Influencer Mom-Daughter Duo Aylen Park and Sonia Lee Divulge Their Beauty Secrets

Where I’m From: Now and Gen features in-conversation pieces between generations — like a younger woman and her grandmother — discussing a topic like beauty rituals, finances, or marriage. For our latest installment, we caught up with content creator Aylen Park and her mom Sonia Lee, who, together, are known for their heartwarming mother-daughter content. Read their honest chat about beauty below.

When Aylen Park first introduced her mom, Sonia Lee, on her TikTok, viewers were quickly captivated by their multicultural household. As Korean women who’ve spent much of their lives in Argentina and now reside in the US, they seamlessly switch between talking in Korean, Spanish, and English, and cook a variety of South American and Asian recipes. Lee and her husband, who are both Korean, separately moved to Argentina as teenagers before they married and had kids. Park, who’s now 23, was raised in Buenos Aires until she was 15, when the family moved to California.

Then came the countless requests for 51-year-old Lee’s skin-care routine and beauty secrets. “My mom has always been such an It girl — I don’t know how else to explain it,” Park says. “Just her being my mom and doing super cool things, I was inspired by her. She always dressed nicely. She always had great makeup and skin care. She always had the coolest nails. Her being so interested in the beauty world, I wanted to copy everything.”

The mother-daughter duo has since garnered over 1 million followers on TikTok. From doing each other’s makeup to testing out the latest trends, Park and Lee offer glimpses into their cultural traditions, food, travels, beauty, and more. Below, the two discuss their beauty journeys; the pressure to look younger as Asian women; and the life lessons they’ve taught each other.

On Their Introduction to Beauty

Aylen Park: I actually started with an interest in nails. My mom would do her nails all the time at home. She had the nicest collection of polishes and tools, and I was so mesmerized by them. I quickly learned how to do nails by watching her and I would do hers, too. She was such a good sport — she would sit there for two hours while I did her nails and I would erase them after because I didn’t like the designs. I wasn’t really into makeup and skin care yet, but I do remember the one product that got me hooked into the makeup world. It was Benefit’s Benetint.

Sonia Lee: And Benefit’s POREfessional Primer. She didn’t even have pores yet but she loved that one. The packaging was so cute.

AP: And the Maybelline Baby Lips. But that was the extent of it. I wasn’t really interested in beauty at all in high school and it wasn’t until college, when I went back home during the pandemic, that I realized, [my mom’s] skin looked insane. I had never paid attention before, but I was like, “Wow, your skin looks good. I need to know everything about it.” And then I started sharing that on the internet, and as more people became interested, at the same time, I did, too.

SL: I started with makeup. When I moved to Argentina at around 15, 16, all my friends were wearing heavy makeup because in Argentinian culture, you’re considered a woman at that age. I copied my friends’ makeup and put on so much that my skin eventually started breaking out. At that time, there were no websites or social media, so I would put on face masks that my mom would make out of natural ingredients like potatoes, honey, or cucumbers. I was also influenced by mom, who taught me to use SPF, too. I noticed my skin got better, and that opened my eyes into the world of skin care.

On the Beauty Lessons They’ve Learned From Each Other

AP: There’s two and they’re gonna be ingrained in my brain forever. Wearing SPF 50-plus and double cleansing. It’s something my mom has done for a long time after she realized how important skin care was back then. I’ve been doing both consistently every single day since high school.

SL: I might be the mom, but I’ve learned a lot from Aylen. I always used to use the same products, but through Aylen, I learned about new, better products, and products that were more catered for me. I used to go to salons to get eyelash extensions done, but through Aylen, I learned how to put them on myself at home. I also started using eyebrow gel because of her — I didn’t even know that existed before. And LED light [therapy]. We didn’t have that before, but now I use LED light masks every night to protect the neck and the face.

On the Beauty Products They Can’t Live Without

AP: I’ll say this again and again. I think the Shiseido Eyelash Curler is irreplaceable. You cannot find any other like it. I’ve tried many. It fits your eye shape so well, and no matter how good your mascara is, if you don’t get a good curl, it doesn’t matter. Every Asian girl has one.

SL: I can’t pick just one, but my top three products are the same ones I’ve been using for more than 20 years. The Bobbi Brown Soothing Cleansing Oil, Estée Lauder night serum, and d’Alba face mist. They’re the best. If I like something, I stick with it.

On the Pressure to Uphold Korean Beauty Standards

SL: I know it sounds like a lie now, but when I was younger, people always said I looked old for my age. So in my 30s, I felt that pressure, that I had to look younger and prettier. But now, while I’m thankful for the comments telling me I look young, I don’t feel the pressure to look young or younger than Aylen or anything like that. I want to age naturally and gracefully. I think there’s beauty when you’re 50, when you’re 60. I’m not hoping to look 20 as a 50-year-old. I just hope with consistent habits, I’ll be a beautiful grandma at 60.

AP: I’ve always liked being more natural, but that is not to say that when we get the opportunity to try the newest and coolest Korean skin treatments, we won’t be the first ones to try them. For me, I don’t think it’s so much about the pressure to look younger, but earlier on, I did feel a bit of pressure to have nicer skin, especially as someone on social media who does a lot of skin-related content. I did feel insecure when my skin started to act up because I felt like, if I’m using all these great products, why is my skin not behaving the way it should? But I realized there’s some things I can’t control.

On What It’s Like to Work Together

AP: We were always very close, but as I went to college and was busy studying and hanging out with friends, we weren’t as close as we are now. I’m grateful because I feel like this gives us a chance to spend as much time as we can together. A lot of people around my age right now, they’re probably moving out or doing their own jobs, so being able to work together is such a blessing. I feel like she’s getting to live another version of life that she would have loved to live when she was younger, that she didn’t get to do. So now that we get to do that together, as mom and daughter, is super cool for me.

SL: I didn’t even imagine we would be doing something like this. I’m so thankful that people love our content and that Aylen and I are able to have this time together. Like she said, we’ve always been close, but I don’t think it’s so common for moms and daughters to be spending this much time together at this age. Aylen is really patient with me. I want to continue cherishing our time together. We’re just showing our real lives on social media, so to see people enjoying it feels like a dream.

On the Life Lessons They’ve Learned From Each Other

AP: Listen to your mom. That was so hard for me, especially when I was a little bit younger. She’d be like, “Are you sure you want to pursue this friendship?” or see that something wasn’t the best for me, and I’d think she was overreacting. But after six, seven, eight times of not listening to her and seeing how things turned out, I’ve learned to listen and value her opinions more because it’s from experience. It’s the mom intuition.

SL: She’s incredibly responsible. No matter what, she does everything she’s committed to. She might get lazy sometimes, but especially when it comes to work, she’s very professional and I really respect that. She’s really consistent and genuine, and that’s something I can learn from her too. I might be her mom, but I’ve learned a lot from her.

AP: Another thing she taught me was to be humble. I always think back to the beginning of this whole journey, when I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m grateful to all the businesses, brands, and followers that supported me then. It’s through them that I was able to get here. She always reminds me to remember where I came from and who I am and who I’ve worked with. So again, listen to your mom.

SL: We always remind each other that while our following has grown, we wouldn’t be here without them. I want us to always stay humble.

This interview has been translated, edited, and condensed for clarity.

Yerin Kim is the features editor at POPSUGAR, where she helps shape the vision for special features and packages across the network. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, she has over five years of experience in the pop culture and women’s lifestyle spaces. She’s passionate about spreading cultural sensitivity through the lenses of lifestyle, entertainment, and style.