Dear Dahlia

Dear Dahlia is a South Korean vegan makeup brand developed as an in-house label of Baram International Co., Ltd. It launched in 2017 with a focus on cosmetics that contain no animal-derived ingredients, at a point when awareness of vegan makeup was still low in Korea [5]. The brand draws its name and visual identity from the dahlia flower, and positions itself in the premium segment under the tagline "Redefining Luxury Vegan Beauty."

By the mid-2020s Dear Dahlia had built a largely international following, selling through roughly 300 retail points across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with the majority of its audience outside Korea. The brand remains operational, though its parent company was reported in 2024 to be seeking a buyer for a majority stake.

Dear Dahlia was created by Ray Park, also known by the Korean name Park Rae-hyeon, who serves as founder and chief executive [6]. According to the Korea Economic Daily, the brand was established in 2017 as an in-house line of Baram International Co. [5]. Park chose veganism as the brand's central differentiator at a time when the category was largely untested in Korea, and the company has said this decision required separate research and development because existing contract-manufactured formulas did not meet vegan requirements.

The brand's founding date is sometimes recorded differently. The Korea Economic Daily places the launch of Dear Dahlia in 2017, while some business databases list 2014; that earlier year refers to the establishment of the parent company, Baram International, rather than the brand itself [8].

After launching in 2017, Dear Dahlia expanded quickly into prestige department stores abroad. It entered Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Neiman Marcus in the United States in 2019, followed by Mitsukoshi Ginza in Tokyo in November 2021 [6]. In 2022 the brand moved into the Douglas chain across several European markets, including Italy, Germany, Spain and Belgium [5]. The Korea Economic Daily reported that the company raised a total of 42.5 billion won in funding from ten investors over this period.

Dear Dahlia is owned by Baram International Co., Ltd., the company that created it as an in-house brand. In early 2024 the Korea Economic Daily reported that the brand had been put on the market for the sale of a majority stake, and that it was valued at more than 100 billion won, around 75.5 million US dollars, as of September 2023 [5]. The brand itself continued to operate during this period.

The company presents Dear Dahlia as a luxury vegan beauty brand inspired by the dahlia flower and its associations with lasting beauty. It describes its aim as offering "timeless beauty that is classic but never ordinary" and high-performance cosmetics that are "effortless to apply." Innovation is framed as the engine of this positioning; the brand states that it is "committed to redefining luxury vegan beauty in all aspects."

All of the brand's products are described as 100% vegan and cruelty-free, with no animal-derived ingredients and no animal testing. Dear Dahlia formulates to what it calls an "8-FREE" standard, excluding parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, phthalates, metalloestrogens, oxybenzone, synthetic fragrance and animal-derived ingredients. The company also notes that its color cosmetics achieve high pigment without carmine or beeswax, two animal-derived materials common in conventional makeup.

Dear Dahlia's range spans lip, eye and face categories. Among its named products are the Skin Paradise Blooming Cushion Foundation, the Lip Paradise Sensual Lip Glow, the Petal Drop Liquid Blush, the Prime Layer Skin Prep and the Perfect Designing Shadow Stick. The brand later widened the Skin Paradise line into a 35-shade vegan foundation range.

The brand's signature ingredient is an extract of Dahlia Variabilis, the flower from which it takes its name. The company holds a Korean patent for the extract (KR Patent No. 10-1920650) and describes it as having antioxidant and skin-conditioning properties [1]. Formulas also draw on plant oils and butters such as sweet almond oil, argan oil, shea butter, cacao seed butter, sunflower oil and jojoba oil.

On certifications, the company states that its products are certified cruelty-free and vegan by PETA, and that existing products have been certified vegan by the Vegan Society [4]. It additionally references EWG Green-Grade, ECOCERT, USDA and COSMOS certified organic ingredients within its formulas, which apply to specific ingredients used rather than to whole products [4].

The Korea Economic Daily profiled Dear Dahlia in 2022 as a "K-beauty vegan rebel" on its entry into Galeries Lafayette, highlighting its vegan-pioneer positioning and rapid international growth [6]. The Philippine beauty publication Project Vanity reviewed the brand in 2020, describing it as "the cute vegan Korean brand to watch" and noting its trademark marble-and-gold packaging; the reviewer singled out the Skin Paradise Blooming Cushion Foundation as a favorite [7].

Dear Dahlia remains active. As of 2024 it was available in more than 20 countries through roughly 300 stores and an operating e-commerce site, with an active social presence under the handle @deardahlia_beauty. The most recent significant development on record is the 2024 report that its parent, Baram International, was seeking to sell a majority stake, which could lead to a change of ownership; the brand continued trading at that time [5].