If all that year-end partying has left your skin sallow and lacklustre, help is at hand.

Shiseido has just launched its most powerful skin brightening potion.

Part of its best-selling White Lucent range launched in 2003, the Intensive Spot Targeting Serum ($156) makes the bold promise of lightening dark spots in two weeks.

The serum, together with a range of reformulated cleansers, toners and moisturisers ($57 to $90), also claims to be able to enhance brightness, hydrate and even out skin that is blighted by all those nights of hard partying.

It also boosts microcirculation, which gives skin a healthy glow from within and is adversely affected when you neglect sleep, proper meals and exercise.

ASIAN FOCUS

'Whitening is what customers desire the most, especially those from Asian countries,' says Hiroshi Maruyama, general manager of Shiseido's international marketing department, during the media launch of the revamped range in Karuizawa, outside of Tokyo, last October.

The terms whitening, lightening and brightening are used interchangeably and generally refer to achieving even skin tone by lightening dark spots.

Even if you have been diligently slathering on sunscreen and taking care of your skin, pollution and sun damage leading to melanin build-up are almost inevitable, given the tropical climate. This is where the three active ingredients in Shiseido's latest whitening formula come into play.

This is the first time these three ingredients with very scientific-sounding names - m-Tranexamic Acid, 4MSK and Multi-Target Vitamin C - have been combined in one potion, hence the Japanese cosmetic giant's claim that its serum is the most powerful in the history of whitening.

In particular, the research into 4MSK took an unprecedented 13 years.

'Lots of cosmetics claim to have whitening ingredients but some cannot be classified as active ingredients,' says Rumiko Yamaguchi, deputy general manager of Shiseido's international marketing department.

Active ingredients are those whose effects must be documented by scientific evaluation.

ON THE SPOT

True to its Japanese roots, the new formula also includes an extract of yomogi. The plant has medicinal and health food uses and is popular in the country. This is the first time it is used in a whitening product.

It is an ingredient that zeroes in only on areas affected by spots, says Kiyoshi Sato, Shiseido's director of medication development, which is why the serum is named Spot Targeting.

With its emphasis on prevention of melanin formation, the product line is aimed at customers who may not even have dark spots - yet.

To that end, it has roped in fresh-faced actress Chiaki Kuriyama, 25, of the movie Kill Bill fame to lighten up the image of the brand renowned for 100 years of research in whitening.

Shiseido, which started as a pharmacy in 1872, launched its first whitening lotion, Hydrogen Peroxide Cucumber, in 1917.

It claims to be the dominant player in the market - reportedly worth $18 billion in Asia - with its closest competitors being Estee Lauder's CyberWhite EX and Lancome's Blanc Expert.

'Research into the Asian woman's skin has given Shiseido an advantage over Western manufacturers,' says Yamaguchi.

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This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.