35 Asian-Owned Beauty Brands To Shop for AAPI Month and Beyond

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There's no denying that AAPI-owned beauty brands have completely changed the game and transformed the beauty space over the years. Whether you're in the market for press-on nails or looking for some SPF to try for summer, these beauty brands have been crafted with lots of love and care for your everyday beauty needs. If you're a bonafide lover of all things hair, nails, makeup, and skincare, these are the best Asian-owned beauty brands that are totally worth giving a shot. We're talking everything from sustainable hand sanitizer and the best K-beauty skincare products to super sleek clip-in ponytails (yep, you can get an Ari-esque ponytail hairstyle in seconds). Check out these Asian-owned beauty brands you should be shopping during AAPI History Month and beyond.

Joah

In case you were wondering, JOAH means "I like it" in Korea, and Joah is one brand you'll love. Founded by Korean-American brand director Hae Jin, Joah fuses skincare and makeup together to deliver top-tier looks without putting your skin at risk. The brand is a one-stop shop boasting everything from cleansers and eye masks to foundations, bronzers, brushes, and accessories.

The Créme Shop

For more than four decades, The Créme Shop has been a K-beauty staple. A favorite among fans on social media, the brand is known for its iconic licensing collabs with beloved characters like Hello Kitty and Winnie the Pooh appearing on packaging for everything from oil blotting sheets to sheet masks. Plus, the brand's Melt Away 3-In-1 Cleansing Balm is a must-have of Seventeen's Assistant Editor Jasmine Washington, who uses it to swipe off the layers of makeup she paints on every day.

Jason Wu Beauty

Fashion designer Jason Wu has taken his talent from the catwalk to the beauty sphere. With a mix of eyeshadow palettes to mattifying primer oil, Jason Wu Beauty has a ton of long-lasting neutral products to ensure you'll be runway-ready in no time.

Wander Beauty

Entrepreneur and mom of two Divya Gugnani founded Wander Beauty with supermodel and mom Lindsay Ellingson in search of beauty products that multitasked as much as they do. The brand claims to use clean, globally sourced, skin-loving ingredients to promote healthy skin habits while wearing makeup.

Tower 28

Amy Liu worked as a beauty executive for over 15 years before she founded Tower 28 Beauty. After facing frustrations with her sensitive skin and eczema, she decided to create her own clean beauty brand. With products like the Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer and the BeachPlease Luminous Tinted Balm, your skin will glow to the gods. Plus, their lip gloss is a staple in Olivia Rodrigo's makeup bag.

Insert Name Here

Hair brand Insert Name Here was founded in 2018 by Jordynn Wynn and Sharon Pak. From styling tools to clip-in ponytails, hair extensions and wigs, this brand has all your haircare needs in mind when you want to experiment with your look. Plus, it feels and looks like real hair and can be styled with hot tools. What's not to love?

Kulfi Beauty

Priyanka Ganjoo didn’t see herself in the beauty industry she once worked in. For years, she helped brands grow their business and rarely saw South Asians represented at the forefront. She got tired of waiting for representation, so she made it happen herself with Kulfi Beauty, a brand that celebrates South Asians. Plus, their long-wearing eyeliners are *chef's kiss* according to reviews.

Glow Recipe

While Harry Styles made "Watermelon Sugar" popular in the music scene, Glow Recipe made Watermelon Glow all the rage in beauty. Most of Glow Recipe's bestsellers are infused with the fruit because of its Amino-rich benefits. Their official site claims that the Watermelon Glow line "hydrates, soothes and fights free radical damage to ward off fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots."

ManiMe

ManiMe was founded by Jooyeon Song and David Miro Llopis in an effort to make accessible, healthy, and easy-to-change manicures. The brand specializes in custom-fit stick-on gels that apply in minutes without any mess.

Blume

Blume is a skin, body, and period care brand that focuses on building a safe space for future generations to "learn, grow and become their best naturally brave selves." Plus, a portion of proceeds from each sale goes to Days for Girls, an organization that provides period resources for people all around the world. Not too shabby.

