Nov 28, 2006

New makeup line makes Asian women beau-Thi-ful

By Catherine Nash

For Taylor Pham, the hardest part about starting her own cosmetics company wasn't securing $160,000 in startup capital, working seven days a week or securing a patent for her revolutionary false eyelashes. It was telling her parents that she wanted to be a makeup artist rather than go to college.

"After high school, I wanted to do something I really loved," said the founder of Thi Cosmetics (pronounced "tea"), a makeup line created especially for Asian women. "It was one of the toughest decisions I've ever made."

Women in the Bay Area are ecstatic that she did. Pham says that sales at her year-old company are "way over our expectations." That's impressive, considering that the line is only sold online (www.thicosmetics.com) and via private parties.

All that will change next February. ZAZA Nail Spa's second San Francisco location, in Hayes Valley, will be the first local boutique to carry the line. Several major department stores and specialty makeup stores are also courting Pham, but so far she's being selective about where she goes.

With no retail store and no advertising, loyal customers like San Jose resident Beth Wong are one reason why Thi is so popular.

"Every new Asian girl I talk to, I tell about this brand," said Wong. She uses everything from the eye shadows and blushes to the fake eyelashes, and she's a lip gloss fanatic. "The bottom of my purse is filled with [Thi] lip gloss. It's not heavy, it's not sticky, and it lasts a long time."

Pham, who is Vietnamese-American, spent 10 years as a makeup artist and found she was constantly customizing brushes and colors for her Asian clients.

"I always had trouble finding makeup for Asian women. I would mix my colors, and [my clients] would always ask me where to get them," she said.

In 2003, she started researching fake eyelashes. "Ask any photographer or model - I'm known as the lash queen," she said. "They're the biggest trick in Hollywood. You would not catch a celebrity walking down the red carpet without them."

Most fake lashes are too big for Asian women's smaller eyes, so Pham made hers shorter and thinner. She also chose a mix of human and synthetic hair for a more natural look. Fans include celebrity makeup artist Karan Mitchell, who has used the lashes on non-Asian beauties like Heidi Klum.

Another convert is local makeup artist Meagan Milano, who uses them on ABC 7's "The View from the Bay" co-host Janelle Wang. "The shorter concept is brilliant," said Milano. "Everybody wants their eyes to look bigger and more awake."

One of Pham's primary concerns was color. "When you see pictures of Asian women in magazines, they put funky colors on us - bright greens and blues," said Pham. "That's not how we want to look."

The Thi color palette emphasizes elegant neutrals. Lip glosses and eye shadows veer from the merest gossamer to pale pink to bronze, and the only shot of serious color in the bunch is a lush red lipstick. "It's not too bright. It's a velvety crimson and very classic," said Pham.

Concord resident Lisa Tom-French heard about Thi through a friend. "It's very difficult to find the right colors," she said. "With Thi, I don't look like a clown."

Gina Wu of San Francisco agrees. Tired of having makeup counter salespeople make her look like Disney's Mulan, she found the natural look she wanted by using techniques Pham taught her. "It looks like you don't have any makeup on, but you're radiant."

An eyebrow kit is in the works and there are plans for more eye shadow shades, too. Pham is currently developing a line of foundations, powders and concealers formulated with bamboo and ginseng extracts as well as white tea, a powerful antioxidant that increases skin elasticity and improves hyperpigmentation - a concern for many Asian women.

Since Asian skin is often very sensitive, Pham created her foundation without paraben, a common preservative that can be irritating. She also removed bismuth oxide from her powder formulation. "It's a cheap filler that clogs your pores and creates an ashy effect on Asian skin."

Though everything is made with Asian women in mind, Thi flatters all kinds of complexions, and Pham says more of her customers are Caucasian than anything else. The bottom line isn't ethnicity, according to Pham. "It's about showing women they can look beautiful in their own skin."