‘Skin brings out the confidence’: Nomel’s founder on its vegan products

Founded in 2019, Nomel is a Taiwanese skincare brand that recently launched at online retailer Sephora Hong Kong. Its line of vegan products champions radiant skin, and includes cleansers, serums, moisturisers and what Nomel calls its “best-kept secret” – a hybrid face oil.

Founder, model and influencer Melinda Wang – who is married to Taiwanese actor Tony Yang You-ning – tells Mabel Lui about Nomel’s philosophy and what it means to create products specifically for Asian skin.

You studied fashion. How did you end up developing a passion for skincare?

“Coming from a background of fashion, you realise that you can wear the trendiest outfit and newest clothing, but at the same time not feel confident.

“I realised that oil really helps the skin to glow, so I wanted to reformulate that and bring that to Asia. That was the first product that came to my mind.”

On Nomel’s website, it says you make products with one core value in mind: “to provide skincare that cares”. What does that mean?

“Providing ‘skincare that cares’ is about talking to our customers to understand their needs.

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“It’s not about us teaching our customers what they need to do. We don’t have a true right and wrong or specific strategy on how you’re going to get amazing skin – it’s more about caring and educating our customers that you’re not going to have perfect skin every single day.

What are the three hero products from your line that you can’t live without?

“I would recommend the Brilliant b3 Purifying Serum because it’s a target treatment.

“The Simple Weightless Gel Cream leaves a very light, refreshing kind of texture when it’s been absorbed. It’s very moisturising.

“Lastly, our hero product, the Sincere Hybrid Boosting Oil, is a dual face oil formula. It’s 70 per cent oil with 30 per cent serum water.

“When you shake it up, it’s light and absorbent, and disproves the idea that oils are greasy or sticky.”

Nomel is targeted at Asian skin. How did you come up with your formulas?

“Asians are a bit afraid to use products that are artificial and heavy on fragrance, so for us, it was important to cater to sensitivity. And to also consider the weather.

“When you look at our hero product, that’s filling a gap in the market – you see a lot of organic oils, but they’re not necessarily suitable for Asian weather, because the formula is just sticky, it’s thick.

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“It’s more for drier weather. So when it comes to a formula, it’s the texture that’s important; it has to be very light, very refreshing and very absorbent.”

What are other Taiwanese beauty brands like in comparison to Nomel?

“They have really good formulas, but I do feel their branding is a little lacking. When it comes to finding a core message, no one really talks about being imperfect and accepting the fact that you can have weaknesses at times.

“We were always taught that we have to be confident constantly – that we have to look beautiful constantly, we have to have good skin constantly.

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“It’s normal to not be OK every single day, and to accept the fact that at different stages in life, you’re going to have different types of skin tone, you’re not going to have one specific skin type all the time.”