uka

About uka

uka is a Japanese total beauty brand based in Tokyo, combining salons for hair, nails and head spa with products for everyday care. Its name comes from the Japanese word for the transformation of a pupa into a butterfly.

History

The business traces its roots to a barbershop opened in Atsugi in 1946, later developing into the unisex salon EXCeL and adding a nail division in 1997. Nail artist Kiho Watanabe's work helped shape an approach embracing care from hair to fingertips. The salon adopted the name uka in 2009, the year its nail oils were launched.

Philosophy & Signature Style

Skill, sensitivity and attentive service connect professional salon treatments with self-care at home. Through product development with French perfumer Gilles Berthoumieux, botanical materials have become a way to explore times of day, landscapes and cultural memories in scent. The butterfly symbol combines the initial of EXCeL with the initial of beauty, carrying part of the earlier salon's identity forward.

Iconic Fragrances

The first four perfumes arrived in 2022, including the woods and citrus of *7:15*, inspired by a morning bath, and *24:45*, whose lavender and vanilla evoke a late-night pause. Rose Study followed in 2024, expressing Bulgarian, Middle Eastern and Indian cultures through three roses, while the portable 15 mL Petiume range has continued to expand uka's ways of enjoying fragrance.