Katini Skin Launches At Sephora

Katini Skin, which started in luxury skincare with distribution at retailers Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, has repositioned itself as masstige and landed on Sephora’s website.

“We wanted to make sure that we are a luxury brand, but we also want to be accessible to all people,” says founder Katini Yamaoka. “So, we’re really excited to be able to share Katini Skin with more customers across America.”

The brand’s new chapter includes smaller bottles and lower prices of its signature facial oils. Previously sold in 50-ml. sizes for $75 to $115, the facial oils now come in 30-ml. versions priced from $58 to $88 exclusively for Sephora online. A Signature Body Oil priced at $85 for a 100-ml. size is also stocked on Sephora’s site.

Katini Skin has redone the copy on its packaging to specify what each product does—for example, restores skin barrier, improves texture and plumps—rather than highlighting key ingredients. The facial oils are called “oil serums” rather than separate oils and serums.

“The term ‘oil-serum’ reflects the dual nature of our formulas, nourishing like an oil, targeted like a serum,” explains Yamaoka, adding about the copy tweaks, “We wanted to shift the conversation from just what’s inside the bottle to how it transforms the skin. Many of our hero ingredients are still new to the mainstream beauty audience, so we saw an opportunity to use packaging as a tool for education and connection.”

While Yamaoka describes the formulas in the bottles as unchanged “in spirit and efficacy,” she says a natural preservation system with ethyl alcohol, botanical extracts and essential oils has joined their ingredient lists to “ensure freshness and performance over time.” She elaborates, “This enhancement allows us to scale while staying true to our roots confidently, and early customer feedback confirms that the experience is even better.”

A singer and songwriter, Yamaoka has created audio rituals timed with Katini Skin’s Sephora launch. There’s a QR code on the brand’s boxes that directs people to the audio rituals with meditative music intended to elevate their skincare routines. Yamaoka produced and wrote the songs with Grammy award-winning producer Josh Giunta, and her voice is featured in them accompanied by background vocals from an African choir. After premiering with the QR code on the packaging for Sephora, the audio rituals will expand across Katini Skin’s digital footprint on May 23.

The brand offered a preview of them on May 1 at a New York City launch event it collaborated on with Nike. The event spotlighted the product Clarity Purifying Oil Serum. Another NYC event is happening today with a panel discussion about human connection and a live performance from Yamaoka. Events are central to Katini Skin’s awareness- and community-building strategies.

Katini Skin is hopeful it will roll out to Sephora doors within a year. Global expansion is a goal for the next 24 months. Based in New York, Yamaoka, who is of Japanese and African descent and lived in Australia, says, “We do take a lot of inspiration from Africa, Japan, Australia—my cultural background and the ingredients that I grew up using—so I want to make sure that we’re available in those places and beyond.”

As it enters Sephora, Katini Skin hasn’t pulled back from department store distribution. “Our strategy has always been thoughtful and intentional,” says Yamaoka. “We’re continuing our valued relationship with Bergdorf Goodman.”

Growing up, Yamaoka learned about the power of plants in food and beauty formulas from her mother. Even at a young age, she used plant-based face oils rather than products popular among her friends from brands such as Clinique and Proactive. Yamaoka says, “I was taking mental note of all of these ingredients that are now in the Katini Skin line.”

Black Progress Resources, an organization working to diversify executive ranks, incubated Katini Skin. Yamaoka is on Black Progress Resources’ board, and the organization helped finance the brand and bring it to market in 2022. It closed a friends and family round last year and has raised a pre-seed round that’s gone toward supporting the launch. Yamaoka declined to share the amount of funding the brand has secured.

Although Sephora carries several oils from brands such as Youth To The People, Kora Organics and Summer Fridays, Katini Skin is the first brand at the beauty specialty chain solely focused on oils, according to Yamaoka. She believes its uniqueness in the category gives it the ability to own it at Sephora.

“A lot of people are realizing the amazing benefits of oils, and we have the chance to be that home for the most powerful facial oils,” she says. “I’ve seen it heal my skin. I’ve seen it heal my family’s skin and that’s something that I really wanted to share with the world. There’s an incredible power in oils, and it’s still yet to be explored by so many.”