Our Story

Every little girl’s idea of beauty is impacted by what they see growing up. As a Korean American, adopted by white Jewish and Christian parents, the images I was surrounded by never reflected what I saw in the mirror. The few Asian women I saw on TV and ad campaigns were either fitting into Asian stereotypes or trying to hide their Asian aesthetic to fit into a more Western, American look. I spent years trying to hide my Asian attributes, even considering double eyelid surgery to get rid of my “hideous and weird” monolid. Like most, I simply wanted to fit in.

I started reading comic books as a youthful escape at a young age. The bold colors and superheroes allowed me to dream of a different future. I was drawing my own characters, using charcoal, graphite, and watercolors. What I found was a way of telling stories through color and expression, a place where I could simply be myself.

As I grew up, I traded in some of my pencils for makeup brushes and found a new medium for creative expression. I truly understood the power of makeup when I discovered makeup Artists Kevyn Aucoin and Bobbi Brown. It’s a celebration of one’s individuality.

Learning the techniques taught me to see makeup as a powerful medium for art and creativity, a way to tell everyone’s story, including your moods, inner beauty, and strength. It was also a way to showcase the best of yourself for yourself and for yourself alone.

My passion led me to work with brands such as MAC, AVON, and Bobbi Brown, I trained as a makeup artist and hair stylist and graduated with an MBA from Columbia University. It was time to take everything I learned and loved and to create my own brand.

What I found on shelves were either products that worked well but were made with subpar ingredients, or “clean” products that didn’t perform or last; decent formulas with bland packaging and beautiful packages with formulations and color palettes that lacked excitement and ingenuity.

The ingredients I fell in love with brought me back to the heritage I had tried to hide for so long. Bamboo, with its anti-inflammatory, strengthening, and soothing properties. Rice, rich in antioxidants, minerals, and B and E vitamins. Sea Buckthorn, known as the “holy fruit of the Himalayas” and used for generations in Asia for everything from medicine to skin protectant.

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