KimChi Chic

KimChi Chic is an American makeup brand built around the drag artistry of its founder and namesake, KimChi (Sang-Young Shin). It launched in 2019 in collaboration with Bespoke Beauty Brands, an incubator started by Toni Ko, the founder of NYX Professional Makeup [5][6]. The brand sells colour cosmetics for eyes, face and lips, and positions itself around fun, highly pigmented products at accessible prices.

The company is still trading, with a live storefront and ongoing seasonal promotions as of 2026. Its founder, a Korean-American drag performer, finished as runner-up on season 8 of RuPaul's Drag Race and is described as the first Korean drag queen featured on American national television [5].

KimChi (Sang-Young Shin) was born in the United States in 1987 and spent part of her childhood in South Korea. She studied graphic design and worked as an art director before moving into sculpture, fashion and painting. By her own account on the brand's site, she did her first drag look at 25 on Halloween using drugstore products and was booked for a show the same night — the moment she traces her passion to.

KimChi began performing in Chicago in 2012, taking a stage name that puns on the Korean dish and a valid Korean given name. After her Drag Race run, she partnered with Sugarpill Cosmetics on products such as a donut-scented liquid lip colour before establishing a line under her own name. The company frames the brand as an extension of that creative work: "I believe your face is a canvas to create art," the founder says, "whether it's subtle or out of this world."

Sources differ on when the brand began. Wikipedia records that KimChi announced the line in September 2019, and the trade publication Glossy likewise dates the launch to 2019 [5][6]. An earlier date of roughly 2016 to 2018 is sometimes cited, but that span corresponds to KimChi's 2016 Drag Race season and her earlier Sugarpill collaborations rather than the debut of her own brand [5].

KimChi Chic was developed with Bespoke Beauty Brands, a Los Angeles incubator launched by Toni Ko, who had earlier founded and sold NYX Professional Makeup [5]. According to the company, the partnership let KimChi focus on creative direction while the incubator handled development and operations. No standalone Wikipedia article exists for the brand itself; it is documented within the founder's biography.

The brand treats makeup as a tool for self-expression and aims to keep it affordable. "It's been a dream of mine to introduce the world to fun products that won't break the bank," the founder writes, adding that the range is meant to suit any look, "from neutral to glittery rainbow." In a Glossy interview, KimChi described wanting the products to become an everyday staple rather than novelty merchandise, recalling an ambition to "create a line that is cheap and affordable" [6].

Inclusivity and LGBTQ+ support are stated values. The company says it is a supporter of the Trevor Project and donates 2% of each website purchase to the organisation [1]. The brand's tagline, "Born From the Stage, Refined for Real Life," gestures at the same move from drag performance to daily wear.

KimChi Chic's catalogue spans eye, face and lip makeup — palettes, pressed pigments, setting powders and sprays, foundation, concealer, lip glosses and lipsticks among them. Its best-known item is the Puff Puff Pass setting powder, which the brand markets as a "drag-approved bestseller" and sells in several shades and sizes. Other recurring sellers include the Stage Proof Matte Setting Spray, the Better Than Nude and Teddy Kim palettes, and The Most Concealer. Pricing sits at the lower end of the market, with most items under about 35 US dollars.

On ethics, the formulation page states the products are "100% Vegan" and also free of sulfates, parabens and phthalates. Cruelty-free status is independently listed by PETA, which states that neither ingredients nor finished products are tested on animals [4][7]. The vegan claim carries a caveat: third-party trackers report that not every product in the catalogue is vegan and that vegan items are marked separately on the site, so the "100% Vegan" wording appears to describe a designated vegan range rather than the whole line [10]. Separately, a widely shared review noted that the Puff Puff Pass powder still contains talc, crediting it for the powder's smooth finish — a detail some buyers weigh against the brand's clean-formulation messaging [8].

KimChi Chic made its national retail debut in the United States at CVS in 2022, and the brand has said it was the first makeup line to work officially with TikTok on the platform's live shopping format [6]. Press coverage has centred on the founder, including a Glossy podcast interview on the brand's affordability mission and retail growth.

KimChi Chic is active. As of 2026 the company runs a live e-commerce site carrying a current copyright notice and seasonal promotions, and its setting powder has remained among the better-selling beauty items on TikTok Shop in the United States. The primary market is the United States, with international stockists.