Sometimes, it takes a sudden shock to the system to encourage change.
At least, that’s what encouraged Yifon Law to start Lips Carpenter.
Growing up in Sekinchan, a small town in Selangor, Yifon went on to pursue actuarial science from the University of Michigan. She spent years building a successful career as an actuary, both in the United States and in Malaysia.
“But amidst the spreadsheets and algorithms, something felt missing,” she expressed to Vulcan Post. “I have always wanted something where I could actually see the difference I was making. Like, really help people in a way that mattered.”
Although she was driven by this motivation, it took a series of personal health scares to catalyse a new chapter in Yifon’s life.
A personal pain point
The story began in 2018, when Yifon witnessed a series of health challenges within her family and herself.
“I became increasingly aware of the harmful chemicals lurking in everyday cosmetics and struggled to find lip products that were both natural and effective,” she said. “As a busy professional, I barely had time for myself, let alone to research and decipher complicated ingredient lists.”
It was an incident in her professional life that caused her to relook at things.
One day, right before a presentation, Yifon’s lips were so cracked and dry that she felt uncomfortable and embarrassed. Out of desperation, she decided to rush to a drugstore to grab a lip balm. However, it only caused more irritation, leading to swollen lips.
“I remember feeling so frustrated and defeated,” she said. “That’s when I felt there had to be a better way.”
Since Yifon’s sister, Yi-Xian, is also passionate about natural living, the duo began experimenting in their brother’s apartment to create lip care that is safe, effective, and empowering.
They carried out thousands of experiments to understand the chemistry behind natural ingredients and find formulations that work best on skin and lips.
“We don’t just grab any ingredients,” Yifon added. “As a small business, sourcing natural alternative ingredients from all over the world is tough. With low volume, sometimes they might not even bother to entertain us.”
But they didn’t want to go to a factory and get OEM-ready products. They wanted clean products that truly work. They wanted to offer busy women a clean, convenient, and beautiful alternative to conventional lip products, all with a touch of personalisation.
“And so, Lips Carpenter was born, designed for the modern woman: juggling life, craving healthier clean beauty that works, and wanting something uniquely theirs,” Yifon concluded.
Taking the leap of faith
With no entrepreneurial experience, starting Lips Carpenter was a big decision for Yifon.
“Taking the leap to start Lips Carpenter was a real step outside my comfort zone especially for someone who was deemed to have a good career,” she explained.
Thankfully, the sisters have incredibly supportive family members that encouraged them to continue with the business.
They admitted, though, that they were rather naive when Lips Carpenter first started.
“We had this big dream of empowering women globally with natural beauty, but we were total newbies to entrepreneurship,” Yifon recalled. “We thought, ‘We’ll make amazing products, and everyone will love them!’ If only it were that simple.”
The early days were a whirlwind, with the sisters doing everything from mixing ingredients to shipping boxes themselves. Through trial and error, they picked up skills such as marketing and financial management.
Eventually, though, they realised they couldn’t do it all alone and began to build their team.
Today, the sisters are leading a small but mighty all-female team.
“We’ve been taking small steps, learning from every challenge and celebrating every win. It’s definitely been an incredible journey, but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing,” Yifon shared. “We’re still learning and growing every day.”
Not just lip service
Lips Carpenter works with a local manufacturer in the Klang Valley who shares their commitment to quality and ethical practices. Each lipstick, including the beautiful packaging, is carefully crafted, with a name engraving service to add that personal flair.
However, the competition is fiercer than ever, with new clean beauty brands popping up every now and then. And sometimes, these companies have bigger budgets for louder campaigns.
“We’re a ‘heart on our sleeve’ brand,” Yifon described. “We aren’t the loudest, and marketing wasn’t our strength, especially early on. The actuary in me, ever conservative, isn’t always the most effective approach in the world of marketing.”
Along the journey, though, they learnt that even the best products need to be known. For the world to know about their benefits, they need to shout about it.
With a renewed focus on marketing as well as strong loyalty amongst customers, Lips Carpenter has been chosen by many companies for gifting purposes.
Nowadays, corporate gifting is all about offering unique, meaningful, and health-conscious gifts, which is why Lips Carpenter makes for a great option.
“Most of our corporate orders come through referrals and recommendations from our amazing customers,” Yifon shared.
Beyond corporate orders, they also do co-branded collabs, such as working with hotels to offer natural lip care for guests during their stay or with F&B brands launching co-branded products that reflect the shared values of both brands.
Building a sustainable business
As a bootstrapped startup, Lips Carpenter ensures all earnings are reinvested into the business.
This will fuel the expansion of the business’ natural beauty product lines, as well as increase their online and retail presence.
From there, Yifon and Yi-Xian envision Lips Carpenter to grow into a global brand that empowers modern women everywhere to embrace their natural beauty.
Powering this vision is not just the sisters, but their whole team. After all, a strong team, Yifon believes, is crucial when building a brand.
That, and perseverance. “Never give up, even when things get tough,” she reminded.
She also advised, “Don’t be afraid to take that first step. Things appear hard before you start. Once you do, you’ll find that you’re capable of achieving more than you ever imagined.”
As an actuary with a stable career, she had all the reasons not to take that first step. But now, six years into running Lips Carpenter, the journey seems to have paid off.
- Learn more about Lips Carpenter here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Featured Image Credit: Lips Carpenter
