Biodance Sold 360 Million Masks After Its Founder’s Car Accident

Biodance has sold 360 million face masks over the several years since its 2021 launch, founder Mihwa Kim told ELLE in its Office Hours series. The K-beauty company has achieved global success, according to the profile. It has expanded from masks into creams and serums and has just launched a hydrogel neck patch.

ELLE’s Office Hours series asks people in powerful positions to trace their first jobs, worst jobs and the turns between them. Kim fits that brief through a business born from personal injury, ingredient research and a recovery material she knew firsthand.

What was Kim’s first job?

Kim began as a TV shopping host introducing beauty products to viewers. She wanted to try many products herself, explain their differences and outline their benefits. She says the role felt more like a favorite hobby than a job.

While in school, Kim also held part-time jobs and internships. She calls roles that left no room for curiosity her worst fits. Her primary interest, she says, is asking questions, changing what does not work and taking each subject as deep as possible.

What changed after the car accident?

A huge car accident during Kim’s TV shopping career left 60 stitches across her face, along with a burn and scars. The injuries cost her confidence in appearing on camera. She also questioned whether she could face people in person, asking: “Can I really go outside with my skin like this?”

Kim sought advice from dermatologists and used the products they recommended for skin recovery. That process intensified her interest in the ingredients she put on her face, their effectiveness and the evidence behind them. She read cosmetics research papers and went deep into ingredient efficacy. Kim calls the period dark, but says she can now discuss it with a smile because overcoming it led to her career as a cosmetic brand founder.

How did wound care lead to a beauty product?

Kim discovered hydrogel while healing. She describes hydrogel as gel sheets of hydrating material often used in wound care and saw an opportunity to bring it to a mass audience. That insight led to Biodance’s face masks.

After stitches and laser treatments, she relied heavily on medical-grade scar patches. Kim says different types share the same 3-D gel matrix, with a structure identical across hydrogel scar patches. She says the structure protects the skin, lets it breathe inside the gel and allows skin to heal on its own terms.

She used the patches heavily and credits them for her face’s current appearance despite the 60 stitches and heavy wounds. The same personal experience supplied the product foundation for a brand now known for hydrogel skincare.

How did Biodance win consumers?

Kim says Biodance pioneered the “transforming hydrogel” category, which she believes did not previously exist in the world. Her account of that strategy is direct: “We didn’t rely on marketing to grow the brand. It was the products that led to our growth.”

Building, developing and launching the hydrogel collagen mask was, in Kim’s words, a huge challenge. Everybody told her it would not be easy, and the first launch proved difficult. Her deep understanding of hydrogel as a material and confidence in the product sustained her when others said no.

At the time, TikTok was rising as a new social media platform. With help from platforms such as Amazon, consumers who loved the product spread the word, according to Kim. They left reviews and recommended it to friends through social media.

Kim credits K-beauty’s skincare performance to excellent technology that gives brands the foundation to attempt innovations. She also says U.S. consumers have faith in K-beauty products and brands because they trust the efficacy of products made with that technology.

What advice does Kim give founders?

Kim’s career advice starts with self-knowledge: know what she is good at, identify what she may not be good at and seek help. She urges people not to fear asking for support in areas where they lack expertise. They should find the best-equipped person for that work and combine that person’s strengths with their own.

The next challenge for Biodance is extending the efficacy-first model Kim credits for its growth into creams, serums and the newly launched hydrogel neck patch.