EM Cosmetics by Michelle Phan

If you're an OG beauty fiend, odds are you probably watched guru Michelle Phan on YouTube when you needed to learn how to apply eyeshadow. Michelle launched her own beauty brand, EM Cosmetics in 2013. Some of Michelle's favorite EM products include the Face Cuddle Moisturizing Balm, Color Drops Serum Blush and Lip Cushion Tinted Moisturizer.

JINsoon

Korean-born Jin Soon Choi is one of the most renowned nail artists in the beauty industry. She moved to New York City in 1991 and quickly built a reputation as a rising freelance nail artist. Fast forward to 2012, when she first launched Jinsoon, a nail care and polish brand with an assortment of simple and gorgeous colors that have been used up and down the runways.

Sundays

Sundays, a nail care brand focused on wellness, was founded by Amy Lin after she got her MBA from Columbia University. She worked with a chemist to study nail care products and create her own non-toxic nail polish formula, which is Sunday's specialty.

Selfmade

Stephanie Lee founded Selfmade, a brand that marries beauty with emotional well-being in a collection of clean multi-use products for sensitive skin, like the True Grit Resilience Scrub, Secure Attachment Comfort Serum, and Self Disclosure Intimacy Serum. According to the brand's website, Selfmade was developed with BIPOC mental health professionals to "seamlessly connect ritual with emotional intelligence."

TonyMoly

Peta-certified and 100% cruelty-free, TonyMoly is another skincare brand specializing in K-beauty. They're mostly known for their sheet masks made from real ingredients. From green tea to charcoal to watermelon, there are tons of variations to choose from. Also, can we get behind this packaging? Too cute for words.

evolvetogether

Cynthia Sakai was inspired by the collective power of small actions adding up to a lot of good when she and her team launched evolvetogether at the start of the pandemic. What started as a daily essentials brand with sustainable medical-grade face masks grew into something more and became a staple for celebs like Ariana Grande and Hailey Bieber. Now, the brand offers hand soap, hand sanitizer, and lip balm in sustainable packaging. "We founded our brand on the idea that nearly 8 billion of us share this one beautiful world, and we’re all connected no matter our race, gender, religion, or where we live. Our hope is to become the go-to for luxe, earth-friendly daily essentials — the brand you reach for whenever you’re looking for that everyday item that’s made with care, and made to take care of you and the planet,” Cynthia Sakai said in a statement to Seventeen.

Hero Cosmetics

Hero Cosmetics is most known for revolutionizing the pimple patch, which is a lifesaver for curing breakouts overnight. The brand's goal is to create a space for people to talk about their skin problems and share great solutions. Although acne isn’t going away any time soon, the stigma around it can.

Laneige

Laneige became a fan favorite within the beauty community thanks to its Lip Sleeping Mask. The product has received rave reviews crediting it as a "life-saver." Laneige's product lineup includes tons of moisturizing skincare and lip products to give your pout some extra TLC. It's no wonder Sydney Sweeney is a fan.

Banila Co

Founded in 2006, Banila Co prides itself in creating streamlined, adaptable skincare for all skin types, textures and tones. Products like their Clean It Zero balm claim to remove all makeup from skin for "a healthy makeup breakup." To be honest, I'm sold.

KimChi Chic Beauty

If you're into the drag scene, you may recognize KimChi's name from RuPaul's Drag Race. The drag performer launched their own beauty brand, KimChi Chic Beauty, to release fun user-friendly products inspired by the ultra-glam looks they wear on stage. With glitter liquid eyeshadow, translucent powder and tons of colorful blush and eyeshadow palettes, you can't go wrong with anything from KimChi Chic Beauty.

Then I Met You

Then I Met You is inspired by the Korean concept of Jeong, or a deep feeling of empathy that one can develop for people, places and things. This is evident across their award-winning skincare products, which are made with natural ingredients like sea buckthorn, cocoa and licorice. Each product's packaging is also 100% recyclable, so while you're giving your skin some TLC, you're also doing your part in maintaining a sustainable environment!

Cocokind

Cocokind is a skincare brand with the goal of disrupting the status quo within the beauty industry. They practice transparency with each product, whether it's about ingredients or impact. Some of their bestsellers include their Daily SPF and Resurfacing Sleep Mask.

