Inside Then I Met You with Charlotte Cho, steeping care into ritual

A community message asked why a gel cream had disappeared, and Charlotte Cho answered by discontinuing it and starting over. That small exchange explains Then I Met You better than any launch plan. Ten products in six years, each one steeped, tested and kept only if it earns its place.

The note came from customers who loved the ritual but not the texture. They wanted something lighter, juicier, still rooted in plants. Cho took that feedback to heart. She set aside the old formula and worked with chemists in South Korea until the Bong² Bounce Cream emerged, now the number two seller in the line.

Charlotte Cho spent more than 15 years discovering, testing and introducing Korean skincare to millions of people. As an esthetician, founder of Soko Glam and author, she helped shape how the world reads an ingredient list. She co founded Soko Glam with her husband Dave Cho, then founded Then I Met You in 2018 to make the products she always wished existed.

The brand is based in the United States and every formula is developed in South Korea with leading cosmetic chemists. At its center is jeong, a Korean philosophy of deep care and connection that grows over time. The promise is expert formulations that combine Korean innovation, luxurious textures and clinically proven results.

What others miss is the restraint. For the first full year Then I Met You sold only on its own site and did not borrow Soko Glam traffic. It does not chase every trend. It prefers one or two launches a year, and word of mouth over advertising spend. Read slowly, this is plant led skincare that treats cleansing as the root and hydration as the daily harvest.

You launched in 2018 with only Living Cleansing Balm and Soothing Tea Cleansing Gel, and you kept the new brand off the Soko Glam platform for a full year. What did that separation protect.

Thank you for reading us so closely. I wanted Then I Met You to have its own unique brand story. The reason why we did not start off with a Soko Glam brand name is that I wanted to have Soko Glam stand on its own two feet. I will never abandon the Soko Glam curation. We love working with our partners, our brands. We have a really good relationship with them.

So we started with just two cleansers, a Living Cleansing Balm and a Soothing Tea Cleansing Gel, together creating the perfect cleansing duo. For the first full year we sold only on our own site. I have tested hundreds and thousands of products over the years, gaining access to constant innovations as well as speaking with manufacturers and chemists that are willing to share and innovate with me. I wanted this line to prove itself one ritual at a time, without borrowed traffic. That quiet start let jeong grow naturally between us and the community.

You describe jeong as deep care and connection that grows over time, and you return to the phrases glass skin and skin first philosophy. How does jeong change a formula decision.

Jeong is the root of everything we do. It is a Korean word that describes a deep and emotional connection, and for me it means formulating with long attention rather than quick interest. Korean beauty has never been about one product, one category or even one brand. It has been a skin first philosophy.

In practice that means I would rather launch one or two products a year than chase every skincare trend. Although we are six years old, we only have 10 products. This speaks to the intentionality behind the brand. We are here to make holy grails and earn the trust of the community, so my aim is to only create standout products that deliver results. A plant extract has to earn its place by what it does for skin, in texture and with consistent use, not simply because it sounds botanical.

Your Living Cleansing Balm at 39 dollars for 90 grams remains the hero from 2018, massaged onto dry skin as a first cleanse. What did you want that first step to feel like.

I wanted cleansing to feel like tending soil, not stripping it. Our cult famous cleansing balm melts away sunscreen, makeup, excess sebum and other oil based impurities without stripping the skin or irritating the eyes. You massage it onto dry skin as a first cleanse and it softens everything the day leaves behind.

That step matters because glass skin starts with a calm barrier. A balm that respects the skin lets the rest of the ritual absorb well. It launched in 2018 as our hero and it is still a bestseller, pointed to as the perfect cleansing duo starter with our Soothing Tea Cleansing Gel. If someone is new to us, I tell them to start at the sink, with warm hands, dry skin and time. Press, massage, rinse. That is the ritual that taught people who we are.

The Giving Essence centers on 78 percent naturally fermented ingredients with 5 percent niacinamide, applied after toner as a liquid hydrating step. Why ferment, and why that pairing.

Fermentation is how we coax more from plants. When ingredients steep and ferment, complex botanical material is broken into smaller, more uniform fractions that sit well in a light liquid. The Giving Essence contains a proprietary blend of 78 percent naturally fermented ingredients and an optimal 5 percent concentration of niacinamide.

I like that pairing because it joins field and lab without conflict. The fermented base brings the sensorial slip and layered hydration that essences are known for, typically applied after toner. Niacinamide supports the appearance of smoother tone and a stronger looking barrier. We kept the concentration at 5 percent because it is effective in daily use and comfortable for many skin types. Pat it in with palms, let it settle, then seal. One ritual at a time.

You discontinued a gel cream after community notes about texture, then developed Bong² Bounce Cream with Hallabong extract and ceramides. What did the field teach you there.

