[Edit: This location is now closed as of December 2018.] JKNLEE is a new-ish retailer that sells Clio Professional, Peripera, Goodal, Dr.G, Derma Dr. Lab, Soo Ae, Dermatory, Healing Bird, Botanic Bouquet, Hip Chic, Freeset and L.O.C.K Color. Don’t confuse JKNLEE as a Club Clio outpost because it sells many other brands that are manufactured from DK Cosmetics. Think of JKNLEE as home base where all of its brands are found in one convenient place, sort of like The Deciem where it houses 10 distinct brands but they can be purchased in one store. Some of their more popular brands can be found scattered in more accessible retailers. Dr. G is available in Nordstrom; Soo Ae, L.O.C.K. Color, Hip Chic and Botanic Bouquet are sold in Walmart locations; Goodal and Peripera are sold at Riley Rose (Forever 21’s K-Beauty store). Visiting the JKNLEE Chinatown, NYC location gives you the best access to all these brands. Keep an eye out for JKNLEE because I keep getting introduced to new brands from them and the line of sheet masks from Soo Ae looks more squee-worthy every time.
JKNLEE’s physical expansion representing its expansion of brands.
JKNLEE Location
2 E. Broadway, New York, NY 10002
I reiterate that it’s on EAST Broadway, not Broadway. This store is situated on a very local side of Chinatown, away from touristy side of Canal/Mott Street area. By “local” I mean restaurant signage nearby will not have English and you will probably see more of the elderly enjoying a day out. Don’t be turned off that the streets aren’t numbered – this is exactly why I made a K-Beauty Shopping Guide with Maps to help others find these local gems. JKNLEE is right across the street from the Amore/Aritaum store on Catherine Street so you get to hit two birds with one stone. They’ve expanded their store already when the little shop next door went out of business but a non-New Yorker might still think it’s small [shrug emoji]. There was a temporary JKNLEE Pop-up in South St. Seaport and it’s where I had written a blog post for the Seaport District’s blog.
P.S. Also eat at Noodle Q which is a hand-pulled noodle and beef stew place around the end of the street (but probably skip it if you don’t like high-sodium food).
P.P.S Vivi Bubble Tea and Golden Unicorn (dim sum restaurant) are also in the vicinity.
Think of it like the Korean Deciem except it’s not a social media dumpster fire.
Clio Professional
One of the first makeup brands I encountered in Korea was Clio Professional. I was easy to spot their cult products from their posters, Kill Black liquid eyeliners, Gelpresso eyeshadow sticks that slicked on easily, and Tension Lipsticks. Gong Hyo-Jin, the actress from 2010 K-drama “Pasta” is still emblazoned on a promotional poster in the NYC outpost! I only watched “Pasta” this year (I’m not normally a k-drama viewer) but I recognized her after the binge session! Previous Clio spokeswomen where kpop-singers Hyori Lee and Dara from 2NE1 (my faves)! All those cult products I saw in 2013 are still around along with new Clio lines like their color-correcting products, Prep-Step, new matte finish lip glosses and Nudism highlighting/contouring items complete with a new BB cushion. Clio has pushed a ton of new lines so it’s worth popping in to see what new. I really like the new matte lipsticks (swatched below).
Peripera
Peri is Clio’s little sister line. It’s aimed towards the younger demo and it’s a little more affordable than Clio products. With that, packaging is more playful, cutesy and covetable. Although I’m way older than this line is intended for, I can’t help but to get a ton of Peripera’s lippies. Their Lip Ink line has been my ultimate favorite! They’ve since made more products with their now-iconic ink dropper top (mascaras, other lip inks in other finishes, and bb creams). Their other products outside of the lip department are lacking in my opinion. I didn’t like their BB cushion and other makeup items haven’t really wowed me yet but I swear by their lip products. I got a few of their newer Browcara and Brow Powder Stick as a PR gift and I like the Browcara a lot. The powder stick takes some getting used to but it gives a nice gradient effect. I just got the Velvet cheek blush, mascara, and Tint Water Get in another PR gift.
