Pretti5: Is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the Future of Anti-Aging?

Just hours after the pink pickleball event, where she rallied her Hong Kong community for breast cancer awareness, Dorothy Chau boarded a plane to Osaka, bringing along a new Chinese herb recipe for her high-tech lab. This botanical formula will become the latest addition to her skincare line. With her brand already featured in Sephora and Cathay Pacific's in-flight boutique, Chau, the founder of Pretti5, a Hong Kong skincare brand, is now focusing on the next phase of global expansion.

"Botanic Pretti5 stands out by combining traditional Chinese medicine ingredients with advanced science for anti-aging and anti-stress," Chau explains. "It's crucial for our users to know what our products are made of."

In the competitive skincare market of Hong Kong, luxury brands like La Mer and Chanel dominate. However, Pretti5 has successfully found its own unique niche. Unlike Western skincare, which often focuses on surface-level solutions, and in contrast to the K-beauty approach that emphasizes multiple layers and rituals, Chau tackles the root causes of skin issues using Eastern holistic methods. By drawing on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC), Pretti5 nourishes the skin from within while also providing external protection.

Herbal elixirs such as snow mushroom, ginger, meishi mushroom, goldflower (also known as huang qin), and dry peony root are key ingredients prescribed by Chau's Chinese Medicine practitioner to treat skin and prevent irritation.

"If it's ingestible, then that means it's good for the body, right?" Chau claimed. "The result is a holistic regimen that sees skin health as a mirror of internal well-being. The products, such as the Advanced Hyaluronic Serum and Hydro-Rescue Repairing Night Mask, offer a deeply restorative path to radiance specifically designed for Asian skin."

Chau creates formulations that target various imbalances in the skin. For example, she addresses acne as "excess heat" and dryness as "Yin deficiency," successfully blending Eastern philosophies with Western precision. The benefits of her vegan products focus on recalibrating the body's core energies—Qi (氣), Yin-Yang (陰陽), and the Five Elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water)—to tackle the root causes of imbalance.

According to Chau, her products are free from alcohol, parabens, SLS, artificial fragrances, and synthetic colorants. They have earned Sephora's clean beauty seal and received Elle Beauty's Empty Bottle award, all without a marketing budget.

Many of us in Hong Kong face the challenges of pollution, humidity, and the stress of frequent travel, leading us to seek quick solutions for skin issues. Chau believes in the importance of nurturing skin resilience from within. Although the method of longevity may take time to reveal its benefits, it ultimately fosters a more sustainable approach to our overall health and harmony.

Chau's journey to create a skincare empire began not in laboratories or offices, but with a prescription from a Chinese doctor during a tumultuous period in 2019, when Hong Kong's social unrest collided with the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic. After leaving her corporate job, Chau's skin condition worsened due to chronic stress. She tried numerous products, but most only worsened her sensitivity. In search of help, she consulted a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner, who recommended an herbal soup for her to ingest. This treatment gradually improved her skin and inspired her to launch a TCM-infused skincare brand.

Pretti5 currently does not have a physical store, but this year it has expanded into the US, Japan, and Singapore markets through retail partnerships and e-commerce.

"We don't have a plan to open a permanent shop, but we will explore pop-up opportunities to create immersive brand experiences as well as provide a space for our community to meet," Chau added.

Last year, the brand launched a pop-up store in Central, Hong Kong, and organized several wellness and running events to engage with the community. Just last week, it embraced Hong Kong's pickleball craze, combining fitness and skincare to unveil its latest collection.