“Japan is a matured society, and in this kind of market we must have a specialised field of business,” says president and CEO Shoichi Kobayashi. “To create unique products, we choose distinct raw materials that are efficient in terms of delivering that much-wanted effect on skin. Our key strategy is not expanding our prestige product portfolio, but adding new efficient raw materials or updating our formula.”

In an age of mass-marketed retail beauty products and cosmetics, Albion stands out for its painstaking devotion to the highest product quality and customer satisfaction. The brand is already an intergenerational household name in Japan through its Skin Conditioner Essential line, millions of which have been sold over the last 40 years.

Its emphasis on premium raw materials means that Albion searches far and wide for the perfect ingredient that delivers on its brand promise of authentic and timeless beauty. Albion’s Herbal Oil Gold is made with special golden jojoba oil and tiare-flavoured oil from Tahiti, and the brand’s Skin Conditioner Essential line boasts exclusive ingredients extracted from a plant grown only on Hokkaido island.

“We have a very high level of technology to develop unique and original products, and there is no textbook that tells you how to do that,” Kobayashi says. “We are committed to quality and excellence – from sourcing ingredients to producing the final product.”

Albion is present in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and on the mainland, and quietly welcomes discerning beauty connoisseurs seeking exclusive, high-end cosmetics. As more beauty consumers across Greater China search for brands of quality that sell high-calibre products, the brand’s philosophy could not be more fitting: to create effective, authentic products that truly understand the skin.

“Prestige cosmetics and skincare products – that is the personality of Albion,” Kobayashi says. “And we want to be No 1 in the business.”