Goodal
Goodal is a fermented skincare line that can be found in Club Clio stores, Urban Outfitters, Riley Rose and Haute Look. Goodal’s sleeping packs have been raved about on SokoGlam, Glow Recipe and Urban Outfitters. Their Waterest Lasting Oil also has great reviews from Tracy at fanserviced, although I personally don’t think it’s done anything amazing for my normal/dry skin. Their moisture barrier line is also well loved by her. I haven’t tried anything long enough to safely recommend anything but I have some PR waiting for review.
Dermatory top shelf, Goodal lower shelf.
Soo Ae
I first became familiar with Soo Ae when they came out with sheet masks but they’ve since expanded into some skincare since 2017. They aren’t going for the fermented angle since that’s Goodal’s territory, instead their “About Me” section described Soo Ae as specializing in sheet masks and that they aim to make your beauty routine simple, affordable and approachable. They also write that they cater to all skin types. Their mission statement seems a bit generic to me but I gotta say that they do have their sheet mask game on a pro level. They have all sorts of masks for your neck, chin, chest and ones that bubble, peel, or hologram a freaking unicorn.
L.O.C.K. Color, Dr.G, Derma Dr. Lab, Healing Bird, Dermatory
L.O.C.K. Color is a Peripera-like color cosmetics brand that launched in 2017 at Walmart locations. L.O.C.K.’s top-knotted, city-dweller cartoon character isn’t as cute as the Peripera wide-eyed, crown-wearing girl. But maybe I’m biased because I’ve been with my Peri princess for four of my adult years secretly using a tween’s lip tint for cheap! L.O.C.K.’s full makeup range is at this JKNLEE location. The few that I’ve tried is the lip cushion (which looks a lot like the Peripera Cushion Pang), and Boom Boom Mascara which has the tiniest lash brush.
Dr. G and Derma Dr. Lab. Dr.G is a cosmeceutical brand formulated by a renowned Korean lab and Derma Dr. Lab seems like it comes from the same lab or at least within the same circle of influence but it’s just a sub-line from Dr.G. The Dr.G line is more built out and has many more lines like Aquasis, Bio-RTz Mentor Cream, sheet masks, Red Blemish, Suncare, Men’s line, etc. Derma Dr. Lab only has the Hydromoist line for now. Dr. G is available at Nordstrom’s and Derma Dr. Lab is at Walmart. At a sample sale though, trade your baby in for Dr. G products though.
Dermatory is their sensitive skin line. Their ingredients are hypoallergenic and made for those who need super gentle ingredients. There are two sublines: Allantoin Moisturizing Line (orange packaging) and Azulene Cica Line (purple packaging). I picked up the Azulene cream for my brother who has really bad eczema. His skin is super flaky and inflamed because the prescribed creams he puts on is drying. His first impressions were that it helped calm it down and help with his patchiness of dead skin but I haven’t gotten an updated report since then.
Healing Bird is their scent and body care brand. It has a cute bird that a part of their cap which is a nice touch. There are body washes and lotion but I think the body washes use a ton of SLS. At first glance, I can’t say I’m a fan. I didn’t like the fragrances really, smelled too much like a hotel bathroom trying too hard.
Lifestyle – J. Gracelet is also sold in the store. JKNLEE is branded as a “lifestyle mentor” so I guess that means you can also find jewelry! I bought a pair of cute geometric earrings when JKNLEE had their pop-up in South St. Seaport. It’s very contemporary Seoul style and worth taking a look.
Comments
Hope you can visit this special store in my old neighborhood! I used to live a few blocks from this store! I followed it from the very beginning since when it was just a grey sample sale hole. I loved how I saw it transformed into a beautiful, shiny, new store that is still serving my local neighborhood and its residents. Have you visited? Did you like it? What did you buy? I’d to hear your other adventures in Chinatown!
