By Ray Rogers
The corner of Greenwich Village where Charles Choi spent his formative college days at Parsons School of Design isn’t just a map coordinate; it embodies a certain aesthetic for the skin care executive. It is a neighborhood that still honors the “good-old things”—the reassuring weight of a classic apothecary bottle and the no-nonsense efficacy of a neighborhood drugstore. For Korean-born Choi, the brand director of the burgeoning beauty brand Mimmua!, those streets provided a deep immersion in the American sensibility.
When Choi set out to create the Volume Up collection, he wasn’t looking to join the trend-obsessed, high-stimulation race of modern K-beauty. He was looking for a bridge. Having cut his teeth at K-beauty retailer Nature Republic, he recognized a distinct cultural divide: While Gen Z chased the “new,” the more discerning American consumer craved something familiar, simple, and—above all—proven.
“Visual-wise, it just came naturally,” Choi says of his brand design choices. “I was constantly exposed to the general aesthetic of the American consumer market—from the food fairs at Union Square to the little cafes. It’s a more conservative market that resonates with things that feel like they’ve always belonged.”
At its heart, Mimmua! centers on a sophisticated French-patented powerhouse called Volufiline. Developed by the renowned labs at Sederma (and now owned by Croda International), it is a precise synergy of hydrogenated polyisobutene, vitamin E, and Anemarrhena asphodeloides root extract. The magic lies in the saponins within the latter. Clinical lab tests confirm these herbal compounds help differentiate fat cells in the dermis, literally plumping the skin from the inside out. In a world of topical fillers that merely sit on the surface, Volufiline offers a structural shift—a targeted, elegant approach to the hollows and fine lines that come with the intensity of city living.
But Choi understood that high-potency actives can be fickle. “Volufiline might not work for every skin,” he notes. To ground the innovation, he turned to an ingredient already familiar to health-conscious Americans: beta-glucan. Sourced from splitgill mushrooms, beta-glucan is a quiet overachiever—20 percent more hydrating than hyaluronic acid with an innate ability to soothe. By blending it with Volufiline, Choi created a “reasonable blend of actives,” employing the mushroom-derived moisture to offset potential irritation and ensure the formula is user-friendly for all skin types.
A Journey of Resilience
Choi’s path to becoming a working professional in the beauty space was anything but linear. Born in Korea and educated in his teen years in Vancouver, his trajectory shifted when his family’s financial stability collapsed during his time at Parsons. He recalls a period of pure survival in New York, living with six people in a cramped apartment and working exhausting night shifts at a karaoke bar.
“I was spiraling,” admits Choi, whose entry into the beauty world came from the most unlikely of places. One late night at the karaoke club, Choi struck up a conversation with a customer who worked at the Nature Republic store across the street. That serendipitous meeting led to a referral and a job as a sales associate, where he quickly fell in love with the science of formulas.
When the pandemic hit, and his tuition hung in the balance, it was his ex-boyfriend who stepped in with an interest-free loan of $13,000. Through relentless work in a shut-down New York warehouse, Choi paid back that debt in just one month. “I’ve been through a lot to get here,” he says. “The only reason I was able to make it was because of my ex—the one person who believed in me more than I believed in myself. I want to be that person, and I want our brand to be that person for many people.”
In an industry filled with what Choi deems “dermatological” clones—minimalist, colorless packaging—Mimmua! is striving to reclaim craftsmanship. “Beauty should be something ‘beautiful.’ It should have purpose, stand out and be desirable,” he says. To that end, the packaging carries a subtle nuance of the classic American drugstore, designed to sit comfortably on a marble vanity while delivering an elegant, plumped-skin solution.
This commitment has resonated: The signature Volume Up Time Block Serum hit $10,000 in daily sales on Amazon within just two months of launch, proving that customers are willing to invest in something that feels as good as it looks.
While Mimmua! eyes an expansion into Ulta Beauty and global markets, Choi’s heart remains focused on a mission beyond the vanity. The brand currently partners with the Salvation Army in Korea to support single mothers. “My dream is to help children in need—not just in Korea, but globally,” he says. “Since we are a global brand, my goal is to donate a portion of our profits from each country to those in need within that country.”
For Choi, skin care is about leaving a legacy of self-love. “There’s a saying in Korea: ‘Tigers leave their skin after they die.’ We all leave something behind. I want to leave my name in this industry forever.” mimmua.shop