Ellis Brooklyn

New York Times columnist Bee Shapiro founded Ellis Brooklyn in 2015 when she was pregnant with her first daughter. She was in the market for a luxury nontoxic fragrance, but couldn’t find any. Thus, she created her own brand of clean fragrances in the form of candles, perfumes, and body care.

Everyday Humans

Founded by Charlotte Chen Pienaar, Everyday Humans is an Asian-led, all-female team of humans across Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, U.S., U.K., and more. The brand's latest mineral SPF base was created in collaboration with its customers thanks to their feedback. The tinted SPF specifically caters to those with medium to olive skin tones as it doesn't leave a white cast that you'd typically find in mineral sunscreens.

Oily Skin Essentials Kit

Peach & Lily is one of the leading K-beauty skincare brands, and with good reason. Their mission is to empower people to transform their own skin. The brand is big on using natural ingredients and innovative skincare technologies to heal and transform skin.

The best part about Peach & Lily is that they curate affordable kits with products catered to different skin concerns. This is great because it saves a ton of time and stress from having to pick multiple products for your routine. They do the hard work for you.

Get Radiant

Being a medical school undergrad and a published researcher, Get Radiant founder Areeba Ahmed discovered that by treating the skin as a living, breathing organ, it's possible to clear acne without damaging it in the process. Their bestselling Beat (Z)it Serum has raving reviews that claim its ingredients target excessive oiliness, P. acnes bacteria, and the abnormal sloughing off of skin cells.

Emi Jay

Emi Jay — a.k.a the trendiest hair accessory brand on the market RN — actually started as a hobby for founder Julianne Goldmark when she was a teen. It eventually grew into something bigger after her friends started buying her claw clip designs. Now, celebs like Barbie Ferreira, Hailey Bieber, and Dua Lipa are rocking Julianne's Y2K-inspired hair accessories.

CTZN Cosmetics

South-Asian and female-founded brand CTZN Cosmetics has hit the makeup drawers of some of your fave celebs, including Dove Cameron, Tinashe, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock of Little Mix. The brand not only has an inclusive shade range that is universally flattering but has stunning nude lip products perfect for any look.

The Crème Shop

The Crème Shop is a whimsical and all-inclusive Los Angeles-based beauty brand that was founded in 1988. The brand's South Korean heritage runs deep in its nourishing cruelty-free makeup and skincare products. Their latest Sanrio collection is also too cute for words (see: this Kuromi macaron lip balm).

Yensa

Founded by actress Jennifer Yen — who you may recognize from her stint as a villain on Power Rangers — Yensa is a beauty brand catered to creating multi-tasking products that benefit your skin and soul. The number 8 is regarded as the luckiest number in Chinese Culture, and Yensa products are formulated with 8 Asian Superfood Ingredients that give your skin a little extra TLC.

Glamnetic

Glamnetic changed false lashes as we once knew them — they were one of the first brands to introduce the concept of magnetic lashes. The brand also sells magnetic liner, which acts as an adhesive for the lash band to attach to, as well as press-on nails.

Patrick Ta Beauty

Pro MUA Patrick Ta is mostly known for his ultra-soft glam looks and has become the go-to makeup artist for stars like Camila Cabello and Gigi Hadid. His beauty brand has everything from lip gloss and brow shaping wax to glowing body oil and blush.

Shiseido

Japanese-bred Shisheido has been a best-seller skincare and beauty brand since 1872 (!) and carries a wide mix of products including lightweight sunscreen lotions and makeup removers.

ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr

Patrick Starrr went from a beauty YouTuber to an entrepreneur and makeup artist extraordinaire. His brand, ONE/SIZE, was founded based on the idea of makeup being a one size fits all. The brand has high-quality beauty products from blush and bronzer to powder foundation and BB cream and P. Starrr never misses the beat with his product launches.

Live Tinted

It all started in 2015 when founder Deepica Mutyala went viral with her red lipstick hack video, which helped kickstart Deepica's career in beauty and inspired the creation of Live Tinted's Huestick — a 4-in-1 color corrector, eye shadow, blush, and lipstick.

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