The Interview: Skin Cupid founder Melody Yuan on expansion, John Lewis partnership and future of K-beauty in UK

Skin Cupid has established itself over the past six years as a trusted destination for Korean skincare enthusiasts, curating some of the region’s most in-demand and innovative brands.

In recent years, the UK-based retailer has pursued an ambitious expansion strategy that moves well beyond its digital roots. Last year, it opened its first flagship store in London, described as "the largest and most premium Asian beauty destination in the UK".

Now accelerating its nationwide growth, Skin Cupid recently entered an exclusive partnership with John Lewis, aimed at making K-beauty more accessible to consumers across the UK.

As part of the rollout, approximately 20 brands now available via John Lewis online. The partnership also extends into physical retail, with upcoming shop-in-shop locations planned for stores in Cambridge, Kingston and Leeds, where customers will be able to receive personalised guidance from trained skincare specialists.

In this interview with TheIndustry.beauty, founder Melody Yuan discusses Skin Cupid’s continued expansion, the growing global appeal of Korean beauty, and the emerging brands and trends that Western audiences have yet to fully discover, among other topics.

Having launched in 2020, Skin Cupid has grown during a period when K-beauty has been rapidly expanding and, in many ways, dominating the global skincare market. What originally inspired the launch of Skin Cupid and how has the brand positioned itself to capitalise on this continued growth?

Skin Cupid came from a very personal place. I’d had acne for years, and Korean skincare was what finally made a difference to my skin. The innovation and the price point combined were something I hadn’t found anywhere else. But choosing the right products in skincare is already overwhelming, let alone adding the K-beauty layer on top, with a whole new set of brands, steps and ingredients. Finding the right products for you matters just as much as the category you’re buying into, and at the time, there was a genuine lack of guidance in this space.

That’s what inspired the launch of Skin Cupid. We wanted to cut through the noise and build something with education and community at its centre, where we match people with the right products for their skin, so figuring out a routine feels exciting instead of overwhelming. This core identity is reflected in the name: we’re here to match people with the skincare they fall in love with.

In terms of how we've positioned ourselves to capitalise on the continued growth of the category, there are three things we've stayed really disciplined about.

First, we shine the spotlight on the newest and, more importantly, the most effective innovations coming out of Korea. The category moves incredibly fast and our job is to cut through the noise so our customers always have access to what genuinely works, not just what’s trending.

Second, we work closely with our brands. We ask the right questions about formulas, share what we’re hearing from our community, and feed into their NPD and new launches. It’s a proper two-way relationship and that’s what lets us bring genuinely differentiated products to the UK.

And third, education is our biggest marketing strength, and it’s translated into real commercial power. K-beauty has grown, the noise has grown with it, but our community trusts us as the voice of authority. That trust has been built over the years and isn’t something you can easily replicate or buy. It’s also why we’ve become the go-to launch partner for brands entering or scaling in the UK. They know we can tell their story, educate the customer, and drive sell-through in a way a generic stockist can’t. That’s how we’ve turned marketing strength into a real commercial differentiator as the category has scaled.

In your view, what are the key drivers behind the growing demand for Korean beauty in Western markets, particularly in the UK today?

I think a few things are happening at once. UK consumers have become much more ingredient-literate, and K-beauty is unmatched in ingredient innovation.

The second is the cultural pull. K-pop, K-dramas, Korean food - all of it has made Korea feel familiar and aspirational. Beauty has ridden that same wave.

And the third is that K-beauty just feels exciting. The innovation, the packaging, the textures, the price point - it’s fun to discover, easy to try and you’re getting something effective without breaking the bank.

Which K-beauty brands are currently performing particularly strongly with your customers - and why do you think they resonate?

S.Nature, Unove and Ma:nyo. They've all earned cult status back home in Korea, which is one of the most competitive beauty markets in the world. Each of them is a bestseller in its respective category, and that's not by accident. They've all got a distinctive identity, target a specific concern and do it exceptionally well. The formulas are strong and our repurchase rates for all three are some of the highest we see.

Are there any emerging brands or trends within K-beauty that you think Western audiences haven’t fully discovered yet?

One brand I’d really champion is Dr.Different. They’re dermatologist-led, formulating at the skin’s natural pH and using retinal rather than retinol, which works faster and at lower concentrations. They’ve built a proper ladder of strengths, so customers can actually progress through actives without overwhelming their skin. As UK shoppers move toward more clinical, results-driven skincare, Dr.Different sits right at the heart of that shift.

