YouTuber Park Mak-rye, center, is seen in this promotional photo for her beauty brand Reii Reii. Couresty of W Concept
Park Mak-rye, 77, also known as @korea_grandma, a popular YouTuber with 1.16 million subscribers, is launching a beauty brand under her own name. She is one of the latest in the growing number of celebrities, YouTubers and influencers venturing into the cosmetics industry, leveraging their influence to launch their own beauty brands.
Created in collaboration with global cosmetics giant Cosmax, Reii Reii is a skin care brand inspired by the beauty wisdom of Park and designed specifically for younger generations.
The brand features traditional Korean ingredients such as rice water and acorn powder, which Park has shared as her personal skin care secrets on social media. According to W Concept, a fashion platform, Reii Reii will be sold exclusively through its site.
In a promotional video, Park said, "Do you know how young and beautiful you are right now? The first gift I want to give you is 'loving yourself.'"
She continued, "When I was young, I thought I was so ugly, and then I turned 70. I regret not loving myself enough. The first priority is yourself. You should also practice patting yourself on the back. Mak-rye, good job."
Reii Reii consists of products including Gold Rice Energy Care Essence, Gold Rice Energy Cream and Acorn Jelly Cool Down Patch.
Regarding the cosmetics, she said, "I used to make face masks with rice water and acorns, and my fans seemed to enjoy it," and revealed that she developed the cosmetics with the world-renowned Cosmax and even conducted sample tests herself.
"We decided to sell the brand exclusively because the values that Park Mak-rye wants to convey through her beauty brand match the demands of our core 20-30-year-old customers," said an official of W Concept.
K-pop singer Jeon So-mi's makeup brand GLYF / captured from GLYF's Instagram
Many celebrities, YouTubers and influencers have been making inroads into the cosmetics industry. Cho Min, the influencer daughter of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, recently announced the launch of her skin care brand Cerolabs.
Aiming to be a clean beauty brand, all products are cruelty-free and the company plans to minimize its environmental impact through eco-friendly packaging. Kolmar Korea, one of the largest original design manufacturer (ODM) companies in Korea, is in charge of manufacturing. The price range is around 20,000 won ($14.24).
Singer Hong Jin-young also has transformed into a cosmetics company CEO. IMPOTEN, the cosmetics company she leads, is preparing for a Kosdaq listing, after signing an IPO underwriting contract with Korea Investment & Securities in May, aiming for going public in 2026. K-pop singer Jeon So-mi also launched her makeup brand GLYF in April. The 23-year-old star is known to have been deeply involved in every aspect of launching her brand, from product development to website design.
The industry attributes the surge in celebrity-backed cosmetics brands to the rising popularity of K-beauty, fueled by hallyu, or the Korean wave. "With the availability of ODM services, anyone can easily create a beauty brand, leading to a wave of celebrities entering the cosmetics market," an official of a cosmetics company said.