All-in-one developer and marketer: A Taiwanese Gen Z girl designs skincare that wins Japan’s top award

Reported and photographed by Cai Wenjun / Japan

Starting a business is tough, but doing so in a foreign country without capital or connections is even harder. However, Cao Tianqing, a Taiwanese woman born in the 1990s, leveraged her product planning experience from working in a cosmetics company and her knowledge of organic culture gained in Germany to single-handedly create the Japanese organic skincare brand “IKIIKI BOTANICS.” In just three years since its founding, the brand surpassed many local brands and won the Gold Award in the Cleansing Category of the Best Beauty Awards by Japanese beauty expert Yukirin. It has also caught the attention of major Japanese department stores, which have invited her to set up pop-up counters. Her skincare brand, which adheres to her personal principles, is gradually making its mark in Japan’s fiercely competitive beauty industry.

▲ Taiwanese girl Cao Tianqing, who single-handedly designed the Japanese organic skincare brand Ikiiki Botanics.

The starting point of Cao Tianqing’s journey into Japan’s organic skincare scene was similar to that of many overseas students—she went to Japan to study during university. With a strong interest in beauty and skincare, she joined a local Japanese cosmetics company after graduation, working in the OEM department as a brand planner. Through her role, she proposed ideas using client resources and collaborated with the company’s internal R&D and design teams to develop customized makeup and skincare brands for clients. This job gave her extensive planning experience and knowledge, laying a solid foundation for her future venture of creating her own brand.

“I’ve always wanted to develop products that carry ‘culture,’” Cao Tianqing said. While this planning work was challenging and fulfilling, it wasn’t without its downsides. As she took on more projects, she realized that all decisions had to prioritize the interests of clients and the company. If her ideas conflicted with these interests, she had to compromise unconditionally—even creating works she didn’t fully agree with. This not only clashed with her philosophy of “creating culture through products,” but also left her without owning any of the over 300 brands she planned during that time. These experiences planted the seed of entrepreneurship in her heart.

Later, she moved to Germany for three years due to her husband’s work, where she learned about the beauty of integrating organic culture into daily life in Europe, a leader in organic agriculture. After returning to Japan, she founded the organic skincare brand “IKIIKI BOTANICS” in 2014.

▲ Ikiiki Botanics’ new Christmas collection. (Photo / FromIkiiki Botanics’ Facebook page)

“IKIIKI BOTANICS” centers around a new concept of oil-extracted skincare, promoting beauty oil treatments. The brand uses the most essential parts of plants to create beauty oils, incorporating them into various skincare products. From product development to copywriting, logo design, packaging, visual design, and sales—all were managed single-handedly by Cao Tianqing. Using her limited savings, she visited numerous factories before finally partnering with a professional cosmetics manufacturer certified by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. She began turning her ideas into physical products and launched them for sale through online platforms.

Despite her extensive planning experience, Cao Tianqing had no background in marketing. “So, I tried to seize every opportunity or channel I could find,” she said. Starting with a Facebook page, she relied on friends sharing and recommending her brand, and even set up a stall at flea markets. But unlike in Taiwan, sharing alone didn’t yield significant results in Japan—she initially received only about 4–5 orders per month.

▲ Kiiki Botanics’ pop-up counter at NEWoMan.

The turning point that made the brand shine came when she received an invitation from the newly opened upscale department store NEWoMan in Shinjuku in early 2016. Impressed by IKIIKI BOTANICS’ brand image and philosophy, NEWoMan proactively messaged her to set up a pop-up counter. Within just one week, the brand gained significant visibility. Since then, it has collaborated with NEWoMan for additional pop-up counters and started receiving invitations from other renowned Japanese department stores. From now until the 25th, there will be a pop-up shop at n谷ヒカリエShinQs 1F.

▲ Kiiki Botanics’ flagship cleansing soap.

As the brand’s visibility grew, it began attracting media attention in Japan. Its signature refreshing, naturally scented cleansing soap outperformed many other skincare brands, ranking third on @COSME AWARD’s fast-rising cleansing soap list—a highly reputable Japanese beauty ranking site—and winning the Gold Award in the Cleansing Category of the Best Beauty Awards by Japanese beauty expert Yukirin.

Although the entrepreneurial journey hasn’t been easy, Cao Tianqing hopes to convey her philosophy of “creating culture through products” via the IKIIKI BOTANICS brand. By engaging users’ five senses—moisture, scent, touch—she aims to deliver a completely new kind of skincare experience.

▲ Kiiki Botanics’ pop-up shop at n谷ヒカリエShinQs 1F. (Photo / From Ikiiki Botanics’ Facebook page)