These Sustainable AAPI-Owned Beauty and Skincare Brands are Here to Break the Mold (Exclusive)

Whether we're following a meticulous 10-step Korean skincare routine, using a jade gua sha stone to sculpt our slicked faces, or dipping our toes into the glittery waters of Douyin makeup, it's vital that we recognize the cosmic ways AAPI communities have influenced the global beauty and wellness sphere over countless decades.

But simply "recognizing" this isn't going to cut it. It's important that we put our money where our popsicle pout mouth (a viral K-beauty trend) is.

During Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month and beyond, we implore you makeup and moisturizer obsessives to show your appreciation (and denounce appropriation) by supporting trailblazing AAPI-owned and founded beauty and skincare brands.

Via email, Green Matters spoke exclusively with Youthforia founder Fiona Co Chan, Clean Circle founder Lena Chao, and Pink Moon founder Lin Chen about their personal approaches to sustainability and how their AAPI heritage has shaped them. Plus, Chan, Chao, and Chen spilled the tea on their holy grail brands!

Keep reading for our Q&As with the three founders as well as a look into a few other AAPI-owned cosmetic brands.

These interviews have been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Launched by Fiona Co Chan in 2021, Youthforia was made for the lazy gals (we mean that in a gender-neutral way) who can't be bothered to take their makeup off after a chaotic night out. Sleeping in a day of traditional makeup can clog pores, cause breakouts and eye infections, and lead to premature aging, per the Dermatology Consultants Of Short Hills. Inspired to challenge this, Chan created a cosmetics line jam-packed with skin-loving ingredients like castor oil, glycerin, centella, panthenol, allantoin, and hyaluronic acid.

The products are so healthy that you can sleep in your makeup! Chan and her husband tested lab samples in the midst of their slumber, pleasantly surprised to wake up with rejuvenated skin.

Always free of parabens, fragrance, petrolatum, mineral oil, and cyclic silicones, the as-seen-on-Shark-Tank brand's offerings are formulated with at least 90 percent naturally derived ingredients and are certified by the USDA BioPreferred Program.

Youthforia products aren't made with high amounts of fossil fuels or yucky liquid microplastics, both of which pollute the environment. Instead, the brand makes products using green chemistry principles as part of its mission to reduce its "down the drain impact." So, you can feel good (not to mention gorgeous) when using that first-of-its-kind color-changing blush oil!

Below is our Q&A with founder Fiona Co Chan.

GREEN MATTERS: How has your AAPI heritage shaped who you are as both a founder and a person?

FIONA CO CHAN: When I first started Youthforia, I was living in Asia. I had spent time working under a makeup artist there and I learned how different the application process is there and saw a very different perspective to makeup. They are very skin focused and that influenced our products.

For example, we have our Pregame Primer, which is a daily protective primer that helps protect skin from irritating ingredients in makeup. Additionally, a lot of the ingredients we use are shaped by ingredients that I grew up with from my Chinese heritage.

GM: What advice would you give to people of AAPI heritage looking to enter the beauty/skincare space?

FCC: It is so important to lean into what makes you unique. Whether that’s your cultural background or your unique set of experiences, that will impact how you think about products you want to create and people you want to work with. Consumers will resonate with things that YOU are passionate about.

GM: What does sustainability mean to Youthforia?

FCC: We follow green chemistry principles and go out of our way to look for plant-based renewable ingredients instead of fossil fuel-based ingredients. We still use synthetic ingredients, but we specifically source synthetic ingredients from plants.

This was really important for me because prior to starting Youthforia, I traveled to some of the most polluted cities in the world for my job and had terrible reactions to other brands' products.

GM: Aside from your fabulous brand, what sustainable AAPI-owned beauty/skincare companies are you loving right now?

FCC: I really love Tatcha, Glow Recipe, SK-II, and Sulwhasoo for skincare, MENU BEAUTY for lashes, Hero Cosmetics for pimple patches, Ellis Brooklyn for fragrance, and Insert Name Here for hair tools.

