When Miwako Taniuchi's income slumped 30 percent last year, out went the expensive dinners and new Gucci and Louis Vuitton handbags. One purchase that didn't get axed: a skin cream worth its weight in gold.
"I'll cut back spending on other things, but not on my skin," said the 34-year-old fashion stylist in Tokyo, who buys Shiseido Co.'s Creme Synergique, a moisturizing skin whitener costing ¥126,000 for a 40-gram jar, or about as much as the cost of the precious metal.
Shiseido Co., the nation's biggest cosmetics maker, said sales of the cream are better than expected, a reflection of how top-end skin care products are gaining in the recession. Rivals Kao Corp. and Kose Corp. said their most expensive lotions are also beating projections. Cosmetics sales at department-store climbed for 23 straight months to November, even as consumer confidence dropped.