The Ms. Mimiko Story
Learn about how Toute Nuit began
and the story behind Ms. Mimiko
Ms. Mimiko is a Japanese professional make-up artist and skin care specialist from Tokyo, Japan. She created Toute Nuit facial wrinkle flattening patches. Mimiko is a Japanese word that means beautiful person as represented by the kanji characters美々子.
An inspiration to women everywhere!
How many women in their 60’s wake up one morning and decide to return to their professional life after a 30 year hiatus by starting a new company, developing and launching a new brand based on a product idea that she has been thinking about for over 30 years? Ms. Mimiko did this at age 63 and is an inspiration to women everywhere.
Ms. Mimiko designed and developed Toute Nuit in Japan.
Her purpose in bringing Toute Nuit to market is to help women and men retain a more youthful appearance in a safe, affordable, natural way.
Fascinated by faces
Ms. Mimiko was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan during the post-war years. As a little girl she was always fascinated by faces, all of her childhood drawings and doodles were of faces. As she grew-up she developed her illustrating talent which can be seen on the Japanese packaging of Toute Nuit.
Ms. Mimiko illustrated the woman’s faces on the front and back of the Japanese packaging by hand.
What is my mother wearing on her face?
When Ms. Mimiko was 8 years old her mother read an article in a beauty magazine revealing the beauty secrets of a famous Japanese actress. One of them was a wrinkle patch she discovered while filming a movie in Hollywood that helped keep her face from developing deep wrinkle lines. Her mother searched for the imported product in Tokyo and tried it, but found the paper patches to be stiff and uncomfortable to wear, plus they would fall off in the middle of the night and she never used them again. She remembered her mother trying these patches and was curious about how they worked?
I want to be a make-up artist
Upon completing her education in Japanese women’s history & culture at Seijo University, Ms. Mimiko worked for a Japanese advertising agency and became familiar with advertising production. She felt a natural affinity to the make-up stylists hired for print and TV commercial production and decided this was a career she would like to pursue.
Study and professional training in USA
She moved to New York City to study English and to interact with the make-up artist community for one year. Convinced that this is the profession she wanted to pursue, she moved to Los Angeles, California and enrolled in the Elegance International Inc. Academy of Professional Make-up which had close ties to the leading make-up artists in the Hollywood film industry.
She was surprised to see the exact same paper based wrinkle patches she remembered her mother had tried many years ago. Hollywood make-up artists used these as a way to flatten wrinkles on actor’s faces before close-up shots.
Over three years of study and training she earned certifications in Professional Makeup Artistry & Cosmetic Correction, Theatrical Makeup Artistry, Advance Salon Makeup Artistry and Motion Picture & Prosthetic Makeup Artistry.
Becoming a professional make-up artist in Japan
Ms. Mimiko returned to Japan determined to break into the Tokyo advertising and film industry as a freelance make-up artist. Through sheer determination and hard work she began picking up commercial work. Word of her talent spread through the industry as she was selected for TV commercials for Toyota, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Hitachi, Minolta, Seiko among many other advertised brands in Japan.
She deepened her knowledge of skin care by gaining additional certification from CIDESCO NIPPON as an esthetician.
Between commercial jobs, she also worked as a make-up and skin care consultant for Orlane (a French cosmetics brand) training their Japanese beauty consultants and attending events with key customers.
A 30 year hiatus
While shooting a TV commercial, she met her future husband, an American advertising executive working in Tokyo. After they married she became pregnant with the first of their two sons and decided to retire. She preferred to devote her time to raising the boys plus her husband’s career had them moving in and out of Japan with assignments in Los Angeles, Brussels and Rome while traveling extensively in the USA and around the world.
I have a wrinkle patch idea
Throughout this 30+ year time period, Ms. Mimiko had not forgotten about the wrinkle patches she had seen her mother try and used by Hollywood make-up artists. She was intrigued by the natural way they worked and wondered if there was a way to improve them? She called this her wrinkle tape project. After she returned to Japan from her training in the USA, she started experimenting with various types of tape making her own wrinkle patches. She made extras for her mother and other members of her family and friends.
Making it happen in Japan!
In 2013, now age 63, her sons have left the nest, her husband moved his business activities permanently back to Tokyo and she settled her parent’s estate. For the first time in many years she was completely free to do anything she wanted and decided to pursue her wrinkle tape mission by starting her own business.
Based on her knowledge of make-up, skin care, the underlying facial muscles and the natural repetitive movements of the face, Ms. Mimiko began designing and testing various shaped wrinkle patches.
She teamed up with a tape manufacturing company in Japan and worked with them testing a wide variety of tapes to select the one most suitable for the face. A production process was developed to manufacture the patches.
She selected the French word Toute Nuit (Toot + New We) as her brand name for two reasons. First because it means every night which is the ideal time to wear wrinkle patches. The second because French names are associated with high quality cosmetic and fashion brands.
Japanese sales of Toute Nuit started in April 2014 with 3 patch shapes.
America here I come
Based on the positive feedback from users in Japan, Ms. Mimiko decided to fulfill her ultimate ambition to expand Toute Nuit to other countries. On her 65th birthday in July 2015 she officially started sales in the USA.
Ms. Mimiko has redesigned the packaging and marketing approach for the USA. The medical grade plastic tape is sourced from a trusted USA supplier that meets all USA FDA safety and ISO regulations and the patches and packaging are being manufactured in the USA too. She found manufacturing and packaging partners in Pennsylvania to make the patches and print the packaging.
Look at her!
Ms. Mimiko is the best proof Toute Nuit works! She made and wore her own patches starting at age 30 and has been wearing them every night ever since. She follows the same daily routine as recommended for Toute Nuit. She has never had any work done to her face, has never used Botox or fillers and uses very little make-up other than for her eyes and lips.
Please be her customer and share your experience
She asks you to please try her wrinkle patches. If you are happy with your daily experience please share with your friends and family. Her 30+ year dream is now realized to help women and men retain a more youthful appearance in a natural, safe, non-invasive, affordable way combined with your own preferred beauty and skin care products.