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In the 2010s, no skincare trend was quite as prevalent as Korean skincare. It’s because of this that Charlotte Cho created Soko Glam, an online beauty platform devoted to K-Beauty, in 2012.
“Growing up in the ’90s in Southern California, my idea of beauty was a slick of lip gloss and a deep sun tan,” Cho shares. “It was only after I spent five years living in South Korea, where my parents were born, that I experienced the magic of Korean skincare firsthand.” Before she knew it, she was fully intrigued by and immersed in the world of Korean beauty. “My friends and I bonded over our daily sheet mask selfies and the hydrating personal humidifiers on each of our desks,” she says. And as time went on, she realized that it was her connection with her newfound skincare ritual that single-handedly helped boost her confidence, not to mention her relationship with her culture. “I had developed jeong with Korea: It changed my life, and I couldn’t wait to share what I had learned,” she says.
Cho didn’t just set out to share the latest and greatest K-Beauty innovations on Soko Glam, though — she wanted to create her very own Korean Beauty-inspired brand. And just like that, Then I Met You was born.
Where Cho curates products for Soko Glam, she creates them firsthand for Then I Met You. “With Then I Met You, I am going even deeper in my quest — not only curating, but crafting truly transformative skin care products that will stay a part of your life for years to come,” she says. “Because of the deep connection I have with Korea, I find it important for Then I Met You to honor Korea’s rich beauty culture while highlighting the country’s incredible innovations in research and development at the same time — a perfect fusion of our past and present.”
As it currently stands, Then I Met You has eight core products, some of which are sold in sets. Although that may seem like too few products to make an impact, Then I Met You has steadily grown in popularity, and the brand’s thoughtful launch schedule has something to do with that.
“We only launch two new products each year,” Cho says. “Every product we create is [conceived] and created from scratch, with the intention of transforming your skincare ritual and experience. We go deep to challenge what’s possible — putting a decade of testing, personal experience, and community feedback into every product.”
While the packaging and brand ethos may feel particularly youthful, Cho admits that the brand’s sweet spot in regards to consumers is beauty enthusiasts who are 20 to 40 years old. “They are always searching for the new and best products and brands,” she says. “They are interested in making a ‘skinvestment’ in their own healthy skin future.”
Ready to give it a try? Read on for our favorite Then I Met You products.
Cleansing balms allow you to be a bit more intentional with your cleansing routine, which is why the Then I Met You Living Cleansing Balm was one of the first products for the brand. The solid cleanser melts upon touch, transforming into an oil, and the more pressure you apply to the surface of the product, the more it molds beneath your fingers (or the included spatula that comes with it). In short, it’s an absolute delight to use. But it goes beyond the texture itself. From a formula standpoint, it’s made with fatty acid-rich seabuckthorn oil, free radical-fighting persimmon extract, antioxidant-rich vitamin E, anti-inflammatory and barrier-supporting olive oil, and nourishing grapeseed oil. Together, these ingredients make for an incredibly calming, extremely effective cleanser that can easily melt away makeup and sunscreen, while also ridding the skin of any residual oil, dirt, or debris.
Price at time of publish: $38
Size: 3.17 oz. | Ingredients: Seaberry/sea buckthorn oil, olive oil, persimmon extract, grapeseed oil, vitamin E, and more
As luxurious and effective as the Then I Met You Living Cleansing Balm is, it’s designed to be followed up with the Then I Met You Soothing Tea Cleansing Gel. After all, double-cleansing is a primary concept in Korean beauty. The Cleansing Gel has a thick, honey-like consistency that instantly melts into skin. It’s formulated with calming green tea, brightening rice ferment filtrate, evening licorice root, hydrating and wound-healing centella asiatica, and anti-inflammatory tea tree leaf — all of which lend to a softer, smoother, more even-looking complexion, with smaller-looking pores to boot.
Price at time of publish: $36
Size: 3.38 oz. | Ingredients: Fermented rice water, licorice root, centella asiatica, green tea, tea tree leaf, and more
Lipcare is skincare and the Then I Met You Honey Dew Lip Mask is hard to beat. It’s formulated with hydrating honeydew extract, which also gives it its subtle sweet scent. What’s more, it’s fused with gently exfoliating lactic acid, moisturizing squalane, and hydrating and protecting honey and avocado oil. Best of all, it has a smooth (never sticky) consistency that glides onto lips to instantly quench their thirst. It’s divine.
