Charlotte Cho developed her premium skin care line Then I Met You™ with the Korean concept of jeong in mind. Now, more than ever, jeong is a way to connect with your loved ones and reminisce on cherished moments. With this in mind, Charlotte discusses the newest product that joins the collection: the nourishing, ultra-hydrating Honey Dew Lip Mask.
One of my fondest memories growing up was when my grandmother would prepare fruit for me after dinner. It was a calming ritual, seeing her work the paring knife with expertise and ease, as she sliced and diced apples and oranges into bite sized pieces for me and my siblings to enjoy.
My favorite time of year was honeydew season. Whenever the weather got warmer, she would slice open a honeydew, and despite the smooth, white exterior of the fruit, it was always a surprise to see the bright green peeking inside. If we were lucky, it was perfectly ripe, and dripping with juice… it would always make my mouth water even before it hit my lips.
It’s this bit of nostalgia that calms me, especially now, during these turbulent, anxious times we’re all facing. As an adult left with only memories of my grandma, I realize that there was a far deeper meaning behind this gesture of preparing sliced honeydew for me. It was her nightly act of jeong. A gesture – that didn’t require any words at all – of love and care for my well-being.
In the spirit of my grandmother’s act of jeong, I was inspired to add my juicy, honeydew memories into the next creation from Then I Met You™, the Honey Dew Lip Mask. I’m excited to dive deep into why you’ll soon be reaching for the Honey Dew Lip Mask as part of your daily routine.
Why Then I Met You™ Created A Lip Mask As Their Next Act
After building out a core skin care routine featuring 5 steps (double cleanse, toner, essence and moisturizer), it might be a surprise to some that creating a lip mask was at the top of the list for me. You know by now that at Then I Met You™ we thoughtfully create each product with intention and effectiveness in mind, so I want to share with you why having the lip mask as our next step makes so much sense.
RELATED: Glow Deeper™ Series: Charlotte Cho Makes Waves With New Light-As-Air Skin Care Innovation
For one, lips are the thinnest, most delicate skin on your entire body. It’s often overlooked, yet it’s the most susceptible to cuts, irritation and flaking. Even compared to the skin under your eyes, the skin on your lips is more fragile because the lips don’t produce natural oils to coat and protect the skin. There are so many men and women who struggle with this year-round, but not many products offer transformative solutions – just temporary fixes.
What many people may not know about me is I used to have a terrible lip-picking problem. I had a habit of picking at the skin on my lips (until it bled at times!), and then the cycle would resume week over week. Lip scrubs made of sugar and other physical exfoliants never worked for me, as they were too sensitizing for my already fragile lips.
For the reasons above, I was determined to create a lip mask that could be used morning and night, so that we ALL could kiss those flakes goodbye — for good!
The Formulation
When you swipe the Honey Dew Lip Mask on your lips, you’ll notice a light, yet nourishing coat of juicy, antioxidant-rich honeydew that hugs your lips. The sweet, subtle aroma that the lip mask has is a delightful treat for the senses.
Our Honey Dew Lip Mask is designed to naturally moisturize with natural humectants such as honey (which means this product is not vegan, unlike our other products!), and other powerhouse hydrators such as squalane and avocado oil. These are natural emollients that aid in coating and protecting the skin, and they replenish the skin on the lips with essential fatty acids.
The twist to this lip mask that sets it apart from many of the other lip masks out there is the optimal integration of lactic acid. It is intentionally a part of this formula because it is the most hydrating chemical exfoliant out there! It can safely and gradually melt away flakes and dead skin cells in order to unveil smooth and polished lips. As I mentioned before, my lips were often an unsightly, flaky mess, and this product has given them a new life!
The Packaging
If you couldn’t tell already, my preference is to create skin care products that don’t get contaminated easily. That’s why I searched far and wide for a lip mask design that would look chic and slender in your bag, or in the pocket of your robe (our daily uniform these days), and that makes it easy to apply without having to dip your fingers into the formula.
For the Honey Dew Lip Mask, you can rest assured that the soft silicone tip creates a smooth, contactless application experience. And this couldn’t have come at a better time, as we all are looking for easier ways to avoid touching our faces, and keep viruses, bacteria and germs far away from our faces.
When & How To Use It
Dry, flaky lips are often exasperated from harsh weather conditions (such as cold or windy weather), excessive licking of the lips, and even heavy breathing. When you’re sick or have allergies, you often have no choice but to breathe out of your mouth, so it’s likely that you might notice more chapped lips than normal. And if you’re finding yourself wearing face masks more and more, even breathing heavily on your lips (such as during exercise) can lead to flaky, unsightly lips.
You can use it during the day as a glossy balm, and add a thicker coat in the evening as an overnight treatment for the smoothest of lips when you wake up in the morning.
Our Act of Jeong
The most exciting part of what I wanted to share is how we plan to give back to our community through our launch.
The Then I Met You™ team wants to live up to our ethos of giving without expecting anything in return. We are passionate about helping underserved communities that are amongst those hit hardest by COVID-19.
As we grapple with one of the hardest challenges of our lifetime, there are so many groups to whom we feel so indebted. For this initiative, we wanted to purposefully direct our focus to grocery workers. We’ve read in the news about grocery workers serving an essential role in allowing supermarkets and grocers to remain open for families to purchase food and other nourishing essentials. Yet they are often underpaid, lack basic benefits, and if they were to fall sick, they have no safety net.
And on a personal level, not only is my dad (at age 69) an essential worker, working every day at his small market in Whittier, California – but Guad, our marketing manager, also has a parent who works in the grocery industry here in NYC.
We realize and understand their challenges, and want to support in a big way! That’s why Then I Met You™ will be dedicating 100% of proceeds of the Honey Dew Lip Mask launch on 5/1 to the Amalgamated Foundation’s Families and Workers Funds. We’ve partnered with them because of their commitment to provide relief to low income workers and their families that are on the frontlines. Learn more about our initiative on www.thenimetyou.com/pages/donation-jeong.
We couldn’t be more thrilled to give back, while celebrating our latest addition to the Then I Met You™ line. Thank you so much for your continued support, and I look forward to reading all the reviews, comments and feedback!
Until next time, stay safe and be well!
With jeong,
Charlotte
