It was a random weekday evening at the gym, and I overheard a group of girls raving over local skincare brand Sigi Skin, saying how the facial wash cleans well without over-stripping the skin and the moisturiser leaves a dewy finish over the skin.
While I tried hard not to seem overly interested, I was. I had to find out more about this vegan superfood skincare brand and what is so great about it. I contacted Sigi Skin’s founder, Xenia Wong, to tell me her story behind creating one of Singapore’s most raved skincare brands today.
At just 28 years old, Wong has accomplished what many aspire to. Starting the company at 23, she single-handedly pursued her passion for skincare, self-funding her remarkable journey into the beauty industry.
Options met Wong at the launch of her latest product — Daylight Oasis — a vitamin C brightening serum, where she hosted a casual and interactive gathering in a chalet. Dressed in a beautiful red dress with unsurprisingly flawless and dewy skin, Wong shares her story about her challenges, passion and skincare favourites.
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Could you share more about yourself and your business? What motivated you to launch it?
I founded Sigi Skin in late 2018. I’m a beauty junkie and have always been passionate about beauty products. After I graduated, I went to Seoul to pursue a beauty course with Jung Saem Mool, a popular Korean make-up artist who also started her cosmetic line.
I was there for six months, and her first lesson was to teach us how to apply skincare correctly. Her philosophy is to do skincare correctly and properly, and with good skin, it will allow you to use less make-up. This philosophy resonated with me.
I remember the master and models coming into the class; they all had flawless skin and no blemishes. That inspired me to start my skincare line to bring out the best of both worlds, clinically proven activities and superfoods together. And I wanted the products to be easy and fast for people to use skincare and build a consistent habit over time to have better skin.
In a crowded market, what gap inspired you to launch your company?
When I started the company, I wanted to show the public that effective skincare is not clinical and cold because many big skincare brands tend to be science focused. I’m not saying that this is wrong; it’s just that the positioning may seem a little intimidating.
Sigi Skin is positioned to connect with consumers and be their “best friend” or “big sister” in skincare. We made it a point to make our packaging fun while ensuring our formulations work. We placed a lot of emphasis on making the packaging fun. But it’s also functional. All of our packaging is airless and recyclable.
What were some challenges you faced at the beginning when you were starting your company?
I self-funded this business, so that was tough in the beginning. I was 23 when I started this, and being a young entrepreneur was hard. I had challenges finding an R&D team in Korea, as most factories were pushing ready-made formulas, and I wanted my brand to be different. Thankfully, after much searching, I found a few teams that believed in my vision, and today, we created our formulas from scratch.
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What are the standout moments in your career?
First and foremost was the recognition from make-up artist Daniel Martin to celebrities like Jessica Alba, Michelle Yeoh and Meghan Markle. Martin picked up our best-seller sunscreen (Morning Glow Physical Sunscreen) and featured it on his social media while raving about it to international media outlets.
We only knew about this when we started receiving many orders from the US. Until today, I am very grateful to him because he supported us early in the business. I started the brand about a year ago, and he took a chance on us.
That was our gateway to the US market, and we attended BeautyCon, a beauty convention in the US, and had a good response. This was in 2019, and Covid-19 hit after that, and we haven’t participated in a BeautyCon since, but we ship to the US and have regular orders. We have also recently launched our products in Malaysia. This year has been quite an exciting year for us.
How do you maintain market dominance, and what sets Sigi Skin apart?
I remind myself that I am, first and foremost, a consumer. And as a user myself, there are things that I look out for, such as packaging and formulation, as well as how easy it is for me to interact with a brand. That is why Sigi Skin prides itself on consistently making genuine connections with our customers. We’re always just a DM (direct message) or email away, and we always reply as soon as possible.
We will always try to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes and take the time to understand where they are coming from instead of trying to convey a message.
We are active on social media, not just to respond to our customers but also to educate them on skincare knowledge. We post content daily and focus on educational content to help our customers better understand their skin and our products.
What tips do you have for aspiring Singaporean entrepreneurs?
Always know what you don’t know and always try to learn from others. Keep an open mind and listen to what others say, be it from your team members or others out there.
What skincare tips do you recommend?
Always apply SPF! In our hot climate in Singapore, it’s easy to get sunburned badly. And even if you don’t get sunburned, sun exposure can cause pigmentation. So, it is very important always to use sunscreen.
Slay the sun with Sigi Skin
Do Sigi Skin’s products live up to the hype? I tested some of its products for seven days to replace my regular skin products, and the results were surprising.
We, of course, start with Sigi Skin’s Cleanser gel face cleanser. This facial cleanser is a gel-based one and isn’t very foamy. Perfect for sensitive skin and dry skin types, this cleanser feels soft and cleanses the skin effectively without a stripping or tight feeling after rinsing off. The product is gentle enough for those with eyelash extensions and lash lifts.
While the product claims to remove waterproof make-up, that did not work well for me. Still, as a face cleanser, this felt soothing and a favourite in my books.
After cleansing, tone up with the refreshing Dew Potion Essence Mist. I loved that this has a lovely smell and almost immediately improved my skin’s hydration, giving a nice soothing effect. This mist is also great as a midday refresher.
Due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties, the product claims to be great for acne-prone skin. It also acts as a penetration enhancer that amplifies the effectiveness of other skincare products.
Then, I layered on Sigi Skin’s newest product – Daylight Oasis Vitamin C Serum – which claims to be a medical-grade Vitamin C serum to help brighten the complexion, fade dark spots, reduce pigmentations, improve skin texture and reduce fine lines and wrinkles. That seems to be a lot promised in a single bottle.
Although I found the serum slightly oily, I appreciate its skin-improving effects. It enhanced my skin texture, creating a smoother base for make-up. One week may not be sufficient for noticeable changes in pigmentation, but I liked how it smoothed my skin.
Remember always to follow up your serum with a moisturiser. Sigi Skin’s Idyllic Fields Daytime Moisturiser is perfect for Singapore’s hot and humid weather, as the soft and light gel did not leave a sticky residue or heavy feeling on my face.
Smoother skin
The product provides stronger, softer, healthier, smoother skin daily. After a week, I did feel smoother skin overall, but I cannot tell if it is due to this moisturiser, the serum, or perhaps a combination of both.
Also, pay attention to this vital step in your daytime skincare routine: Apply sunscreen. The brand’s Morning Glow Physical Sunscreen is a waterproof and mask-friendly SPF50 sunscreen that is a hydrating vegan-based protector that safeguards your skin from UVA and UVB rays and environmental aggressors, helping prevent premature ageing.
This is Sigi Skin’s best-selling item, and I can see why. I liked that this sunscreen has a light texture and is waterproof.
While it claims to blend into the skin easily and disappears completely, leaving no white residue, I found that it did take some blending for the residue to disappear. Regardless, I think it is quite a lovely product to have in your daily skincare routine.
Get your skin ready for the day by following these steps. Start adding Sigi Skin into your skincare routine at sigiskin.com
