It’s never easy to find a hole in the marketplace, especially these days when it seems completely saturated and over populated. Yet Asian influence continues to put pressure on companies to create new categories and new products. And as the number of items we use increases in our daily routine, so does the demand for invention. Four strongly influential companies have stepped up to the challenge and have introduced what are sure to become new facial favorites, in light of skin care’s challenging landscape.

This quarter, both Shiseido and Elizabeth Arden turned their attention to the post-cleaning/pre-serum stage. Arden’s Superstart Skin Renewal Booster and Shiseido’s Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate were created to be multi-beneficial products that care for and enhance the skin, but more specifically, prepare it for the number of products that might follow: serum, moisturizer, dark spot remover, anti-aging cream. And, increasing those products’ effectiveness.

September brings Arden’s Superstart Skin Renewal Booster, $65, into the limelight, designed to help restore, repair and renew the skin’s surface layer. Incorporating the probiotic trend, Superstart offers probiotic complex, which nourishes and smoothes the skin, while sea fennel encourages surface renewal with anti-oxidants to defend against free radicals and grasswort extract, adding natural miniaturization and reducing water loss.

“It is necessary to take into consideration the skin’s needs not just on the surface, but the deeper layers of the skin as well when developing your daily skincare regimen,” explained Art Pellegrino, Elizabeth Arden’s Vice President of Research & Development and Packaging. “It is vital to take a whole new approach because the deeper layers of the skin are where you need to build collagen and elastin to fight wrinkles and loss of firmness. Superstart will help to make the products that target those deeper layers of the skin more effective.”

This month Shiseido releases Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate, $65-$125, which acts like a facial relaxant. The formula is infused with a tranquil and mood-elevating green floral fragrance called ImuCalm Compound, which includes rose and lotus to reduce stress and restore the skin’s barrier function. Aside from boasting an impressive 31 patents worldwide, it features the world’s first technology to enhance skin immunity.

With some products geared towards preparation and pre-product performance, this year, La Mer and Chanel turned their attention to preventing aging with highly concentrated oil-based products, items neither company offered before.

In July, Chanel released Sublimage L’Extrait Intensive Recovery Treatment. The $650 product was created to work in conjunction with their hugely successful Sublimage line. The new addition extracts health benefits from the highest concentration of enriched planifolia PFA, vanilla flower infusion and vanilla plant stem cells, all of which aim to regenerate, restore, shield and promote skin’s recovery process.

The Renewal Oil, October, is La Mer’s offering and the brand’s first dual-phase oil. Like its predecessors, the mighty potent mixture was created using the highly active oils of The Miracle Broth, found in all of La Mer’s products, and contains natural essential oils of eucalyptus and sesame. Also added is Renewal Ferment, which provides impressive anti-aging aid. At $240, it’s easier on the wallet – after all, does capturing youth really have a price tag? – and at the same time offers similar intent as Sublimage L’Extrait Intensive Recovery Treatment. Because the concentration is so high, generally one drop is all that’s needed for the face and neck. Both products are quite versatile and can be used alone, added to other members of the product line, or, if you’re feeling indulgent, you can treat the rest of your body to these luxurious delicacies.