Fiona Co Chan on sleepover makeup that acts like skincare

Youthforia started with long flights, slept in makeup and skin that looked better without it. Fiona Co Chan built a biobased line around that tension, found a hit in a green oil that turns pink, then learned how fast retail forgives a blush and remembers a foundation. This is the full story, including the closure.

Fiona Co Chan did not come from beauty. She came from tech, with work travel that took her through polluted cities in Asia and long haul flights where she slept in her makeup because life happens. That is where Youthforia begins, in Miami and San Francisco depending on the filing, but emotionally on a plane seat.

The idea was plain. In 2020 she stopped wearing daily makeup and watched her skin improve. The question that followed became the brand line. What if makeup acted as skincare, so good you could sleep in it. The name was meant to sound like happy adult moments that recall childhood, Disneyland and first lipgloss and all that.

What Youthforia became is more complicated. BYO BLUSH Color Changing Blush Oil turned TikTok views into Ulta doors, with a 4.5 star rating that held. DATE NIGHT Skin Tint Serum Foundation promised glass skin with skincare actives, then stumbled badly on deep shades in April 2024 and never fully recovered. The brand shut down on August 4, 2025 with a final sale. What we noticed, talking through the brief, is how clearly Chan understood payoff and wear, and how late she understood shade development as a trust issue rather than a line extension issue.

You worked in tech with travel to polluted Asian cities, then in 2020 you stopped daily makeup and saw your skin improve. What did that pause teach you that became Youthforia.

I test everything by sleeping in it for about two months. That sounds strange until you have lived it. I was flying a lot for work, going through very polluted cities, sleeping in makeup on long flights because there was no good option. Then in 2020 I stopped wearing makeup every day and my skin got better. That was the lightbulb. Most makeup was sitting on my skin, not working with it.

Youthforia believes that makeup is an extension of your skincare. We will not launch anything that does not make our skin better. Life happens, and we sometimes end up falling asleep with our makeup on. I wanted formulas where that night would not undo a week of skincare. I make my husband sleep in it too. He is our second tester whether he likes it or not. If neither of us wakes up congested or irritated after two months, then we talk about launch.

You have said you wanted a blush that was universally flattering, nourishing and super lightweight. The answer was a green oil that turns pink. How did BYO BLUSH come together.

I really want a blush that is universally flattering, something that is nourishing for my skin and super lightweight. I did not want powder sitting on dry skin or a cream that slid by noon. The idea was an oil with about 30 ingredients, vegan and reef safe, built on jojoba, sunflower, olive, almond and argan oils. You dab it on cheeks for a natural tint.

The green to pink shift is pH color. The oil looks green in the bottle, then dyes react to skin acidity and turn pink. That means the color differs per person, which is the surprise and delight part. My pink is not your pink. It keeps payoff sheer enough that a 13 year old with hormonal acne and my mom can both wear it. For application, fingers are fine. Dab, tap, done. No brush needed, which matters for a sleepover bag or a carry on.

You call Youthforia the brand for your inner child, for ages 13 to your mom. Who were you actually formulating for when payoff, sensitivity and price all pull in different directions.

We formulate for skincare focused and creative users, which includes sensitive, allergy prone skin. I hear from people who say, I do not know what it is, but every time I wear your primer, my acne calms down. That review stays taped in my head. It tells me the Pregame idea landed, a primer that tries to stop that inflammatory response before foundation goes on.

Age wise, the range is wide. A 13 year old dealing with hormonal acne, a college student who wants color without coverage, my mom who wants glow without weight. And Gen Z users who found us on TikTok and stayed for self care. The tradeoff we chose was to keep pricing accessible instead of doing a 200 dollar luxury foundation. Clean chemistry already costs more, biobased oils cost more, small runs cost more. We absorbed what we could so a teen could still buy the blush.

You insist on plant based, fossil fuel free, certified biobased formulas under Green Chemistry. What does that mean on the bench, and what did it rule out.

Biobased means renewable plant inputs instead of petroleum derived inputs, with lower impact formulas where we can prove it. It sounds simple. In practice it rules out a lot of easy textures. Silicones that give slip, certain film formers that give 12 hour wear, some synthetics that stabilize shade. We had to get payoff, finish, which is how matte or dewy a product looks, and wear time from oils and plant chemistry.

It also changes stability work. Plant oils oxidize. Colorants behave differently in oil than in silicone. You test longer, you reformulate more. We delayed launches rather than ship something that made skin worse. That is a business decision as much as a lab decision. Fewer launches, slower calendar, but the promise stays intact. We create makeup you can sleep in. If we cannot stand behind that, we do not ship.

DATE NIGHT was billed as your most innovative formula, medium buildable coverage with a glass skin finish and 68 percent skincare actives plus a tannin complex for sebum. What was that foundation supposed to do on skin.

Date Night was our first foundation and our most ambitious. Blend as foundation, sheer to medium, buildable so you could spot build where you need it. Glass skin here means that hydrated, light reflective look, not full matte cover. The 68 percent skincare actives were there to support skin while you wear it, and the tannin complex was there to help with the appearance of excess sebum through the day.

Wear time, meaning how long color and finish still look right, was the test. Transfer, meaning how much moves onto phone or pillow, was the second test. We ran Find Your Shade work online and tested on real people across tones, types and ages to match real skin. On good days it looked like skin, only more even. On oily skin it needed blotting by hour eight. That is honest. Most serum foundations do.

