Chriselle Lim of Phlur on Turning Pain into Purpose

Sep 1, 2025

Chriselle Lim, co-owner and creative director of Phlur, is a trailblazing entrepreneur and influencer who transformed the beauty landscape. She discusses her journey from a college fashion blog to launching a successful fragrance brand. Chriselle candidly shares her struggles with beauty standards and personal identity, particularly as an Asian American. After a challenging divorce, she found healing through creativity, which led to the creation of her popular scent, Missing Person. Tune in for insights on navigating the evolving world of fragrance and influence.

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ANECDOTE

Growing Up Between Two Beauty Worlds

Chriselle Lim felt like an outlier both in the U.S. and in Korea, which shaped her relationship with beauty and identity.
She used fashion and makeup as armor to project confidence while feeling insecure until her late 20s.

ADVICE

Reclaim Your Face With A Professional Plan

Dissolving fillers can be a deliberate step to reclaim your natural appearance and long-term skincare focus.
Seek a trusted professional who gives a clear plan rather than just upselling more treatments.

INSIGHT

Creators Must Evolve Or Die

The creator industry evolved from passion projects into a major advertising and business channel.
Creators must stay nimble because the industry constantly shifts and nothing is permanent.

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When Chriselle Lim started blogging 18 years ago, she didn’t know she was building a career in what would become the most powerful industry today. During our conversation, Chriselle talks about watching the influencer industry develop from within, and how it led her to the most unexpected places. Growing up in Northern California and Korea, Chriselle felt pressured by national beauty standards, neither of which she thought she quite met. With limited Asian American representation in popular culture, she turned to fashion to project an air of confidence. She became the representation she always wanted as her digital audience grew.

Her success in creatively directing her online presence resulted in an opportunity to join Phlur as co-owner and creative director. As with her own style, she merged her passion for storytelling with a beautiful product and helped turn the fragrance brand into one of the most popular on the market. Her impeccable taste and close attention to what fans want have led to Phlur’s placement in 500 Sephoras and other international retailers. During her rising professional success, Chriselle went through a divorce. Again, she turned to her creativity to project closeness and confidence in her life, which led to the development of Phlur’s hero scent, Missing Person. Her talent and storytelling led to a 250,000-person waitlist of people who resonated with Chriselle’s visionary approach to scent and story.

Tune in as we discuss:

(4:16) What her beauty experiences were like as an Asian American teen
(7:08) What led her to dissolve her facial fillers
(27:30) Her scent predictions for the future
(43:34) The books she can’t get enough of

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