When she couldn't find a personal care brand that catered to her sustainability needs, Lena Chao embarked on a mission to create reusables ethically and responsibly. Launched in 2020, Clean Circle focuses on "championing diversity, sustainability, and culture" through a beauty lens.

Featuring responsibly sourced konjac plant, GOTS organic cotton, and OEKO-Tex-certified bamboo fabrics — which are tested for harmful chemicals — Clean Circle's Reusable Makeup Remover Pads, Reusable Skincare Pads, and Konjac Facial Sponges are easy on your skin and the planet.

Additionally, ink "made from renewable resources," water-activated paper tape, and 100 percent cardboard make Clean Circle packaging entirely curbside recyclable!

The dedication to protecting Mother Earth doesn't stop there, as Clean Circle is committed to carbon neutral shipping and has pledged to donate 1 percent of annual sales to environmental organizations as a member of 1% for the Planet. This year, Clean Circle's donations are going toward coral reef restoration.

Below is our Q&A with founder Lena Chao.

GREEN MATTERS: How has your AAPI heritage shaped who you are as both a founder and a person?

LENA CHAO: I’ve always been proud of being part of the AAPI community. I was my high school’s Chinese Club president and led every multicultural event possible. So it's no shocker that every product we make is a nuanced homage to my culture.

Our beauty reusables honor my seamstress mother and the Konjac Facial Sponge follows my take on Taoism: Living in harmony with nature. And our Dissolvable Eye Masks are formulated with heritage ingredients like black mulberry, turmeric, and konjac. Clean Circle is how I welcome others into the culture. Into our circle.

GM: What advice would you give to people of AAPI heritage looking to enter the beauty/skincare space?

LC: Don’t be scared to ask for help or an introduction. If you’re like me, we’re used to being scrappy and doing everything ourselves. We don’t want to bother others out of fear of being seen as incompetent. It's something I’m trying to unlearn on a daily basis.

The secret is, no one knows it all and no one has all the answers. Where you feel incompetent might be someone else’s strength and your strength might help someone else.

GM: What does sustainability mean to Clean Circle?

LC: Sustainability means creating products that allow people to live a more conscious lifestyle. We strive to create products that are accessible, innovative, and help people reduce their beauty waste.

GM: Aside from your fabulous brand, what sustainable AAPI-owned beauty/skincare companies are you loving right now?

LC: I’ll forever be into Tower 28 Beauty. I love its accessible price point without skipping on quality. I’ve been working with Pink Moon recently and got to know the founder, Lin. She’s so kind, and we want to support brands led by kind people.

Speaking of which, lifestyle brand and online boutique Pink Moon has made it to our list for its planet-friendly approach to holistic wellness and spirituality. Founder Lin Chen introduced Pink Moon as a consultancy for women-owned brands in 2017, later making it a digital marketplace in 2020, per Martha Stewart.

"The brands are formulated with wholesome ingredients, sustainable, cruelty-free, and ethically minded through and through," Chen told the publication of Pink Moon's curated selection of brands.

Pink Moon's own products — like its Head to Toe Gua Sha Set and Once in a Pink Moon astrology-inspired skincare line — pull from Chen's transformative self-care and self-love journey, which heavily leaned into traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), reiki, aromatherapy, crystals, and astrology. So, if you're obsessed with reading birth charts and cleansing chunks of onyx and citrine under the full moon, this celestial brand is for you.

Aside from its mission to "promote a harmonious well-being" and make ancient practices more tangible, approachable, and accessible, the lunar label strives to respect Mother Earth. By partnering with EcoCart, Pink Moon works to offset carbon emissions for every order when customers click the carbon neutral box at checkout (which will typically cost less than $2 extra). Plus, Pink Moon supports amazing nonprofits like Grow NYC via its 1 percent donation program.

