Celebrity beauty brands may appear de riguer these days, but let’s make it clear: in the K-pop industry, this is not the norm. When K-pop princess Jeon Somi—also known simply as Somi—announced the launch of her make-up brand Glyf earlier this year, fans were abuzz with anticipation. What would this look like?
The answer soon arrived in the form of the Illuétte Highlighter Palette. A unique choice for a first launch, it seemingly reflects Somi’s meaning of Glyf: “Like ancient glyphs, each with its own unique shape and story, Glyf is bold and whimsical,” the brand’s website reads. Prizing self-expression above all else, the palette and follow-up People Patches (more on them below) can now be shopped in Singapore, as Glyf has arrived exclusively at Zalora.
Vogue Singapore sat down with Somi to learn more about what goes into the running of her beauty brand, how new products are inspired, and more. “It’s exciting and fun,” she says of her new role as beauty brand owner. “I’m really involved in every little detail that you could imagine. So I hope everyone knows that I am the Glyf girl.”
Glyf here in Singapore and Southeast Asia! Owning a beauty brand is quite an unexpected path in the K-pop industry. Have you always been interested in make-up?
I’ve always been into make-up. Also, because I have more Western features, like my eye shape and nose bridge, I had some trouble finding the best make-up look for myself [while working in Korea]. I was always interested in learning more and I would always adjust my own make-up before a schedule. So the whole time, I was studying it. Now, I know more about what to do with my make-up and that’s what inspired me to create my own beauty product. I’m just so enthusiastic about it.
Glyf’s first product was the Illuétte Highlighter Palette. Apparently a lot of testing went into perfecting it. Can you tell me more about that process?
I knew exactly what I wanted. It was not only my first product but also my first brand launch, so I really had to do a lot of learning to achieve the results I wanted. It was hard to meet in the middle and I would go back and forth with the production factory and my design team, because it had to be perfect! Like, it has to be pigmented but also sheer at the same time, you know what I mean? It was a lot of work, but I’ve learned something: Don’t give up, and just keep pushing for what you want.
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You have the most beautiful, glowing skin. Do you have any tricks for how you use your highlighter palette on the daily?
Oh, and t
Glyf has also come out with the People Patches for sensitive spots. I love the name! What led you to launch this product next?
I’ve always been really interested in cute stickers. Like, I spend a lot of money on stickers! And I would get pimple patches, but I always hated the ‘invisible, but actually visible’ sticker. I thought, “Let’s just make a pimple patch that shows but is cute at the same time.” I went through my sticker patches that I collected for years, and that’s how we came up with the idea, actually. At that time, especially, I was going to Japan a lot and I was so into their cute stickers. So the timing was amazing.
So travel is an inspiration for Glyf?
Glyf, I could say, is 100% me. And whenever I go overseas, I’m influenced by what I see of other cultures. Just like how going to Japan [and seeing their stickers] inspired the making of our People Patches.
I feel that I have to be personally inspired in order for Glyf to come up with something, so yes. Travelling around the world, seeing a lot of products, going to Sephora every month, etc., etc. It’s really important and that definitely inspires Glyf.
I’m still learning in the process—it’s my first time [launching a brand]! But I love balancing the different roles. My heart lies in my music, but I always need a creative outlet going, and beauty is one of them; I love it. But when I’m promoting [as a singer], we’re still exploring the visual process, making new artwork and doing a lot of different make-up styles. So I also get inspired for Glyf. “Oh, we should do this”, “We should have this”. It’s good because I get inspiration from everything. It never stops.
When I get my make-up done, there’s quite a few factors that I like. Like highlighter—when my make-up artist puts highlighter on my nose or [in a particular way], I’m like, “Ooh!” There’s this ‘wow factor’ that she gives me. Also, overlining my lips would be one.
Another would be blush. At the moment, I’m really into using a lot of blush in different places, using different shades to give depth but which also ‘pop out’. I’m in the process of discovering different blush colours and areas to apply them.
Could this be a hint of what we can expect from Glyf next?
[Winks] Let’s see what I get inspired from!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
