Carrot skincare, Unisex make up, EWG focus (Brand encounter volume one)

Being exposed to so many of the same roadshop brands, I’ve been just bored with the same old same old and have been trying to find the next best things. You wouldn’t believe how many new brands I encounter, whether they are startup brands or brands that I just haven’t heard of, I thought it would be an interesting series I should introduce to you guys as well.  Although I did have bits and pieces of brand introductions in the “what’s new in K-beauty” series, I thought I would have a separate series to dedicate to all the new brands.  From a unisex brand to a carrot line, I found a few interesting brands, as well as brands, just don’t seem to know how to get it right.  Let’s get into it!
Abib
“The elegance of a flower is born from a single seed which embodies the pure will to bring birth to beauty. Abib, which derives from the word ‘grain’, signifies our philosophy and our dedication to perfection and purity to our products. We believe that returning to a natural state is the endgame in the pursuit of beauty. Accordingly, our research efforts have focused on developing products to help our skin, ravaged by pollution and other stimuli, nurture its power to recover back to its original, immaculate state. When life begins in Spring, we will sprout purity.

Scientific research into beauty
Skin cells go through the cell cycle to recover from internal and external injury. However, the dermis of modern individuals is losing this ability to recover due to various factors. Abib R&D works under the slogan “Neverending research is the only way to perfection” and is focusing all of its efforts into identifying and removing harmful materials from the skin, preventing skin aging through antioxidation, and promotion of differentiation into keratinocytes to protect the skin from external stimuli- ultimately improving the skin’s ability to recover.

Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

In pursuit of minimalism, Abib’s design is not subjective.  Rather it tries to show the innate characteristics of the object by removing unnecessary items and colors and adopting a simple layout.  We have tried to focus on the unique quality of the product rather than exhibiting external artistic factors.  We stand by basic principles of simplicity, repetition, purity, and closure and seek to deliver essential design for the product at hand.  Abib shall continue to design enduring products within the framework of minimalism.”

Abib is a mid to high price ranged brand, focusing on the ever so popular Millenial minimalistic look.  The brand story isn’t too clear on what their mission is other than trying to dial down their ingredients to something as pure as nature?  I’m really not sure.  Maybe it is because of the translation?

As for the products that they offer, it is mainly skincare and two types of cushions.  Even the names of their products are super minimalistic and basic >_<.  They do have the ingredients list on the front of the product, which is interesting.
Cleanser
-Abib x Fritz Kit fragrance tube 36,000 won
-Abib face kit- Depound 49,000 won
-Abib mild acidic water cleanser gentle water 22,000 won
-Abib mild acidic foam cleanser 15,000 won
-Abib facial soap (black, grey, ivory, pink, blue versions) 18,000 won each
-Abib hand wash type WSkincare
-Abib enriched creme (price unknown since it is sold out)
–Abib hydration creme 39,000 won
–Abib hydration gel 39,000 won
-Abib rebalancing toner 29,000 won
-Abib rebalancing emulsion 32,000 won
-Abib heartleaf essence 27,000 won
-Abib luminous serum 63,000 won
-Abib Hypoderma SP1 2GF serum 92,000 won
-Abib relaxing sleeping pack 29,000 won
Lip care
-Abib moisturizing lip balm relief tube 10,500 won
-Abib protective lip balm block stick 10,500 won
Mask packs
-Abib mild acidic pH sheet mask (Yuja fit, Heartleaf fit, Aquafit, Honey fit) 4,000 won
-Abib Gummy sheet mask (Aqua sticker, heartleaf sticker, Madecassside sticker, milk sticker) 4,000 won
Foundation
-Abib brightening cushion compact velvet veil SPF 50+ PA+++ (with refill) 34,000 won
-Abib osmopur cushion compact skin shield 34,000 won; with refill 55,000 wonSuncare
-Abib mild sunscreen 32,000 won
-Abib quick sunstick protection bar 28,000 won

There are a lot of hand creams that they offer too, but I don’t think we’re here for hand creams.  If you’d like to check them out, click here.  Overall I think this brand is interesting, solely for the design but I don’t know much about the branding itself.  I have reached out to all 6 of these brands, but none of them replied when I requested for a brand story.

AHC
“AHC started in 1999 in Seoul, South Korea as a professional skincare line catering to private aesthetic spas and dermatological clinics.These spas and clinics are known to provide best-in-class advanced skincare treatments and are sought after by highly discerning clientele.”

I have definitely seen this brand from time to time, but it definitely is not one that is widely talked about in the beauty world. Their price range is around the same as a roadshop brand, ranging from 12,000 won up to 35,000 won for a whole set of skincare.  They definitely have that whole clinic look to it and they did start out as a private brand solely for cosmetic professionals.  They don’t specialize in any specific ingredients but they have multiple lines in their product range.  This wouldn’t be a brand I would go out of my way to try since nothing really speaks to me and the only way I would try it is if someone were to gift it and it was already there in my vanity.

