Anua

Anua launched in 2018 as a digital-native indie brand under the parent company Joonghyun. The bet: pick one undervalued Korean medicinal plant — heartleaf (Houttuynia cordata, known in Korean as "yameocho" 어성초) — and build an entire skincare line around it. At the time heartleaf was an obscure traditional remedy for inflamed skin; now Anua is the #1 K-beauty brand on TikTok (2024-2025) and heartleaf is on every Western indie brand's 2026 trend list.

What set Anua apart wasn't the marketing. It was that the Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner did exactly what its name said. 77% heartleaf extract is the actual ingredient #1 on the INCI list — not a sub-1% finish. The texture is watery, the smell is faintly grassy, and the result on inflamed acne-prone skin is measurable: brand trials report >60% of users seeing reduced redness within 4 weeks.

Anua expanded into rice (Rice 70 line — 2023) and PDRN (salmon DNA — 2025) using the same playbook: one hero ingredient per product, concentration disclosed, formulation kept minimal. The Rice 70 Glow Serum has become the gateway for users who tried snail mucin and want something that targets pigmentation without prescription retinol.

Anua doesn't publish its lab location publicly. Production is contract-manufactured by Cosmax (Korea's largest OEM, also produces for Estée Lauder and Shiseido), which is standard for Korean indie brands at this price point.