The other space I’d point to is scalp care. It’s huge in Korea, where the scalp has been treated as skin for years, and we’re seeing that mindset shift in the UK. The two brands that embody the skinification of the scalp are Dr.FORHAIR and TREECELL, which are already household names in Korea.

How does Skin Cupid differentiate itself from competitors in the market? What makes your retail experience stand out?

It comes down to three elements and they all reinforce and feed into each other.

The first is our brand relationships. We've become a real strategic partner to the brands we work with, which means we get first access to launches, UK exclusives, and a proper seat at the table on product development. We've earned that by consistently delivering sell-through and building their UK presence from the ground up. It's the kind of trust and track record you build over years.

The second is our community. We've built one of the most engaged K-beauty audiences in the UK, and that translates directly into the business. High repeat rates, strong organic acquisition, and a feedback loop that shapes what we buy and what our brands develop next.

And the third is our retail experience. Our London flagship was built as an extension of the brand, designed to bring our community into our world. That's translated into strong basket sizes, repeat visits, and brand awareness that flows all the way back to our online business.

How does Skin Cupid decide which brands to stock - is it more ingredient-led, trend-led or community-driven feedback?

Honestly, it's all three, but the order matters to me. We always start with the formulation. If the science and efficacy aren't there, nothing else matters. Then we want to know whether it fills a real need our customers have been asking for, and whether there's genuine cultural momentum behind it. The final check is always our community: we listen really carefully to what our customers are searching for, asking about and recommending to each other, and that directly shapes our buying decisions.

You opened a flagship store in London last year. Why did you want to expand beyond online?

A big part of it was emotional connection. We've built such a strong community online, but there's only so much you can do behind a screen. It also opened up activations. So much of what makes Skin Cupid exciting is the moments we create with our community: events, launches, brand experiences and those really come to life in a physical space.
It’s also important to acknowledge that skincare and beauty is sensory. You want to feel the texture and smell the product. Content does a huge amount of heavy lifting online, but there are moments in the customer journey that only physical retail can deliver.

How is performance tracking against your expectations?

We had ambitious targets going in, and we're well ahead of them on pretty much every metric that matters. More importantly, it's confirmed our thesis that there's real appetite for how we’ve approached our offline debut, which is shaping how we think about what comes next.

Looking ahead, are there plans to expand further in the UK with more standalone stores?

Yes, absolutely. We want to be in major destinations across the UK to meet the demand of our community, and are actively working on what’s to come.

You’ve recently partnered with John Lewis - can you tell us how this collaboration came about and what it means for Skin Cupid?

John Lewis has been making a serious investment in beauty, and K-beauty was an obvious priority for them, given how the category has been growing. They wanted to enter it in a thoughtful and curated way, and partnered with us exclusively as the UK's leading Korean beauty retailer to do that.

What really made the conversation click was how aligned we are. Both brands are built on trust, education, and putting the customer first, and their reputation for quality and the trust they've built with customers made them the natural home for Skin Cupid.

For Skin Cupid, this is an equally exciting moment. We're reaching a highly engaged customer base who shares our values, and just as importantly, between this partnership and our shop-in-shops in Cambridge, Kingston and Leeds, we can bring Korean beauty to so many more shoppers across the UK, which has always been part of our mission.

As part of this, you’re also launching shop-in-shop locations in Cambridge, Kingston and Leeds. What’s the strategy behind choosing these locations?

Each of these cities has a strong concentration of our community already and they're also catchments that punch above their weight when it comes to skincare engagement: ingredient-aware shoppers who research, want guidance and are actively looking to discover new brands. Strategically, the three of them together give us proper regional reach across the UK, beyond just London, which is exactly where we want to be.

What can shoppers expect when they visit?

The real Skin Cupid experience. Each shop-in-shop will be staffed by our own team, trained to give expert skincare consultations and ingredient-led guidance, with a design that’s discovery-led and engaging. It's the same combination of curation, education and community that's driven our performance online and in our flagship, now brought into John Lewis at scale.

Finally, what are your ambitions for Skin Cupid?

To be the voice of authority and the leading platform for Asian beauty. Not just a retailer, but the platform that defines how the category is discovered, experienced, and trusted. That means scaling our stores into real destinations, deepening the brand partnerships that give us a product edge no one else has, and continuing to lead the conversation through education and community.