Kiyoko Beauty is a destination for Asian beauty products in Canada. Find out more …
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Article content
Canadian beauty retailer Kiyoko Beauty aims to bring the biggest South Korean and Japanese beauty trends to North America.
Article content
Sourcing products from the buzziest lines in Asia, the Toronto-based team pairs its social presence on platforms such as TikTok, where they explain trending techniques and products, with their online offering.
Article content
Article content
“TikTok was a key platform that was an early driver of our success, helping us build brand awareness after we started posting educational product content on TikTok in 2021,” says co-founder Gillian Liu. “We rapidly gained exposure through several viral videos that hit millions of views. Now, when users search for terms related to K-Beauty, our videos come up.”
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
We caught up with Liu to learn more:
Article content
West Coast Table
Article content
Q: What is Kiyoko Beauty?
Article content
A: Kiyoko Beauty is a Canadian-based online retailer specializing in Asian beauty products, primarily from South Korea and Japan. Founded in 2021 by myself, Kevin Sun and Susan Jin in Toronto, Kiyoko’s focus is on making K-Beauty and J-Beauty accessible to customers in Canada and the United States — offering a wide range of authentic skin-care, makeup, hair-care and body-care products from trending Asian brands.
Article content
We source 100 per cent authentic products directly from South Korea and Japan while providing support to help customers fine-tune their Asian beauty routines. We are known for fast shipping, affordable prices and a friendly, supportive environment, with a mission to make Asian beauty inclusive for everyone.
Article content
Q: What makes it unique?
Article content
A: Kiyoko is really focused on an authentic community on social media. The team releases almost daily content, breaking down Asian beauty concepts, routine recommendations, ingredients and brands to our 200K-plus followers across all platforms … We read all the comments and try to cater to viewer requests via comments/DMs. It’s a great way to build awareness without spending a ton on traditional paid media.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
Read More
-
Indian fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee hosts event in Vancouver
-
Tips to use mousse for hair volume (and our 5 favourite formulas)
-
Advertisement 1
Story continues below
Article content
Q: Who is the target customer?
Article content
A: Our target customer is the average North American consumer. We think Asian Beauty is for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, age and gender. Our largest segment of our customer base is women aged 18 to 35. We want to break the stereotype that ‘Asian beauty is only for Asian people’ and it’s exciting seeing the amount of our customers who don’t identify as Asian grow.
Article content
Q: Is there a ‘hero’ product in the range?
Article content
A: We have over 1,600 SKUs on our website, so we have a good number of “hero” products including: ANUA Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil, Dr. Althea 345 Relief Cream, ANUANiacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Dark Spot Correcting Serum, and the Kikumasamune Japanese Sake Lotion.
Article content
The fun part about being in this industry is that there is so much content being made around the world about K-/J-Beauty, so we often pay attention to what is trending online in order to predict consumer interests. For example, Dr. Althea’s 345 Cream is trending, so we’ve invested in stocking up on that product, and that has really paid off in terms of sales.
Article content
Q: What is the price range?
Article content
A: Most of our products are in the $20 to $40 range.
Article content
Q: Where can people learn more?
Article content
A: You can shop for our products online at Kiyoko.com.
Article content