The community taught me to listen and act. I took this feedback to heart and decided to discontinue a product and try another type of gel cream. Now, out of the 10 products we have, the Bong Bounce Cream is our number two seller.

People wanted a lightweight gel barrier cream that still felt nourishing. We turned to Hallabong, a citrus grown on Jeju island and rich in vitamin C, for that brightening burst of hydration and juicy finish. We paired it with ceramides to support the look of a smooth barrier. You pat the gel cream as the moisturizer step to seal hydration. It is dewy without heaviness. That harvest note, citrus over a soft ceramide base, is what makes it bouncy. If a formula does not serve the ritual, I would rather pull it and replant than defend it.

If a formula does not serve the ritual, I would rather pull it and replant than defend it.

Charlotte Cho

Your Snail Mucin Eye Cream pairs 30 percent Snail Mucin Complex with 5 percent Volufiline to visibly plump, firm and smooth fine lines. How should someone use such a rich treatment around the eyes.

With a light touch and consistency. Apply a small amount around the eye area to plump and smooth, morning and evening. Warm it between ring fingers, then press gently along the orbital bone. Do not pull.

Snail mucin is interesting because it carries hydrating polysaccharides and proteins that help skin look smooth and supple. In our clinically tested eye cream, the 30 percent Snail Mucin Complex works with 5 percent Volufiline to support the appearance of firmness and soften the look of fine lines. It is an award winning bestseller, often featured in limited edition duos, because people see the change in texture with steady use. Keep the layer thin. Let it absorb before sunscreen or makeup. Ritual matters as much as formula here.

You work with leading chemists in South Korea while living a skin first philosophy rooted in Korean practice. What does that collaboration look like across a harvest year.

It looks slow on purpose. Every formula is developed in South Korea with leading cosmetic chemists, combining Korean innovation with efficacious actives. I bring what I have learned from evaluating thousands of products and working alongside Korea’s leading beauty innovators. They bring process knowledge, stability testing and access to new botanical fractions.

We talk through the plant source, the season, the extraction and how it behaves in texture. A Hallabong extract that smells fresh in a beaker can turn sharp in a jar. A fermented liquid can thin a cream. We adjust, rest the batch, test again. I would rather spend months on infusion rates and pH than rush to fill a calendar slot. That is how we keep textures luxurious and results consistent. Breakthrough innovation means little if the daily ritual does not feel good enough to repeat.

If you do not have a community, then you do not have a brand, and word of mouth remains your most powerful form of awareness. How do you earn trust without leaning on advertising spend.

By staying close and staying honest. If you do not have a community, then you do not have a brand. A brand cannot grow in this very saturated beauty market without word of mouth, and that is still the most powerful form of marketing or brand awareness.

That means we refuse to grow by advertising spend alone. We share how to use things, we answer questions, we admit when a texture misses. It takes years and years to build trust, but you can lose it overnight too. So we publish routines, we show the double cleanse, the essence press, the gel cream seal. We keep the assortment tight so each product can become a steady favourite for someone. Trust is built in the sink and at the vanity, not in claims.

From Cult Beauty in 2021 to Space NK online and 33 stores in 2024, including Manchester Trafford Centre, you expanded carefully. What guides where you root next.

Focus guides us. I have not quantified it yet, to be honest. I just want to make sure we really, truly focus on expansion. Each retail partner has to understand ritual and be willing to teach it.

Launching at Cult Beauty let us meet a community that already reads ingredient lists. Our brick and mortar debut in the UK at Space NK, online and in 33 stores, with a gondola at the newest Space NK store in Manchester Trafford Centre until December, let people touch texture before they commit. That matters for balms and gel creams. Next, we will keep the shelf small and the education clear. One or two products a year, only if they are standouts. Roots hold better when you do not overplant.

Closing note from the desk

What stays with us is the pruning. Cho removed a product that was not loved enough, kept the line at ten, and let a citrus gel cream prove that listening can be a formulation strategy. The work feels rooted rather than restrained, soil turned carefully before anything new is planted.

Then I Met You set out to fuse Korean beauty experience with an American esthetician background, and to build glass skin results through sensorial ritual. Cleansing first, essence next, moisture to seal. Read slowly, that order still holds.

Product spotlight

Living Cleansing Balm, 39 dollars for 90 grams with a 15 dollar travel size at 20 grams. A first cleanse that melts sunscreen, makeup and excess sebum without stripping or stinging eyes. Massage onto dry skin with warm hands, add water to emulsify, rinse, then follow with a water based second cleanse.

Bong² Bounce Cream, 46 dollars for 50 mL with a 17 dollar travel size at 15 mL. A lightweight gel barrier cream with Vitamin C rich Hallabong extract and ceramides for juicy, bouncy hydration. Pat as the moisturizer step to seal in essence and support the appearance of dewy, smooth skin.