Sumin Baek

Sumin Baek founded Beauty of Joseon in 2016 with a scholarly starting point that distinguishes the brand from almost every other clean beauty brand globally: the Gyuhap Chongseo, a Joseon Dynasty-era encyclopedia written by female scholar Yi Bingheogak that compiled beauty, household and lifestyle wisdom for women at a time when access to such knowledge was severely restricted.

Baek's background includes research in Hanbang — traditional Korean herbal medicine — and a deep familiarity with the botanical ingredients used in Joseon-era skincare rituals. The brand was initially built as a small, single-product operation before the Relief Sun SPF became a global phenomenon through organic discovery in K-beauty communities.

The brand's growth trajectory inverted the typical Korean beauty playbook: Beauty of Joseon went viral on TikTok and through Reddit before achieving mainstream domestic Korean retail traction, and is now distributed in Sephora US, Space NK UK and major K-beauty specialist retailers worldwide.

Hanbang ingredients are functional actives, not heritage marketing. Pair them with modern actives for measurable outcomes.

Start product development with a historical question — what did women during the Joseon era use, and why did it work? — before moving to laboratory validation.

Yi Bingheogak's intent — to improve the lives of other women — is the philosophical ancestor of every formula.