Glow Recipe is an independent brand founded in 2014 by two Korean-American women, Christine Chang and Sarah Lee, who are both former business executives at L'oreal and understand the marketability of cultural cues and values, and together they have leveraged their understanding of leading Korean dermatological and skincare technology as well as the American audience to create a million dollar brand: ““We first sought out to build Glow Recipe as an e-retailer for Korean brands in the US—an opportunity to bridge the gap between Korean brands and the US consumer. By utilizing our bicultural and bilingual beauty backgrounds, we saw the potential for Korean Beauty to skyrocket into a league of its own” (Pinto, 2021; Ware, 2022). This impressive story of their founders and the brand’s success builds on two important historical narratives, one of economic disenfranchisement and systemic racism, and the other of Asia’s rise as global, economic powers. Asian American migrants first arrived in the United States during the late 1800’s seeking opportunity from economic and political hardship in Asia, often caused by United States’ military intervention in the region, and yet, they faced countless barriers even attempting to enter the nation (Espiritu, 2006; Kilty, 2008). From the 1924 Immigration Act to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the United States’ government has historically systematically codified racism and xenophobia into law, putting pressure on already precarious Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) immigrant and generational populations, creating stressors for populations that already have higher rates of prevalence for a range of diseases than their White counterparts like mental illnesses (Espiritu, 2006; Kilty, 2008; Sue et al., 2012). As such, from farms and fisheries, to factories and railroads, the first generations of Asian Americans began taking up low-paying, difficult jobs, where they faced worker exploitation, a trend that continues amidst changing public perceptions of human and working rights, as well as the increasing persecution of undocumented migrants (Chan, 2016; Espiritu, 2006; Kilty, 2008). It is within this historical context that the modern public perceptions of AAPI is both high and misconstrued, with many recognizing the high rate of entrepreneurship and self-employment as a form of financial freedom and success, when the reality is a precarious state of hard labor for low margin profits, riddled with gendered and racialized exploitation (Sharma, 2020). Christine Chang and Sarah Lee’s business and entrepreneurial success breaks from this historical trend and the realized expectation for many of their Asian American counterparts by successfully assimilate to and conforming with Corporate America, becoming executives at L’oreal before creating Glow Recipe, which pulls on their understanding of Korean culture and American consumers to grow (Pinto, 2021).

Maevely serves a great example of how even a content creator with roughly 10,000 subscribers can feature Glow Recipe’s product, as she is an American creator who often posts content at the intersection of American and Asian popular culture (Maevely, 2017). While she ultimately gives the product a good, but not worth the price review, the mere existence of her content helps demonstrate the phenomenon that was Korean skincare and this product in general.

The success of Glow Recipe and broader Korean beauty in the United States was not an unusual phenomenon, however, as it followed decades of economic growth in Asia, as well as warming international relations. Asian nations have developed into middle income nations from low income nations, leveraging their cheaper labor force to offer a competitive hub for global manufacturing (Boen et al., 2020; Jomo, 2003). As such, Asian nations like China, Japan, and Korea have become their own respective economic powers, utilizing their newfound wealth to develop their hard and soft power to influence the world, commoditizing and exporting their goods and services, as well as their cultural heritages, to an increasingly global audience (Pack & Page, 1994; Siehr, 1997). For instance, South Korean pop culture entered mainstream American entertainment and media, initially through decades of Korean culture and soft power exportation to the United States largely through Korean television dramas, now colloquially known as “K-Dramas,” in a global wave so powerful, it became specially termed “hallyu,” which then transitioned to the rise of Korean popular music and the breakout virality of Psy’s Gangnam Style in 2012 (Jung, 2009; Ware, 2022; Xu et al., 2017). While this rise of Asian and Korean popular culture in the United States may not feel significant, it marks a paradigm shift in the role of Asian Americans in the United States, who first arrived in the country in the late 1800’s as a source of affordable labor for physically arduous work amidst a context of codified xenophobia and racist sentiment (Espiritu, 2006; Kilty, 2008). Today, there is a broad public perception of the value of nature in Asia, as well as technological advances, a public opinion that brands like Glow Recipe can harness to build and expand their audience (Ko et al., 2012; Kwon, 2018). Additionally, social media has quickly become a salient aspect of daily life, and it has incredible influence and reach on the public, with beauty gurus and influencers pushing content on a variety of platforms to catch the attention of audiences, forming massive trends like Korean Skincare, which had multiple renditions in the form of the 10 Step Plan, Glass Skin, amongst others (Ticas, 2018). Glow Recipe has harnessed this online phenomenon by creating their own content, as well as riding on the wave of other content creators utilizing the online trend to purchase and promote their products.