"I was always criticized for being too dark, for being too fat, and I want to challenge this"
Startup company Orcé Cosmetics is creating makeup for Asian Americans
KPIX reports that startup Orcé Cosmetics is creating makeup for Asian Americans’ pigmentation.
Orcé Cosmetics CEO and founder Yu-Chen Shih said Eastern as well as Western make up brands do not accommodate Asian Americans’ skin colour.
The brand is now based in San Francisco and has Korean American actress Jamie Chung as one of the brand’s ambassadors.
“What I think is missing in the market right now, so in between the Japanese and Korean brands that have mostly very fair shades, and Western brands like the household names in Sephora, most of them have a pink undertone,” Shih, who grew up in Singapore said. “So pink undertones are more suitable for Caucasian skin.”
Customer Catrena Laluangphet who is half Southeast Asian and half black said it was frustrating to find make up for her complexion.
“My experience before for finding foundation was to go to one store, another store, and another store, keep color matching and color matching, and asking for a bunch of samples,” she said. “To go home to find that barely any of them really match me because the undertones were wrong.”
Shih is thus creating the first full range of makeup products targeted towards Asian Americans.
“Asian Americans, we have one of the highest spending power in the country, four times that of millennials, and no one is paying attention,” Shih added.
“I was always criticized for being too dark, for being too fat, and I want to challenge this, I want to challenge this idea that only a certain skin tone is beautiful,” Shih continued.
Orcé Cosmetics’ liquid foundations have ingredients such as Tahitian pearl extracts and a Chinese herbs that address hyperpigmentation and breakouts that are common with Asian Americans.
Sales of Orcé Cosmetics products have tripled each month since its launch earlier this year.