Korean Skincare, Melasma, Inflammation Peptides & Why Your Fragrance Wardrobe Matters | Chriselle Lim

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I didn't know what to expect from this conversation going in - Chriselle Lim is someone I'd heard about through Tina Chen Craig, who as Chriselle points out seems to know everyone on the planet and is apparently doing agent work for free. When she walked into the studio in LA I could see immediately why her following trusts her. She has the kind of openness that makes you feel like you've known her for years. It turns out her followers have - many of them have been with her for two decades, since YouTube tutorials in college about how to wear a scarf a hundred different ways.

What I love about her story is how it mirrors the stories I hear from so many women in their early forties right now. She turned 40 feeling invincible - "aging has nothing on me" was the vibe - and then within a few months, she lifted her hair and found grey coming in from the mid-scalp, and she developed melasma. Both at once. And instead of spiraling, she dove in. We talked through the full correction protocol she's been on: SPF 70 (daily and reapplied), glycolic acid, vitamin C, prescribed retinal, hydroquinone 10% (which she applied before a day at Disneyland and her face started peeling off in the sun - a cautionary tale), and aggressive barrier care to balance all the actives. Tina Cheng Craig, their mutual connector, apparently scolded Chriselle about using hot water on her face. "You have melasma because you're overheating your body." Tina's rules apply to everyone.

The PHLUR story is the part of this conversation I keep thinking about. She acquired the brand in 2021 while going through her divorce - a brand she'd trusted since becoming a mom because it listed every ingredient on the packaging, at a time when almost no fragrance brand did. "Missing Person" came out of that season: she was missing feeling loved, missing connection, missing a moment in time. The scent is a skin musk, almost invisible, becomes your skin. 250,000 people joined a waitlist before anyone had smelled it. On TikTok you can find thousands of videos of people opening it for the first time and crying - because it reminds them of a grandmother who passed, or a best friend who moved away. A scent that became therapy. Their newest release, "Honeymoon," was inspired by lying in bed during the darkest nights of the divorce and seeing the moon shining through the open curtains. "Even in the darkest of nights," she said, "there's hope." I believe her.

A few of my favorite things we cover in this episode: 

• 20 years as a content creator — from YouTube tutorials in college to 250,000 people on a waitlist for a fragrance they'd never smelled
• The followers who grew up with her: they started following her during fashion/college content, are now entering perimenopause, going through divorce, and want real life more than style guides
• Sharing a miscarriage online 12 years ago when nobody talked about those things — the moment that changed what her platform became
• Turning 40, feeling invincible — then discovering melasma and grey hairs in the same week: "holy shit, it's coming"
• Her full skincare protocol for melasma correction: SPF 70, glycolic acid, vitamin C serum, prescribed retinol, hydroquinone 10% (which burned her face at Disneyland), and heavy barrier care (Allies of Skin, growth factor serum)
• Tina Cheng Craig scolded her about hot water on her face: "You have melasma because you're overheating your body"
• PHLUR acquisition in 2021 during her divorce — a brand she'd trusted since becoming a mom because it listed all its ingredients on the packaging
• "Missing Person": developed while going through divorce, missing feeling loved — a skin musk that became people's skin. 250,000-person waitlist for a scent nobody had smelled. TikTokers opening it on camera and crying because it reminded them of a grandmother who passed, a best friend who moved away
• "Father Figure": inspired by playing both parental roles as a single mom — a fig scent that's truly unisex, balancing confidence and tenderness
• New: "Honeymoon" (launching mid-March) — mandarin, lavender, manuka honey, sand tonka, vanilla bean — inspired by lying in bed during the darkest nights and seeing the moon shining through: "even in the darkest of nights, there's hope"
• Fragrance wardrobe and scent layering: like fashion mixing and matching — all PHLUR scents are designed to layer, no rules, start with Missing Person as the base
• The "nose": the actual perfumer inside the fragrance houses — often trained in France or New York — who understands chemicals the way chemists do
• Clean vs. transparent: PHLUR chose not to use the word "clean" because it's unregulated and means different things to everyone — transparency is more important
• Thymosin Alpha-1: one year in, was getting sick 1-2x/month from traveling — now rarely gets sick, body fights things off faster (low white blood cells was the underlying issue)
• Food sensitivity testing (yeast intolerance discovered 4 years ago) changed her life more than any supplement protocol

Products Mentioned:  

• PHLUR — phlur.com / @phlur on Instagram

• • Missing Person (skin musk — hero scent, #1 bestseller)
  • Missing Person Body Oil (more intense base layer)
  • Father Figure (fig scent — unisex, inspired by single parenthood)
  • Cherry Stem (dark lacquer cherry, wood base)
  • Honeymoon (mandarin, lavender, manuka honey, sand tonka, vanilla bean)

• @chrisellelim on Instagram and TikTok
• Chriselle Lim on Substack
• Allies of Skin — barrier serum and growth factor serum (Chriselle's current skincare picks)

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In Health,

Dr. Will Cole