This Founder Left Wall Street to Start a Truly Transparent Beauty Brand

"I never thought I would start a beauty brand," says Priscilla Tsai, "growing up, my skin was my biggest insecurity. But that's exactly what Tsai, a former investment banker did when she launched cocokind, a line of clean skincare. "I pursued the typical Wall Street career path. Over time, however, as I started to find many solutions for my own skin, I eventually decided to start cocokind by convincing myself that I could be 'behind the scenes.' Since then, I’ve never looked back!"

Tsai is on a mission to break the cycle of so-called "aspirational beauty" through transparency—in ingredients, in pricing and formulations. "You’ll see this every day from us," says Tasi. "Whether it’s seeing our formula broken down on our packaging, our carbon label on every product, or even a breakdown on our pricing on social media. We consistently find different ways to break down the walls between beauty brands and consumers; we believe that all starts with education of what goes into a beauty product."

On Her Proudest Moment

"One of my proudest moments was last summer when we asked our community what product we should develop and we had over 30,000 people give us feedback! They told us that they wanted to see an exfoliating cleanser and a lip SPF, so we made both! Having a super engaged community is a true sign of success, in my view, and extremely meaningful to me."

On Staying Transparent

Many customers have no idea what they are paying for! They could be paying a price thinking they are paying for the ingredients, but actually getting packaging, or vice versa. We want to clear this up and help make the decision a bit easier.

We simply want people to know what they are getting when they buy cocokind— which is superior formulas in simple packaging, and a company that is committed to measuring and reducing our carbon footprint. We also recognize that marketing is a monster in the beauty industry, so we want to speak less as a “brand” and more as people. We’re very comfortable ditching typical marketing standards in order to have a very real, educational conversation with our community."

On Navigating a Changing Beauty Industry

"It’s super overwhelming at times but my biggest tool is being humble. It’s important to know what you don’t know and be open to change and growth. I feel like that applies so much to being a responsible company that is committed to sustainability and inclusivity. There is no one answer or end goal with these commitments, they require continuous work and humility to adapt when you need to."

On Her Company Values

"We believe in two universal truths in skincare —hydration and barrier support: All formulas in our line gently deliver the function they promise while being designed for the skin barrier and overall hydration, which we believe are requirements for glowy, happy skin.

We put our money inside the bottle: We’re able to keep our superior formulas at approachable prices because our expertise and resources go inside the bottle…on the formula! We believe that the inside > outside, but invest in packaging when it lowers our carbon footprint.

We know that skincare is physical and psychological: We know from experience that skincare goes way beyond our physical skin. We want to help you strengthen that voice in your head that reminds you that you are enough, just as you are.

We measure and share our carbon footprint on every label: Our sustainability efforts are rooted in substance. We hold ourselves accountable to measuring our carbon footprint annually and getting better at this process every year. We dedicate time and resources to measurement, create tangible goals for reduction, and offset our footprint with our dollars."

We’re here for more than skincare: While skincare is our “thing”, we are a team of human beings that are deeply conscious about each other and our planet. That means sometimes, we’ll opt to skip the skincare and use our voice and platform for things that matter to all of us."