South Korea has long been known as an innovator in beauty and skin care—it was, after all, the country of origin for the currently buzzworthy beauty trend of BB creams. Now, one of the Korea’s most popular cosmetics brands has opened its first store in Texas, right off Beltway 8 and Beechnut in the Viet Hoa International Market. Lioele Texas is the state’s first store, and a second location will be opening later this year somewhere in southeast Houston.

Like many Korean brands, Lioele caters mostly to a hyper-feminine “princess” style. The company's logo is Cinderella’s carriage, and nearly all the packaging is a perky pink. 

The company is best known for its inexpensive BB creams or beauty balms—tinted moisturizers that are marketed as all-in-one task-masters. Lioele has more than six types of beauty balms, including one made with snail extract and one that claims to possess skin-lightening benefits.

In Korea, fruit-extract facial masks are very popular, and Lioele has a huge selection. Lioele also has gel eyeliners and waterproof eye pencils that won’t melt off in Houston summers. The only drawback is the company’s selection of skin-tone colors, which were developed for the Asian market. There certainly aren’t many choices for darker-skinned ladies.

I wanted to try out something lighter, so I went with Bubi BubiTint Balm in Exotic Pinkalicious, a super-mousturizing, very sheer bright pink balm. It’s become my go-to gloss this past week—just the right amount of coverage for summer days. The best part of Lioele is that, with any purchase, you have the chance to pick out two small samples of your choice. It’s the perfect way to try out all those beauty balms and face masks.