PARIS — Romi, the beauty brand born out of Singapore, made its Hong Kong debut with Sephora on Wednesday.
A curated range of skin care products will be sold exclusively across Sephora’s retail location in IFC Mall in Central, as well as online, with further launches slated at Sephora in K11 Musea in Tsim Sha Tsui and in Causeway Bay’s Windsor House next week.
The brand was previously only available in Singapore. It operates a store inside the Takashimaya Shopping Centre on Orchard Road and online.
Founded by Yoyo Cao, Arissa Cheo and Lin Ting in 2022, Romi, which stands for “dew of the sea” in Latin, has since cultivated a dedicated following for its philosophy of stripping back the complexity of modern skin care routines while putting skin health at the forefront.
Yoyo Cao, Arissa Cheo and Lin Ting, founders of Romi Beauty.
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Each of the founders has been troubled with different sets of problems with their respective skin care expectations. The fashion influencer and entrepreneur Cao demanded hydrating, edited-down essentials due to frequent travels. Cheo’s sensitive skin needed gentle yet top-grade formulas, while Ting, a mother of two, sought versatile products that slot easily into a busy schedule.
Therefore, Romi’s products focus on bridging the gap between skin care and makeup with multitasking, cruelty-free formulas that feature zero parabens, phthalates, sulphates, synthetic fragrances or gluten.
The brand’s top seller, Dream Skin Tint, which retails for 300 Hong Kong dollars, for example, serves as a tinted moisturizer and sun shield that soothes, hydrates and evens tone with ingredients such as Camellia sinensis leaf extract, niacinamide, sea buckthorn and vitamin E.
Romi Beauty’s Lip Treatment Repair Mask
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Other items that are featured in the Hong Kong debut include a lip oil for nourishment and shine, an overnight lip mask for dry, stressed lips, a sunscreen that help brightening and soothing the skin, and a toner-serum-mist hybrid infused with multipeptide.
“We are beyond excited to bring Romi Beauty to Hong Kong and to demonstrate our ‘self-love as your first love’ ethos. Partnering with Sephora is a milestone for us, and we can’t wait for the Hong Kong community to discover Romi,” Cao said.
Cao met Cheo and Lin, who are cousins, in 2015, when they were running a now-defunct, multilabel e-commerce site called Carte Blanche X that carried brands like Erickson Beamon, Mawi, Anton Heunis, Sass & Bide and Sretsis. They have since formed a close personal and professional relationship.
The founders said they chose Hong Kong as the brand’s first global destination outside Singapore because there are many similarities among the customers.
Romi Beauty Glow Up Tone Up Sunscreen
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“They have busy lifestyles, often juggling multiple responsibilities, and travel frequently. They are high-achieving and well-educated. We have a similar hot and humid climate, and there’s a preference for more natural makeup looks,” Cao said.
She also added that customers in both Hong Kong and Singapore are very knowledgeable about skin care and beauty products, open to discovering new brands, and there has been a rising interest in clean beauty among Hong Kong’s strong beauty retail ecosystem.
Following the Hong Kong launch, the brand is looking to enter other key markets across Asia, such as mainland China, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
