In 1897, Shiseido entered the cosmetic business with the launch of Eudermine. While most cosmetics were made from natural ingredients, such as loofah, Eudermine was based on a "scientific" formula with high efficacy derived from western pharmaceutical theory. These concepts are evident in the product naming which means "good" (eu) and "skin" (derma) in Greek. Shiseido's "red water" was periodically improved with scientific advances and finally re-formulated and re-introduced in 1997 as Shiseido Eudermine.

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