This week, Jacqueline Oak and Narae Chung—Co-Founders of Cardon Skin, a brand with a mission to provide a simple shopping experience for men to get premium skincare at an approachable price—discuss their journey from seeing a gap in the market for affordable, high-quality men's skincare products to creating an innovative brand inspired by Korean skincare technology: ""I thought there was a huge opportunity. We can bring really high-quality products at affordable pricing around the $20 to $40 range [to the men’s skincare industry] leveraging innovative Korean skincare R&D (Narae).” Their hero product is a lightweight, fast-absorbing sunscreen-moisturizer: which provides a quick solution to complete the most important step in skincare. 

Jacqueline and Narae also share that the men's skincare market is growing and shifting towards a greater emphasis on personal care as a form of self-expression. Cardon's success is due in part to their focus on real men's needs and insights in creating their products. Jacqueline and Narae do this by gathering feedback directly from their consumers: “We conduct lots of user interviews to understand how they’re using the product, what’s their biggest pain point, and how we can create something innovative and novel (Jacqueline).” 

Bio: Growing up in Korea, Narae Chung saw first-hand the pride that Korean men took in their self-care. It was more than a routine—it was a way of life. After years of working in the Korean skincare industry, bringing the best ingredients and most innovative formulas to men across Asia, Narae decided to come to the U.S. to attend Wharton Business  School. There, she met her roommate Jacqueline Oak, an expert in the retail startup space. Narae and Jacqueline noticed interest in men’s self-care was gaining momentum in the States—but the high-quality, yet affordable options that are so popular in Korea—were seriously lacking. The duo saw a chance to not only build a premium skincare brand that’s simple and accessible, but also to change the outdated social norms around masculinity and self-care. 

Narae: ""I think that it’s really interesting because my brother and father followed a skincare ritual every day. That was just their routine. And then here [in the United States], when I did a research interview, [I found that] not every male actually uses skincare.""

Jaqueline: “We’re not going to hold back. We are really going to put ourselves out there to push this brand to where we want it to go.”

Narae’s Brand Shout-Out: @drinkmakku

Jacqueline’s Brand Shout-Out: @12pell

Follow @cardon or visit https://cardonskin.com/!

Tune in  to learn more from Jacqueline, Narae,  and Kendra! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.