Price at time of publish: $22
Size: 0.5 oz. | Ingredients: Honeydew melon, lactic acid, avocado oil, squalane, honey, and more
As difficult as it is to pick a single favorite Then I Met You product, I simply can’t get over the brand’s new Rosé Resurfacing Facial Mask, which has the most delightful consistency and subtle scent. The jelly mask is formulated with glycolic, lactic, and salicylic acid to gently slough away dead skin cells while also deeply-cleansing pores to prevent irritation and future breakouts. Beyond its exfoliating abilities, the mask is infused with resveratrol and real rose petals to brighten, soften, and soothe skin in 15 minutes flat.
Price at time of publish: $56 Size: 1.76 oz. | Ingredients: AHA/BHA Rose Complex, damask rose petals, resveratrol, and more
Then I Met You
While most of the Then I Met You products come in bottles, jars, or tubes, the Calming Tide Gel Cream is housed in the most ergonomic egg-shaped container. Quite simply, it feels good before even applying it on the skin. The formula itself is rich in peptides, which work to repair and firm skin while boosting collagen production. Meanwhile, niacinamide works to brighten the skin while ceramides help to restore the skin’s natural barrier. Then, to help combat any redness that may be associated with dryness, the gel-cream is formulated with madecassoside, which works instantly to soothe irritated skin. All in all, a single dollop of this cream is like a tall glass of water for your skin. (And it feels like it, too! The water-based product sinks instantly into the skin, making for a dewy complexion with any residual stickiness in its wake.
Price at time of publish: $42
Size: 1.69 oz. | Ingredients: Tri-Tide Complex, hibiscus, ceramides, niacinamide, and more
This pretty pink essence is boosted by berries and red algae to calm inflammation, brighten the complexion, and deeply hydrate skin at once. For best results, pour a few drops of the Then I Met You The Giving Essence into your hands (not onto a cotton round) and press it into your skin. Doing so will ensure that the maximum amount of product makes it onto your skin, as cotton applications inadvertently absorb it.
Price at time of publish: $50
Size: 3.38 oz. | Ingredients: Black chokeberry, polyglutamic acid, niacinamide, and more
Then I Met You
For a little extra exfoliating acid two to three times per week, work the Then I Met You Birch Milk Refining Toner into your routine. It’s infused with gentle exfoliating acids (like lactic and glycolic) to slough away dead skin cells and make way for a smoother, brighter complexion as a result. Again, patting this product into your skin (instead of using a cotton pad to swipe it) works best.
Price at time of publish: $32
Size: 3.38 oz. | Ingredients: Birch juice, squalane, gluconolactone, marshmallow root, and more
Last but not least, we have the new Then I Met You Renewing Rich Beauty Cream. With anti-aging panax ginseng concentrate as the star ingredient, this cream works to reverse the clock on your complexion, making way for smoother, bouncier, more supple skin with each use. Oh, and did I mention the texture? It’s divine. This rich cream has a thick yet fast-absorbing formula that leaves parched skin feeling entirely revived. Of all the Then I Met You Products, it also happens to boast the most neutral scent. (Though, that’s not to say any of the products smell unnatural — this one just smells like nothing, really.)
Price at time of publish: $58
Size: 1.69 oz. | Ingredients: Quad ginseng complex, baobab, squalane, ceramides, and more
Then I Met You creates conscious skincare products by using 100 percent recyclable packaging and boxes printed with soy ink, along with cruelty-free formulas made with thoughtful, effective ingredients.
Then I Met You isn’t a Korean skincare brand. Rather, it’s inspired by Korean beauty concepts. “A profound bond with Korea is embedded in the essence of Then I Met You,” Cho says. When creating the brand, she was “inspired by the Korean cultural value of jeong: a meaningful connection that one can develop with people, places, and things.” It was with this in mind that Cho created the brand in hopes of helping customers cultivate deeper connections with their skincare rituals. “When you enjoy the experience of applying a product, you’ll make time to use it consistently — and the benefits will amplify over time,” she explains.
Then I Met You Skincare is available on the brand’s website, as well as at Soko Glam.
Rebecca Norris has worked in beauty journalism for over eight years. She has her finger on the pulse of all the latest and greatest beauty brands and, as such, knew that Then I Met You was worth taking a dive deep into in an effort to reveal the Koren-inspired skincare technology that’s wowing beauty lovers across the globe.
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