On diversity in the beauty industry, sharing their heritage with the world and making K-beauty accessible to all.
by Madelyn Chung
March 5, 2020
Look at any beauty editor, influencer or blogger’s top shelf, and you’ll most likely spot a milky pink liquid housed in a rounded glass cube and topped off with a pink lid. That would be Glow Recipe’s wildly popular Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask — yes, the juicy, bouncy sleeping mask made with real watermelon that amassed a 5,000-person waitlist before its initial release in 2017.
Though the product was from a newer beauty brand at the time, it came from the minds of beauty industry veterans, Sarah Lee and Christine Chang. The pair has over 20 years of experience of working in the beauty industry at a global scale, having both started their careers at L’Oréal Korea, working in global marketing, product development and research for major brands such as Lancôme and Kiehl’s. As they were the only two employees in the company with expertise in both the Korean and American markets, they had a unique perspective and decided to leverage their years of bi-cultural beauty industry experience to bring real Korean beauty products and innovations to the American consumer.
And thus,Glow Recipe was born — a destination for clean, fruit-powered skincare. Whenglowrecipe.com first launched in 2014, it was meant to be an educationalplatform and curated e-commerce site of K-beauty products. But when Lee andChang began realizing that a lot of technology and ingredients were not beingharnessed in the U.S., they decided to create their own product line to make K-beautymore accessible to the American market.
“From thevery beginning of Glow, our mission has always been to really educate andreally focus on creating amazing content that helps break down, demystify andbring to life the heart of what Korean skincare is, which is all about havingfun with your skincare. We call it skintertainment,” says Chang.
Below, Sarah and Christine speak to The RepresentASIAN Project about navigating their dual identities and using it to their advantage, sharing their cultural backgrounds with the world and being Asian female entrepreneurs in the beauty industry.
On using dual identity totheir advantage
Christine: Because of the way Sarah and I bothgrew up, we’re essentially third-culture kids. I grew up in Louisiana becausemy dad was studying there, I moved to Korea for a couple of years, then I movedto Australia and came back to the States for college, whereas Sarah went toschool in Hong Kong during her adolescent years. So, living in differentcultures and different cities and different environments is something we’revery used to and I think, if anything, it really helps us translate nuances betweendifferent cultures and different languages more readily because we’ve beenthrough this.
For us, bridging all that amazing knowledge and innovation in Korea and bringing it over to the States in a very approachable, accessible way — that was our passion because we wanted to do it in the most accurate, but yet in the most fun way possible for women all over the world to experience.
“Living in different cultures… cities and… environments… really helps us translate nuances between different cultures and different languages more readily because we’ve been through this.” – Christine
On why K-beauty isembraced by Americans
Sarah: Skincare can be universal. I thinkthat’s first and foremost what made this more mainstream and easily with thepower of social media. But I think it’s the approach that made Korean skincaremore special — almost even more so than the formulations or the technologiesthemselves. The approach to prevention and always remembering to hydrate theskin from a very young age or protecting the skin with layers of SPF and notforgetting that every single day, these are the tips we’ve learned from ourmothers who learned the tips from their mothers. It’s types of beautytraditions and rituals that were transcending from generation to generation.And that is very deeply rooted in Korean skincare.
There arehistorical mentions from old books where Korean women from hundreds andhundreds of years ago would have beauty facials with rice water or splash wateron their face to get that hydrating or smoothing effect. And we’re still usingthose tips and tricks with modern formulas. I think that type of approach, andalso being able to enjoy skincare and not thinking of it as a chore, is reallyresonating with a global consumer.
On making K-beauty moreaccessible to the masses
Christine: I think the interest in K-beautywas already building and it was just a matter of customers not being able tofind the right place to shop or not being able to have that content hub ofeducation and tips and tricks to really understand these amazing skincareinnovations and philosophies firsthand. So, I think our educational videos and ourapproach have been received so well because that’s what the customers werereally hungry for. Over the years we’ve really seen that disseminate and it’sbeen incredibly gratifying to see people have amazing dialogue on social media,talking about their skincare routines or tips and tricks and having fun whilethey’re doing it and having a socially-shareable, amazing experience.
On being Asian femaleentrepreneurs in the beauty world
Christine:There’s really anamazing network of inspirational founders, both Asian and of diverseethnicities in our lives, and I think it’s amazing to have that sense ofcommunity where there’s always someone you can call or email and ask questionsshare the highs and lows together. It’s been one of the best parts of thisjourney that we’ve been able to meet such a remarkable group of founders thatwe can relate to and engage with.
Sarah: To be honest, the fact that we’rein the beauty industry and the time where we’re at where diversity andindividuality are being celebrated, I think it’s actually an amazing time to bean Asian woman. So, if anything, I think we’re in a very unique position thatwe’re able to leverage our experience, but also our backgrounds and really bridgethe K Beauty technologies, but also trends and all the tips and tricks thatwe’re seeing on the other side of the world and bringing them here in a waythat’s more digestible.
On being able to sharetheir cultural backgrounds with the world
Christine: It’s honestly been an incredibly humbling and gratifying experience because I think growing up, it wasn’t like there was a huge body of Asian literature or Asian culture or Asian films that were being brought over or Asian leads on TV. And over time, that has really evolved and I think in a way, [the fact that] we happen to have beauty experience in both countries during a time where there was a curiosity and a demand for K Beauty and have been able to leverage our experience both culturally and professionally, it almost feels like it was meant to be. It’s just a journey that we’re really, really grateful that we are able to take.
“I think it’s actually an amazing time to be an Asian woman.” — Sarah
On making their parentsand families proud
Sarah: They’re very proud. I don’t thinkthat in the beginning, when we started our business, they knew or understoodwhat we were trying to do, because they were quite new at the time — I don’tthink there were a lot of business that were focused on bringing K Beauty tothe global market and also just bridging the gap. But once they started seeingthe growth of their business but also media outlets talking about K-beauty’sinfluence and how the beauty industry is evolving, our parents, our familymembers were so proud and really excited to be part of this movement.
Thisinterview has been edited for length and clarity.
