Blasian Business Spotlight: Ling’s Bling Beauty

Mixed Asian Media - May 5, 2022

By Naturally MonaLisa

I had the honor of interviewing small business owner, and fellow Blasian, Leah Lai Hing. She is from Brooklyn, NY and of mixed Chinese and Trinidadian descent. Leah started her small business called “Ling’s Bling Beauty” in 2019. Her business is cruelty free and specializes in lip care and personal care products that use all-natural ingredients. Her products also use scents and flavors that are drawn from Asia (such as lychee and Asian pear) and the Caribbean (such as mango and tropical island). Check out our interview, and make sure you check out Ling’s Bling Beauty at www.lingsblingbeauty.com.

Good morning, Leah. It’s an honor for me to speak to you and learn more about your company. Let’s start off with an introduction about you. Share with everyone your name and the name of your company.

So my name is Leah Lai Hing. I do have an Asian last name. People started calling me Ling Ling, and that’s why the name of my company is Ling’s Bling Beauty.

Ah, that makes sense now!

Yeah, and the [Chinese] character on the products, actually that's the character for beauty.

When did you start your company, and what inspired or motivated you in the first place?

I started my business in October of 2019. What motivated me? I was outside a lot, maybe getting into a little too much trouble. And I said, “I can't keep doing this. I have to do something for myself.” I love makeup and everything about self care, so that's how I got started. Actually, my brother (who passed) had a clothing company. I thought maybe I could do something like that for my business. So I started selling lip scrub. I used to love lip scrub, but I could only get it at certain places, and they would be messy. I decided to put my lip scrub in a tube so that you could just squeeze it out and it’s not as messy.

Can you share your experience starting a small business? What are some challenges, and how have you overcome them so far?

I waited, and I could have started quicker than I thought. Once I got started and got the ball rolling, I thought, “This is not hard! You could figure this out!” Google is my best friend! I can go on Google and find everything that I need. For instance, I can go on Google and research why lip scrub is good for your skin. So now I have that information, and I’m not just selling lip scrub. I can tell people the reason why they need lip scrub.

One of the challenges is, I would start to do something and then I stop. Sometimes I even take breaks. It’s hard because you put a lot of work into your business, and you don’t really see an immediate outcome. So that’s why it’s hard to keep going. Social media is especially hard because you have to make posts every day, but I have been doing better recently. I just have to do it. If I’m not present on social media, people won’t know about my business.

Let's talk about your products! I was able to get some of your samples and let me tell you, I love everything you sent me! Explain to me, why specifically lip products?

I thought I should start with a lip scrub because people don’t take care of their lips. They put tons of lipstick on, and their lips are dry underneath or their lips are so cracked and crusty. That’s not good! So let’s put the word out there. Let’s make sure your lips look nice underneath [your lipstick and lip gloss]. Make sure you use the lip scrub and lip balm. They make your lips way smoother, and the application [of my products] is way smoother too.

I’m very curious. Do you mind explaining about the Tropical Island Goddess Scrub for bikini and underarm?

One of my friends does waxing. I have known her since I was 4 years old. She started waxing (as a business), and I thought we should do a scrub together. We want to make sure you have even skin tone, very little marks, and no hyperpigmentation. I added turmeric and bromelain powder into the product, which are good for your skin. Sometimes my underarm is dark, and I don’t want that, so this product lightens the skin up. So that’s how this product came about.

Finally, we have the hydrating gel lip mask. This is very interesting because I was expecting it to be a paste, but it’s not. When I opened it, it was actually a soft mask in the shape of a lip. How did this product come about?

I watched a video where someone was using a machine to make a face mask and a lip mask. I was wondering what they used to make a lip mask, because I wanted to make my own. So I started to research about it, and turns out there’s collagen in the lip mask. When you are outside and exposed to the sun, your lips lose collagen, and that’s why your lips become dry.

Funny story about the shape of the lip mask. I couldn’t figure out how to do it, so I got cookie cutters! I got all different sizes of cookie cutters to help me make the lip shape. When the product comes out of the machine and becomes dry, I use the cookie cutters to cut them. I don’t like being stuck. You have to figure out ways to do stuff like this.

What's your most popular product?

I would say the lip scrub, especially the mango dragonfruit. Everyone loves that specific lip scrub. It was surprising to me that men love it too. I have two flavors: refreshing mint flavor and mango dragonfruit flavor. I thought the men would stay away from the fruity flavor, but they love it.

I got the idea of the flavor because I go to Starbucks, and I usually get their mango dragonfruit refresher drink. I’m Trinidadian and Chinese, and I wanted to put both cultures together into a flavor, so that’s why I settled with mango dragonfruit.

What does this business mean to you as a mixed Asian?

When I was younger, I never really understood being mixed. Everyone told me, “You're not Black” or “You're not Chinese.” No, I'm not! I'm mixed, and I'm all of those things. It took me a while to be comfortable with being mixed.

I'm Afro-Trinidadian, Indo-Trinidadian, and Chinese. I grew up with my grandfather. He came from China, and he went to Trinidad. Every Sunday, I went to Chinatown with my grandfather, so I grew up in that culture. And then of course, I grew up in the Trinidadian culture too. So it means a lot to me to have a business that showcases the mix of everything.

From this mixed background, how has that influenced the way you do business and the products that you have made so far?

My grandfather was a businessman. He had multiple businesses, like a corner store and restaurant. My grandmother from my mother's side, she used to sell peanuts with her own seasoning. Nowadays a couple of my family members are entrepreneurs and have businesses too. My family has a business background, so that's how my business happened.

This is good, because especially within the Black community, I feel like people don’t think they can do it. Now we have businesses and now we are doing things, but for a long time I feel like people didn’t think they could do it. They feel like they need a whole bunch of money, they need funds or they need connections. No, you can do it! It’s not that hard, you can really do it!

What advice do you have for other people that are interested in starting a small business?

Just start it! Don’t wait too long, and don’t think it’s gonna be too much. It’s not that hard. I psyched myself out for almost a year before I started my business. I had my logo and ideas and everything. Google helped me figure out how to do it. You can find your labels, containers, and tubes online and on Amazon. It’s not that hard. You can do it! You just have to start it and keep going.

What are the best resources for new or potential small business owners?

I would say, go to avery.com for labels. If you make your own label, they'll print it for you and send it to you. You just gotta pay for the certain amount of labels you ordered. Berlin Packaging sells every type of packaging you could think of for wholesale. Qosmedix is a company based out of Long Island that sells all the cosmetic tubes for small businesses. I use the app Picsart a lot to create my logo and put the logo on everything. And even Alibaba and Aliexpress. Those are wholesale and items come from China. It takes a little longer for the items to come, compared to if you order in the U.S., but they have good, quality items. They can print your logo on the items, and it’s not expensive at all. You can get 50 tubes for $30 from China.

It’s not hard! I think people have to get over their fear of doing it. Once you get over it, just do it!

Naturally MonaLisa wears many hats and has many passions. She is an experienced corporate trainer and a certified HR professional. She has a small YouTube Channel where she shares her personal experience with eczema and other conditions, and she promotes vegan and nontoxic products that are safe for everyone to use. She also volunteers at an advocacy group called “BLM Cantonese,” in which she translates BLM-related terms from English to Cantonese to help Cantonese speakers have difficult yet important conversations about Black Lives Matter with their family and friends. You can follow her YouTube Channel called “Naturally MonaLisa” and follow her on Instagram @NaturallyMonaLisa.