Bring Green
Bring green reminds me of a bit of Skinfood but their selection is much smaller.  Their goal, like their name, is to use natural ingredients to deliver an effective solution for the skin.  Iunno about the whole natural thing but I like that their formulation is mild.  I’m not too sure if they are EWG certified or not since they don’t have their site, it is under Olve Young and they don’t have a full brand story either.
I personally want to try their Yulmu line which has a the three products photographed up above.  Yulmu is “derived from strictly chosen high-quality Job’s tears grown in the clean plains of yeoncheon, Gyeonggi-do, the home of Job’s tears, are fermented for 100 hours and extracted at low temperature.  The extract is blended with Coix Lacryma Ma-yuen Seed water, Coix Lacryma-Jobi Ma-yuen Shell Extract and Coix Lacryma-Jobi Ma-yuen Seed Extract to formulate Super Yulmu complex for powerful action for the skin.”  Their Super Yulmu complex is supposed to be able to help with sebum and blackhead care, hydrate and nourish the skin and deeply nourish the skin as well.  I’ve never come across a skincare line using Job’s tears (a type of grain) and I wonder what effects it could have on my skin.

Jin Jung Sung
“ENS skin is a skincare brand that believes that creating skincare products should require integrity, authenticity, and sincerity. Only carefully made products can improve someone’s skin. It does not promise anything significant or instant; it promises that using its products in the long term will gradually turn dry and dehydrated skin types into moisturized, healthy, and well-toned skin.”

Here’s a super confusing brand.  I tried to get a jist of the branding on their Instagram page, but the owner uploads a lot of his personal stuff on there, mixed with some very confusing product descriptions and stories behind why he created the product.  I usually wouldn’t mind the personal stuff and find it fascinating, but like videos of you playing ping pong should be something in your stories, not your feed.  It just confuses the potential customers way too much.  Even the description that I’ve read many times gave me nothing.  I’m not trying to roast the man, but someone please help him with the marketing.

–Jin Jung Sung sincerity face & eye cream
–Jin Jung Sung soothing moisturizing essence serum
–Jin Jung Sung snail honey jelly mask

As for their products, you can find them on Credithink and Amazon.
From what I’m reading on Credithink, their products sound like they are super hydrating with their Sincerity face and eye cream starring 7 different types of hyaluronic acids and their soothing moisture essence serum containing 8 different moisturizing ingredients (glycerin, meadowfoam seed oil, apricot kernel oil, botanical squalane, beeswax, sodium hyaluronate, shea butter, ceramide, and allantoin) to provide the highest moisture content possible.  I do have one of the products coming my way, so we’ll see how that goes.

Laka
“You can do Description From the Aura simplifies the Just as you can identify a single perimeter to the beauty of both. Just as you can define our lip color in one word Laka is not separated by gender for all the products of both women and men. A fun and practical brand that proposes a look and breaks the long inertia of beauty.” – Google translate (it’s horrible, I know)

한 사람의 아우라를 단순하게 설명해낼 수 없듯이
모두의 아름다움을 하나의 경계선으로 구분할 수 없듯이
우리의 입술색을 한 단어로 정의할 수 없듯이
라카는 모든 제품에 대해 성별을 구분하지 않고
여성과 남성 모두의 룩을 제안하며
뷰티에 대한 오랜 관성을 깨는 즐겁고 실용적인 브랜드입니다.

Aside from the horrible Google translation, I really love what this brand stand for.  They market themselves as a unisex cosmetic brand and I believe Lilybyred also did the same thing, but Laka claims to be the first to do so?  This concept works in Korea since it is widely accepted for males to wear cosmetics and it is seen as normal.  If you envision males wearing makeup in North America, it would be usually the LGBTQ community mostly but I think we are slowly catching up.

 They have a small selection of products, ranging from 11,000 won to 30,000 won which I think is an acceptable price point.  I’m guessing their target audience is 18-30 year old Millenials. I really love the color story of their eyeshadow palette and I’m eyeing that eye and cheek palette.  All colors that I would wear!

Round around
So Round around was introduced to me by my sister 2 years ago, when she asked me where I could find their cactus diffuser. Unfortunately, I couldn’t buy it for her through my buying service since it has a high alcohol content. 

Fast forward to the present time, they now have a line of skincare, which can be found in Olive Young exclusively.  All products are mid-ranged price and are EWG certified, with some even being vegan!

I’m a bit of product overload at this point.  I wish I could give you a better in-depth understanding of each brand, but unfortunately, the information was either not published online or the marketing just wasn’t there.  This makes me more aware of how important brand storytelling is and how it can make or break your business.  I’m really interested in Laka and Abib out of the six brands featured.  If you guys have tried any of the products from these brands, do let me know in the comments down below!