Liah Yoo

Liah Yoo (born June 17, 1989) is a South Korean entrepreneur and YouTuber who founded KraveBeauty, a skincare company based in the United States. She is one of the earliest English-language creators of K-beauty content on YouTube, where her channel has accumulated more than 1.2 million subscribers. KraveBeauty, which she launched in 2017 with $50,000 in personal savings, promotes a minimalist approach to skincare and became a Certified B Corporation in 2024.

Early life and education Yoo was born on June 17, 1989, in Seoul, South Korea.

Career

YouTube Yoo began posting skincare content to YouTube in 2011 under the channel name "Yellowy Cream," which she later rebranded under her own name. During this period, her YouTube channel grew to approximately 120,000 subscribers, and she left AmorePacific in 2015 to pursue content creation full-time. The company went two years between 2020 and 2022 without introducing any new products, yet sales grew 250 percent year-over-year in 2020. Its best-known product, Great Barrier Relief, is a serum designed to support the skin barrier. In January 2025, KraveBeauty launched the Plumptuous Lip Jelly, which the company described as the world's first refillable lip oil, featuring a reusable metal applicator that eliminates 76 percent of plastic in future purchases.

Press Reset Ventures In February 2022, Yoo launched Press Reset Ventures, a $1 million venture fund financed from KraveBeauty's profits, dedicated to investing in sustainable beauty brands.

Advocacy and sustainability Yoo has been a prominent advocate for reducing overconsumption in the skincare industry. She has given a TEDx talk titled "The best way to solve the climate crisis—for brands and for consumers" at TEDxPCC. In 2023, KraveBeauty established the Anti-Consumer Consumer Grant, a $15,000 annual award for content creators focused on sustainability.

KraveBeauty has partnered with Women's Earth Alliance to establish an ethical supply chain for tamanu oil sourced from Indonesia, helping women tamanu farmers achieve a more than 50 percent increase in income. The company has donated more than $586,000 to causes supporting underrepresented communities over five years. The company holds Climate Neutral certification, is Plastic Neutral certified, and is a member of 1% for the Planet and the Climate Pledge. In 2025, she spoke at Delivering Good's Women of Impact Summit at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

Recognition Cosmopolitan, "10 Beauty Game Changers" Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards, Honorable Mention in Sustainability (2023) Beauty Independent Beacon Awards, Entrepreneur of the Year nominee (2023) Very Good Light Lightning Awards, "Thought Starter Brand of 2020" WGSN and Byrdie, "Brand to Watch" nominee Teen Vogue, "15 Beauty YouTubers to Watch" (2016)