The power of pitera

The mineral test conducted at SK-II's Kobe Innovation Centre, with tubes containing Pitera, water and ordinary lotion.

THIS is a story about craftsmanship, about how science took inspiration from an ancient art to create a “miracle” product used by millions of women the world over.

The serendipitous discovery of the Secret Key has its genesis in the production of saké. As the popular lore goes, scientists from Max Factor in 1970s’ Japan were looking for new ingredients to create skincare products with more efficacy, and were pointed towards saké brewery workers whose faces were marked by age but not their hands.