think about. Although I may have a moment when I feel like quitting the job again, I want to enjoy the journey for a bright future of and with dryers.

Hayato Kikuchi
Born in 1989. In his childhood, he attended a lecture by Hideki Shirakawa, a Nobel-prize winner, where he touched the medal, which inspired him to get interested in science. Now he develops technologies for nanoe™ dryers, and he is looking forward to studying something more fundamental.

After testing prototypes on my hair and narrowing down them to candidates for mass production, we have them tested by more people; we ask several applicants to shampoo and dry their hair with two different dryers. Which means, when the number of applicants is seven, we do the process 14 times. I learned how to shampoo the hair of others from a former stylist, so now I feel confident.

I also wet and dry a lock of human hair to compare several dryers or evaluate how damaged dried hair got after brushing 1000 times. I also put hairs on the desk one by one to see the friction coefficient of their surface. It’s sure tough but such data are used to determine which product should be commercialized.

I think that drying hair is one of the least productive acts. I want it to become easy or enjoyable. It would be great if we could maintain hair while drying it.

Without effects or advantages for people, such a product is of no use. Thus we give feedback to each other in a project to make something we all agree that should be worth making. The most formidable rival in the market is ourselves; some consumers buy every new product from us, so we are desperate to have them feel, “This is much better than the previous one.”

When a product is finalized and used by customers and they feel happy, I feel that our pains have finally paid off. I hear secondhand that even people I don’t know personally, like other visitors of the hair salon I visit or a friend of my friends, say, “The new dryer was so good for my hair. I’m happy to buy it.” Those testimonials made me greatly happy and encouraged to make something more surprising and special. If our products make somebody feel confident with beautiful hair, that’s the greatest reward for us.

Mayuka Kanbayashi
Born in 1980. The passion for beauty-care products was not inherent; while facing changing conditions of hair by testing products, she got interested in this field and beyond. She loves comedians; actually, she used to want to be part of it.