Korean Beauty Brand: Holika Holika

Holika Holika is a newer Korean cosmetic brand, launching in early 2010.  In early 2013, Holika launched its American website, along with a Facebook page and twitter account.  Holika has stores throughout Asia and only one location outside of Asia, in Markham, just outside of Toronto, Canada.

This brand has a magical, witchcraft-like concept.  To me, their American counterpart seems like Urban Decay due to similar themes.  Holika's logo is a deep purple silhouette of a witch flying on a broom with stars twinkling in the background.  Holika Holika comes from the English suffix -holic, meaning addiction, and the Korean word holida, meaning temptation.  The brand's motto is "Holika Holika, cast a spell on your wishes. Holika Holika, magic cosmetics for your wishes to come true." This is a bit arbitrary, but fits with the overall magical theme.

Currently the endorsers for Holika are actor Jung Il Woo, actress Park Shin Hye and girl group Sistar. Previously CNBlue were the endorsers, which was what originally drew my attention to this brand.  Throughout the store I visited in Markham, Il Woo's face is smiling all over the place :)

Holika's prices are a bit higher than that of other Korean cosmetic brands of the same customer target, including The Face Shop and SkinFood.  In my opinion, many of the products are overpriced, but there are some reasonable items.  The nail polish, pictured below, was $8, mask sheets started at $2 and a 6 gram tin of lip butter was $11.50, all in Canadian currency.

Products range from skincare (including the adorable egg soaps packaged in egg cartons, like in the second photo) to cosmetics to BB creams (for males and females) to beauty tools.  The packaging is very charming, matching the magical fantasy theme.  You can see how this nail polish has a pretty look to it, with the glass bottle almost looking like a crystal ball.  The hue is also very unique and looks like a witch's potion, also having a similar color to Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck perfume.

To get information on my experience in Holika Holika's only store outside of Asia, check out my post on Pacific Mall.