Sarah Lee and Christine Chang co-founded Glow Recipe in 2014 as an online destination for curated Korean beauty products—one of the first to serve as not only a brand curator and distributor, but also an operator of its very own line. Over the years the company has evolved, and now Sarah and Christine focus solely on their skin care line, Glow Recipe, a clean, fruit-forward collection that generates more than $100 million in retail sales according to industry sources.
When developing products, the duo draw inspiration from many different places, including their large community’s skin care concerns and suggestions, antioxidant-packed fruit, Korean beauty trends, and interesting technologies they’ve encountered. The brand holds a firm stance on realistic beauty ideals, having committed to omitting buzzwords such as “poreless” and “flawless,” and also prohibiting retouched imagery across their marketing.
The brand is also well known for coining the term “skintertainment” as it was the first to generate fun, playful video shorts depicting how-to skin care regimens, which helped grow their community and loyal fan base, and educate consumers.
Their commitment to clean is unflappable: all of Glow Recipe’s skin care essentials are made without parabens, sulfates and phthalates; the brand is Leaping Bunny certified, cruelty-free and vegan. Further, Glow Recipe packaging is 100% recyclable either curbside or via Terracycle and the company has committed to be carbon neutral by 2022.
Future plans include building distribution and staying to true to its clean mission.
Sarah Lee and Christine Chang are two of CEW’s 2021 Female Founders, an annual awards program spotlighting beauty disruptors. This year’s Honorees were selected based on their impact in bringing clean beauty options to market. Join the industry on October 13 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for a virtual event sponsored by The Sage Group to honor Sarah and Christine and six other clean beauty stars, and how they continue to innovate the category. Click here to learn more and register.