We won’t launch anything that doesn’t make our skin better.

Fiona Co Chan

Then April 29, 2024 happened. Influencer Golloria George called shade 600 tar in a bottle and literally jet black, the video passed 47 million views, and your Ulta rating for Date Night sat near 3.2 stars against 4.5 for the blush. What went wrong in shade development.

What went wrong was we launched deep shades that were not right. Shade 600 read ashy and black in a way that did not match undertone, which is the warm, cool or neutral cast beneath skin tone that makes a shade look natural or off. A foundation can have the right depth and the wrong undertone and it will still look wrong at hour one, let alone hour eight. Golloria was right to call it out.

We hired Oby Jemedafe, who came from Uoma, to lead inclusive development after. That was not a panel or a statement. That was bringing in someone who knows how to build pigment load, which is how much color is packed in, across a full range and test it on deep skin in daylight, not just in the lab. A shade extension, meaning added shades to widen a range, only works if the base formula can carry pigment without going gray or orange. Ours could not at the deepest end. We should have waited, tested more, and launched fewer shades done well rather than a number that looked complete on paper.

You went on Shark Tank season 14 episode 15 and took 400,000 dollars from Mark Cuban, sold as prestige in Ulta and Amazon with backing from True Beauty Ventures. What did retail teach you about sell through versus hype.

TikTok gave us up to 50 million views and real discovery. Shark Tank gave us capital and doors, meaning retail locations that carry a brand. Ulta gave us the truth. Sell through, which is how much actually sells versus ships to store, tells you everything. Restock tells you more. Waitlist tells you the least, because a waitlist can mean demand or it can mean we under produced one shade.

BYO Blush sold through because the concept was clear, the price at 36 dollars was reachable, the payoff worked across skin tones since pH does the customizing. Date Night sat in places because shade trust broke and because foundation is harder. People swatch before buying for a reason. They keep the receipt for anything sold as universal. Fragrance can sell on sillage, the scent trail left behind. Blush can sell on a video. Foundation sells on match. We learned that in the aisle.

Pregame Primer at 38 dollars and Pregame Setting Spray at 36 dollars were meant to bookend the routine. How were people actually using them, and where did they overperform.

Pregame Primer goes under makeup. For allergy prone users, it was the quiet hit. People used a thin layer, let it set, then foundation. The setting spray was mist to set, to extend wear while staying sleep safe in our system. Artists liked the spray for light jobs where powder would kill glow.

Overperformance came from sensitive skin users who could not wear much else. That is a small but loyal group. They reorder, they tell friends, they do not return. Underperformance came from shoppers who expected a grippy silicone primer or a cement like spray. Our finish is skin like, which means transfer is higher than a long wear matte system. If you want makeup that does not move for 16 hours, this was not that. If you want makeup that still looks like skin at dinner, it was.

You have said, what we did right with Youthforia is that we do not deny where I come from. How did that show up in the brand beyond the origin story.

What we did right with Youthforia is that we do not deny where I come from. I am Asian American, I grew up between cultures, I built a company as a non beauty outsider with my husband Chris as cofounder and CFO and COO. That shaped shade thinking early, or should have shaped it more. It shaped flavor too. Playful brights, clear bottles showing the green to pink shift, skincare like tubes. Surprise and delight, not intimidation.

It also shaped community. AAPI founders do not always get the benefit of the doubt in beauty retail. TikTok try ons, festival getting ready videos, diverse cheek tints, those were not campaigns. That was our customer filming herself. I would rather have that than a polished ad. The brand for your inner child only works if people feel invited to play.

The brand closed on August 4, 2025 with a 50 percent off final sale and remaining stock via Amazon. When you look back, what would you change about the end, and what should a founder take from it.

We closed honestly, with notice and a final sale. I would have paused Date Night sooner, fixed undertone and depth with proper wear testing, and relaunched smaller. I would have protected the blush business instead of letting foundation define us. Doors are expensive. Reorders are earned. Once trust breaks on shade, every other claim gets questioned, even the ones with data.

What I keep is the standard. Delay launch over harming skin. Keep pricing within reach. Test on real faces. Founders ask me if sleepover safe was a gimmick. It was not. It was a constraint that forced better formulas. Falling asleep in makeup happens. Making that night less punishing is worth doing, even if the brand that proved it is no longer on shelf.

Closing note from the desk

What stays after this conversation is how legible the win and the loss both are. The blush understood pH payoff, price and play, and it sold through. The foundation misunderstood how much testing deep shades require before a launch, and it stalled. Chan names both without hedging, which is rarer than it should be.

Youthforia set out to make makeup that acts as skincare, good enough to sleep in. It proved the idea in one category, missed it in another, and closed rather than drift. That clarity is worth keeping on record for the next founder who thinks a viral shade can carry a weak range.

Product spotlight

BYO BLUSH Color Changing Blush Oil, 36.00 dollars at Ulta, listed on sale at 18.00 dollars during closure coverage. A green oil that shifts to a personal pink by skin pH, built on plant oils for sheer color. Dab a small amount on cheeks and tap to blend for a natural tint that suits many tones.

DATE NIGHT Skin Tint Serum Foundation, 48.00 dollars, 35 ml slash 1.18 fl oz, seen at 32.00 dollars clearance. A medium buildable serum foundation with a glass skin finish and skincare actives plus tannin complex for the appearance of sebum control. Blend thinly as foundation and build only where needed.