Pi Hyeon-jung, an Ewha graduate who majored in Korean Language and Literature, is currently the director of “Brain Pi” – a Consulting and Creatives Company. She is a blogger and YouTuber who posts reviews on cosmetics and shares her knowledge on the products’ substances.
Pi currently has 87,274 followers on her Naver blog and 486,295 subscribers on YouTube. She also sits for numerous interviews and television shows as people look up to her unique way of reviewing products.
Followed by her introduction, Pi continued to reveal her fascinating experiences becoming a beauty expert.
“I was not always interested in beauty,” Pi said. “In fact, I always wanted to be a news presenter. However, that ideal was quickly lost when I failed the exams. So, I looked for something new and started my first career as a reporter.”
Pi became a reporter when she was 25 in 1994, at Kyunghyang Shinmun, a major newspaper company. Four years later, she was offered a job at ELLE Magazine as a beauty director. Here, she realized her passion in beauty.
After she left ELLE, Pi came across an idea to make a show that consulted famous cosmetic brands. With that, she was the first producer of the makeup show, “Get it Beauty.” She created the idea of blind testing products and ranking best and worst items on the show.
The show is still ongoing since its debut in 2007 and today, it is one of the most influential shows for makeup lovers. Pi’s concept of ranking products was the most influential factor, as the product that was considered the most innovative on the show was sold out immediately. After leaving the show, Pi decided to go online when she realized that people were narrowminded towards cosmetic products and makeup.
“Through my analysis of products, I wanted people to know and open their minds into the details of the types of cosmetics they are using,” Pi said.
Therefore, she attempted her try on blogging and video making in 2016 when she uploaded her first video on March 23.
“Honestly, I was biased towards beauty YouTubers,” Pi said. “I always thought that you had to be pretty in the public’s eyes to become one.”
After her first video, viewers were astonished at Pi’s uniqueness as a beauty Youtuber. A typical beauty Youtuber would focus on full makeup tutorials and receive sponsors, but Pi rather focused on the analysis of basic cosmetic products including shampoos and sunscreen. Her own way of beauty blogging gained trust from companies and viewers as it was unlike the cliché Youtubers.
“I expected the brands that I reviewed to sue me for my negative comments,” Pi said. “However, it was the opposite. One company, where I had ranked their products lowly, contacted me to thank me for my truthful review and asked me to help them improve on their products in the future.”
Furthermore, Pi mentioned that the positive feedbacks motivated her to continue her career. To end the interview, Pi gave a piece of advice for the students. “You will have to go through a lot of hardships to find out what makes you happy,” Pi said. “But learn to fight through such hardships, because in the end, you will be doing what you truly wanted to do.”