Below is our Q&A with founder Lin Chen.

GREEN MATTERS: How has your AAPI heritage shaped who you are as both a founder and a person?

LIN CHEN: Pink Moon is a multicultural brand and is essentially a love letter to my heritage. I'm very proud to represent my heritage and experiences with traditional Chinese medicine through the Pink Moon Gua Sha Facial Tool and our skincare formulas (Over the Moon Lunar Rose Mist and Once in a Pink Moon products)!

We use an integrative accessible approach to help people create impactful daily self-care rituals while sharing the philosophy of "East meets West."

GM: What advice would you give to people of AAPI heritage looking to enter the beauty/skincare space?

LC: Don't let fear or anyone/anything stop you from pursuing your dreams.

GM: What does sustainability mean to Pink Moon?

LC: Our sustainability manifests in packaging, ingredient sourcing, and philanthropic work. We develop products with people's well-being and health in mind as well as the planet, ensuring that we don't source ingredients that are going extinct and negatively impact aquatic life.

Additionally, we do not use packing peanuts when shipping as we opt to use recycled and recyclable kraft paper instead. Our shipping and packing materials are plastic-free. We also reuse packing materials from our suppliers.

GM: Aside from your fabulous brand, what sustainable AAPI-owned beauty/skincare companies are you loving right now?

LC: I love soaps and laundry detergent from zero-waste body care brand Unearth Malee, hair care from MO MI Beauty, and makeup brand EM Cosmetics.

A pretty bottle and showy marketing are certainly enticing, but they won't nurture skin. What about the stuff inside the bottle?

While battling her own acne-prone skin, former Wall Street investment banker Priscilla Tsai struggled to find sustainable, affordable, and effective skincare products. Her dreams of starting a business and frustration with the perfection-obsessed beauty industry collided in 2015, and Cocokind was born.

With a mission to "change the status quo of the beauty industry and break the cycle of 'aspirational beauty,'" Cocokind proudly prioritizes formulation and transparency.

Focused on hydration and barrier support (the Rich Moisture & Barrier Duo is a prime example), Cocokind skincare products are upfront concerning their gentle, research-backed ingredients and planet impact. "Formula facts" and "sustainability facts" panels are printed on the packaging, making everything from hero ingredients to carbon emissions accessible to customers.

By avoiding virgin plastics, using upcycled and recyclable materials, ethical labor, and meticulously measuring its impact, Cocokind is openly on the road to championing sustainability. The brand is currently in the midst of "conducting carbon accounting and product lifecycle assessments of each of [its] products with a third party audit firm" and is working toward reducing and offsetting carbon emissions.

If you know anything about K-beauty, there's a strong chance it's because of online marketplace Soko Glam. Founded in 2012 by Charlotte and David K. Cho, Soko Glam helped popularize the magic of Korean beauty and skincare in the U.S.

California-born Charlotte Cho took the knowledge and wisdom she acquired while living in Seoul, South Korea, to launch Soko Glam and — six years later — Then I Met You.

Ingrained in Then I Met You's philosophy is a Korean cultural value that resonates with Cho: Jeong. Described by Then I Met You as "a meaningful connection that one can develop with people, places, and things," jeong is at the heart of every juicy, creamy, and bouncy product. Infused with heritage ingredients like persimmon, Panax ginseng, and fermented rice, Then I Met You's offerings — from the Birch Milk Refining Toner to the Living Sea Cleansing Tonic — celebrate countless generations of Korean tradition and innovation.

The brand encourages the development of jeong with our skin as well as with the planet. Ethically produced with manufacturers and cosmetics chemists in South Korea, formulations are free of artificial colorants, parabens, silicones, and alcohol, and are packaged in 100 percent recyclable paper cartons featuring biodegradable soy ink.

After reevaluating its impact in 2019, Then I Met You redesigned product boxes to use 75 percent less paper and axed printed invoices and plastic liners from every order.