Takei Emi and Shiina Ringo Shiseido Maquillage New Spoke Models

Finally, Shiseido Maquillage has replaced "fresh-faced newcomer" Iconiq with 17-year-old actress Takei Emi and singer-songwriter Shiina Ringo.If memory serves, Shiina Ringo has been popular for at least 10 years (I remember seeing her from a Hong Kong channel) and in the other hand, Takei Emi was a winner of All-Japan National Young Beauty Contest back in 2006 and has appeared in a few dramas and movies.

Takei Emi in the lip gloss commercial

Shiina Ringo for Maquillage Base Makeup Takei Emi for Point Makeup

Just some background information. Back in spring 2010, Shiseido Maquillage got rid of their all-A-lister-line-up and replaced the four girls - Ueno Juri,Tsuchiya Anna,Karina, (Incredibly popular actresses/singer/models with clean image) with a fresh face: singer Iconiq...While I was not very happy because they replace an actresse I like with a "nobody", Japanese public hated her for other reasons...

Well, it turns out that the "fresh face", whose real name is Ayumi Li, has been active all along in the Korean showbiz as a girl band member.(Not saying that there is anything wrong with being in a girl/boy band)and when the Japanese record company Avex marketed/repackaged Iconiq, they "accidentally" leave out that part of her resume and replaced the "girl band" part with" studied in America for years.If falsifying a resume is not enough...there is also something like a plastic surgery and "badmouthing Japan" scandals that she is in. In a nutshell,Maquillage was given a really rough year by the public (Iconiq herself is doing alright though,since she snatched such a golden opportunity to advertise her songs).

Let's see how the damage control and image restoration work out...