There’s something quietly fulfilling about seeing months of long nights of working towards a vision come to fruition. I remember the first time I watchedVicky Tsai of Tatcha on QVC last year and thinking that her beautiful products take on a whole new level of demonstrability and vibrancy on TV. I thought to myself, “wouldn’t it be amazing to share about Korean beauty on QVC where 98 million households can watch demos and listen to explanations about Korean beauty products?”
Fast forward one year, and here we are, five days away from being on air withQVC. What a platform to be able to share Peach and Lily’s mission to bring the best of Korean beauty Stateside and dive deep into our most popular Korean beauty products!
How it all began!
In September 2014, we received an exciting email from QVC. One thing led to another, including animated discussions about Korean beauty over Korean baked goods, and we became their partners in thinking through how we could present the exciting world of Korean beauty to QVC viewers. I’m not a very new age-y type person, but I’d like to believe that having a vision and passionately working towards it can allow certain opportunities to arise that help realize that vision. We’ve always had a vision at Peach and Lily that Korean beauty should be something that everyone - no matter what age, ethnicity or geographical location - could learn about and access. And we can’t think of a better platform and partner than QVC through which to share about Korean beauty with so many millions of people.
The long and stringent process
Because TV is considered more advertorial versus a brick-and-mortar store (which is considered more retail), the standards for what products make the QVC-cut is impeccable. To begin with, every product needs to go through third-party lab testing for all sorts of things - e.g. Staphylococcus aureus (the “staph” bacteria) is literally injected into the product to ensure that it can stay stable; then dozens and dozens of people are recruited by the lab for irritation tests; layer on many more tests, which are all conducted for months for each product. Additionally, every product claim needs to be backed up with proper studies. Needless to say, not all products pass these stringent tests and can actually support the claims they make.
An immensely proud moment for our portfolio brands
Our whole team was so proud when our products passed these third party lab’s long and rigorous tests. This validated that our curation process was tough (for good reasons) and that the Korean brands that we selected had really great formulations.
A great birthday
After all the testing, setup and paperwork, the next step was to start training to be a guest on QVC. I’ve been on TV for quotes and brief interviews, but have never stood before a camera sharing such an in-depth story, so I was a bit nervous about passing guest training class. Thankfully, QVC has been an amazing partner to work with and they has such great courses and instructors, including QVC expert-hosts that have been on air for decades. My guest training class was scheduled on my birthday - has to be a good sign, right? :) I spent the whole day in PA training, and with such an incredibly supportive partner, passed the course (insert big sigh of relief and happiness) and also learned so much. Peach and Lily has been my passion project since launching it 3 years ago, so spending my birthday working towards a vision I had a whole year ago made for a pretty great day.
What you can expect!
The show is the first-ever Asian Beauty Show called “Asian Inspired-Beauty Innovations” and will run for an hour. Tune in at 4pm EST next Tuesday, July 28th, and watch Peach and Lily present our curation process - which remains at the heart of what we do - and demo two of our most popular products, including live before-after features on models. To come full circle, this show will also include a couple Japanese brands, including…Tatcha! We’re so honored to have been selected as the Korean beauty expert and are beyond thrilled to have the chance to share about Peach and Lily and our favorite Korean beauty picks with millions of people. I’m so excited and thankful, and hope that if any of you get the chance to tune in, I can provide some helpful tidbits on our curation process and the products that will be showcased.
And…it took a village (that I can’t say enough about)!
This vision that took almost one year of work to come into fruition wasn’t the result of only my own efforts. It took an insanely dedicated and passionate team here at Peach and Lily to get it all done. Behind-the-scenes of Peach and Lily sits a talented, creative, inspired and smart team that always puts the customer first and works pretty much around the clock to help spread the word about Korean beauty. To me, more than anything else, this team coming together is my most fortunate circumstance about all things Peach and Lily.
For those of you who can tune in, I hope that you enjoy the show!
Show details: Asian Inspired Beauty Innovations on QVC airing live on Tuesday, July 28th, 4pm EST.
Cheers to radiance,
Alicia
