About Us

What is Hanakoko?

"Hanakoko" is a combination of two Japanese words: 花(はな: hana) meaning "flowers", and 心(こころ: kokoro) meaning "heart". Hanakoko means "flower in your heart", it is something that is most beautiful in the world.

Hanakoko is a brand built by the girls and for the girls. Our mission is driven by the following beliefs:

  • Beauty is a way of art, it's about adding a little sparkle in your daily life. You don't need to dress fancy or be luxurious when it comes to accessories, maybe just a subtle shine on your fingertips can cheer you up all day.
  • Beauty should be easy and accessible for everyone. You don't need to be a pro in a salon to get a beautiful look done. We should offer you a way to make all those things easy and affordable.
  • Beauty is a manifestation of nature, so we need to protect nature in every way we can. That means we should minimize the use of harmful chemicals and reduce waste in all productions and usages.

About The Founder

Hi! Nice to meet you! My name is Hana, owner of this shop.

I've read many tutorials on how to brand your shop in an aspiring way, but fact is, growing up I've always been that kind of introvert kid who always preferred to sit at the last row in class and have always been extremely clumsy at self introduction.

You probably would have guessed, this kind of kids would usually end up somewhere in arts. And that's how I grew an interest in painting and visual arts.

Been raised in a traditional Asian family, naturally arts wouldn't be a good option for a career. So just like every Asian parents' good kid, I started my career in the fancy companies at first. But at some point in life I decided to give my personal interest a go.

Luckily I got my sisters' support along the way. So with the mission of bringing arts into daily life, my sisters and I started this brand called Hanakoko.

More about me and my start-up journey, you can read my personal blog here: The Shy Founder

About The Team

Some questions we got asked are: Where are you from? Where are you based? Where are your products made?

While the idea first came to life in our small condo living room in the Bay Area, we're happy to say that we're now a global team with many units all over the world.

We're a remote-friendly company, and we offer flexible working models that allow our team to explore the world while also getting the work done. So we have designers from the US, marketings in the UK, dev and ops in India, productions in Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam and Thailand.

We're honored to work with many talented individuals and studios all around the world. If you're interested in working with us, we're always hiring. You can send your CV to official@hanakoko.com and let us know what you're good at.

Our Vision

Our vision is to bring artist-level salon beauty to everyone in an easy and affordable way.

 

 All of our products follow these guidelines:

 

    What's the story of Hanakoko?

    My aunt's small manicure salon was my early art inspiration. When I first walked into her nail salon as a kid, "overwhelmed" was the word that could describe my feelings. I was thrilled by the plethora of colors and so many beautiful designs. For me, a little bit glitter on my fingertips always brightened my days.

    But at the same time I asked my aunt: "Do you really need thousands of bottles and boxes to get the style you want?"

    When the shop closed down at a financial crisis, I helped her get rid of all the remaining stock. I was so sad to see all these bottles of polishes and boxes of glitters go to waste. That was when I asked myself: "can we avoid such waste of materials but still preserve the joy of a beautiful manicure?"

    A stylish nail style usually requires at least three bottles of polishes and some extra accessories. However, most of which are not even used more than twice, as there will always be new trends coming up. The production of traditional nail polishes is involved with heavy chemicals, unpleasant scent and pollution problems, apart from all the mess and hassle from your table.

    From then on, the sisters in this family have been thinking: is there a way we can do this art in an easier way?

     

    So, we start the journey ---- "Hanakoko"


    Less damage, less waste, less pollution.

    More beauty, more peace, more love.

    We hope you love our products and enjoy life as much as we do!