How Liah Yoo is heralding a new era of mindful skincare with KraveBeauty

The Malaysian weather can be unforgiving. We have blistering heat on most days, and during the monsoon season, there are heavy downpours for days on end. What are your skincare tips for maintaining healthy skin in our tropical climate?

I would say, especially for people with oily skin, usually the immediate step that they would want to take is to apply a mattifying lotion or an oil-free product or an astringent that can dry out the skin, or even cleansing with a harsh alkaline cleanser that would strip away all their natural moisturising factors and damage their skin barrier.

I think those are probably the biggest mistakes that could be made by people who are living in such a humid and hot climate because it will make your skin feel dehydrated and trigger more oil production. It’s almost like this vicious cycle where you’re removing the oil on your skin, but at the same time, you’re only getting oilier. So, my skincare tip would be to focus on pure hydration and keep your routine as minimal as possible. In the mornings, I would suggest cleansing your skin with just water and applying SPF right away. If your SPF is moisturising enough, then it wouldn’t be necessary to apply a moisturiser.

In recent years, many of the skincare trends circulating everywhere on social media are pushing unrealistic ideas of what “good skin” is, which is essentially having flawless, porcelain-like glass skin. From your expert point of view, what does healthy skin actually look like, and what advice do you have for those who are influenced by these harmful beauty standards?

At the end of the day, I think it’s all about what you think healthy skin looks like. I don’t think it’s so much about the actual biological state of your skin—it’s all about your own perception, because you can have acne and you can still feel like you have healthy skin. As long as you feel comfortable in your own skin and you feel good about yourself, that’s more important than the actual physical part of what your skin looks like.

So ultimately, it really goes back to your self-confidence and how you think about your skin. When you start chasing the ideal beauty, it starts planting the idea in your head that your skin is not good enough. That’s where the unhealthy part comes in, where you’re constantly trying to chase the next best thing or comparing yourself to the beauty models you see in advertisements, which will only make you feel miserable. 

There is also a huge responsibility for brands to introduce more people with different skin textures, skin tones, and skin issues in their advertisements. Brands need to use less Photoshop, or even no Photoshop, to retouch the skin, especially if they are advertising a skincare product. And I know that the industry is moving towards that way, but I think there is still a lot more that can be done so that it becomes a mainstream thing. We need to see more real skin, not only in advertisements but also on social media as well.

The beauty industry can be very convincing when it comes to marketing products to seem more impressive than they really are. Can you share some guidance on how to avoid falling for misleading marketing messages and how we can make informed decisions when shopping for skincare products?

I think misleading marketing happens when brands generalise their products, saying things like this product is great for everyone or this product is suited for both oily and dry skin. Brands need to be more specific about who they’re targeting with each product and the results they offer for different skin types.

For instance, our Oil La La serum is specifically made for oily, acne prone skin because it contains linoleic acid, which people with those skin types lack. So when they apply this, they will see a result in reduction of acne and redness. But when I'm communicating this product to people who have no acne but dry skin, this serum can help them restore and strengthen their skin barrier, resulting in a more resilient and nourished skin.

When brands tailor how they communicate to each specific audience and educate their consumers on exactly how their products will work for them, people can get more clarity and decide whether or not the product is right for them. They should have all the details they need to make the best decision for their skin.

Every beauty lover has a roster of their favourite beauty gurus whom they grew up watching, and as one of the OG beauty YouTubers, you’re certainly an icon to many. Do you have any fellow beauty gurus who have inspired you?

One of the reasons why I started my YouTube channel was because of Michelle Phan. She was the very first beauty creator who is also Asian, and the representation she brought made me feel safe to enter the space. Michelle Phan kind of broke that barrier in the beauty scene and opened the gates for other fellow Asian creators to come into the game, so if it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would’ve been confident enough to start my own channel.

Then there are also creators like Susan Yara, Hyram, and James Welsh. I adore them not only as a person, but also their work ethic. They pump out more content than I can ever imagine, especially Susan and Hyram who both have their own brands but are still able to keep up with their postings. Their unwavering passion and stamina are definitely qualities that I look up to.

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Going from beauty influencer to starting your very own skincare brand, what are some of the enlightening things you’ve learned about developing skincare products that you didn’t know before launching KraveBeauty?

One thing I didn’t know was that the consistency of the formula you approve in the lab versus how it turns out when you scale it up into a bigger batch during production is significantly different, so I was shocked to learn about this when I mass produced our very first product, the Match Hemp Hydrating Cleanser. The formula we developed in the lab had a bouncy, jelly-like texture, but it turned into a very watery consistency when we scaled it up with the same recipe, so we had to get our chemical engineers to redesign the formula for mass production.

Our Makeup Re-Wined took the longest in the scale-up process. It’s entirely made with naturally-derived oil ingredients but has a jelly-like consistency—this was what we approved in the lab, which we formulated in ten kilogrammes. When we scaled it up to 500 kilogrammes during production, it came out completely fluid and we had to reject a lot of these pilot production batches, which resulted in a large amount of waste.

Hence, we decided to launch our Waste Me Not campaign to educate people about what goes on behind the scenes during the entire manufacturing process and spread awareness on the waste issue in the beauty industry. As part of this campaign, we are also selling our rejected batches at a much lower cost. They may not have the texture that we wanted but they will work just the same as the regular products.

Getting into skincare can be daunting for beginners, especially with all the different products and ingredients to learn about. What’s a good base to start with, in terms of a beginner-friendly skincare routine and key things to keep in mind for those starting their skincare journey?

I think beginners would most likely use physical scrubs, so I would ask them to ditch that and be more respectful to their skin. If there are more than five steps in their routine, I would recommend simplifying it down to three steps to see how their skin works and if it’s lacking in anything, then they can curate their routine from there. Of course, be more mindful of your skin barrier. Learn more about what your skin needs instead of constantly overwhelming it with unnecessary products.

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