(Beauty)
The 12 Bestselling Products At K-Beauty Mecca, Peach & Lily
In 2012 — a year after the K-beauty innovation of BB creams reached the U.S. and sparked an unending trend — Alicia Yoon knew that Korean-inspired skincare routines were set to become the next big thing in beauty — and that there'd be a need for an authority in the space. (Someone had to explain why ingredients like snail mucus and bamboo were necessary in a complex 10-step process to the American market.) As a South Korean businesswoman and a trained aesthetician with a degree from Harvard Business School, Yoon wanted to be that authority, and eventually reached her goal with her bestselling line of Peach & Lily beauty products.
She left her consulting job to launch Peach & Lily, aimed at demystifying K-beauty and providing shoppers with a highly-curated selection of Korean skincare formulations — all of which have to pass Peach & Lily’s rigorous testing phase. (Only 15 percent of the brands tested make the cut.) In the six years since, the brand has developed a devoted following; and earlier in 2018, the eponymous collection of skincare products was launched, complete with 12 instant cult-classics.
Many of the in-house products, like the Super Reboot Resurfacing Mask and the Glass Skin Refining Serum, sold out immediately. (Months later, there’s still a waitlist for the latter.) But what makes them so compelling? “It's resonating because it doesn't overdo it on skin and cause other issues,” Yoon tells The Zoe Report. “The gentle nature of the Korean beauty approach helps people achieve big results over the course of a few weeks rather than overnight. It really focuses on creating a foundation of healthier skin.”
Yoon herself has suffered from eczema since childhood — “I resigned myself to the idea that I’d always be stuck with itchy, rashy, dry skin,” she’s said on the company website — which is why she insists on gentle, clean, and 100 percent non-toxic ingredients in her own skincare routine.
But don’t think gentle means less effective. There’s a reason Peach & Lily can’t keep the collection in stock: these products work. In fact, when the brand was developing the product formulas for the collection, it didn’t hold itself to a set-in-stone production timeline; instead, it was dedicated to researching, testing, and reformulating as necessary in order to release products with real, measurable results. Judging from the hundreds of five-star reviews on the Peach & Lily site alone, you could say the brand nailed it.
Ahead, Yoon walks The Zoe Report through her personal Peach & Lily favorites, along with details on how she incorporates them into her morning and nighttime skincare routines. (Don’t worry, low-key beauty lovers; she doesn’t follow that whole 10-step rule.) Stock up on what you can and join those waitlists. As any K-beauty fan will tell you, Peach & Lily is worth the wait.
