This as-told-to is based on a conversation with Elina Sofia Wang, founder of ESW Beauty, a Hazlet, New Jersey, clean skincare company that produces face masks, lip treatments, and eye patches. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
ESW Beauty started from my wellness journey.
I went through a battle with stomach ulcers for many years and got to a point where it was seriously detrimental to my daily life. So, I decided to eat and drink healthier.
The skincare aspect came from my experience working for my mom’s small business that distributed K-beauty, starting when I was 16.
I fell in love with skincare, especially face masks, and had the idea of creating a wellness-inspired skincare brand. The first idea was raw-juice face masks, which we launched in 2019.
It’s been quite a journey, but I’m very appreciative of everything we’ve accomplished. We’re now in 19,000 retail locations, including Target and Anthropologie. We have 18 employees, including me, and last year, we hit $11.4 million in revenue.
In late January, we launched a rebrand. It was a significant undertaking. But I felt like our packaging and visual identity no longer reflected our brand and the efficacy of our products.
The new direction feels more emotionally engaging
The idea for the rebrand was simmering in my mind for a while, and I ultimately put my foot on the gas in the summer of 2025. The catalyst was talking to senior and female company founders, as well as my business advisors, and getting their feedback.
To start, we put ideas and polls on Instagram Stories and TYB, the community rewards platform. Our community gave feedback and helped us choose the new packaging.
People loved the bolder, brighter colors and kept saying it felt more eye-catching. Overall, the feedback was that the new direction feels more emotionally engaging and draws them into the packaging in a bold, modern way that remains very ESW.
We know that aligns with our typical customer, a Gen Z girl, which we consistently see across our sales data, social analytics, and community behavior. Our strongest engagement comes from Gen Z-heavy platforms, like TikTok and Instagram, and that’s reinforced by who’s shopping on our website, joining our email list, and repeatedly buying our products.
These customers love bold, bright colors and have a fun, energetic personality. At the same time, I wanted to make sure consumers know our products have amazing formulas.
The rebrand is 10 times stronger
Originally, our packaging mainly highlighted our fruit and other extracts, like watermelon, rose water, and grapefruit.
But what drives the formula are the active ingredients, including hyaluronic acid, peptides, niacinamide, glacial water, and more. We always listed these, but they weren’t highlighted as prominently on the front. We really brought that out on the rebranded packaging.
We also added dermatologist-tested and consumer-perception claims to the packaging to emphasize efficacy. And, we put “Made in Korea” on the front because it reflects who we are, and I think that brings trust.
We also made sure our logo was large and front and center. It’s important for branding and making sure that people see who we are and recognize it right on the shelf.
Our previous packaging was strong and stood out, but now people look at it and say, “Wow, this new rebrand is just 10 times stronger.”
We’re expecting to more than double our revenue
The biggest risk with the rebrand was that it was capital-intensive, costing about $500,000. It was a full brand overhaul across every touchpoint of the business and both a creative investment and a large-scale operational transition across the entire company.
That included new visual identity development, including strategy, logo, packaging system, brand guidelines, as well as completely redesigning all primary packaging and secondary cartons, new molds, photography and creative direction, website redesign, and refreshed marketing collateral.
On the operations side, it also involved coordinating with manufacturers on new packaging components and production runs.
This spring, we’re also launching full-size skincare, including a facial mist, serum, moisturizer, and eye cream, inspired by healthy beverages and wellness themes, plus clinically active ingredients. Some are made for sensitive skin, some for eczema-prone skin.
The rebrand and new skincare together will help drive revenue. Last year’s was $11.4 million, and we’re looking to make over $20 million in 2026.
In rebranding, it’s important to carefully consider each decision and involve your community right away. The worst thing that could happen is you launch something that your community actually dislikes. The fact that we did that — we got everyone’s feedback, they loved it, we got the positive comments — really helped build that foundation.
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