Why I started JoAndrew (and what “JoAndrew” actually means)
Posted 24 June 2026 · Malk, founder
The brand is named after my two kids, Jonathan and Andrew. Jo from Jonathan, Andrew from Andrew. That’s it. No clever acronym, no Korean-sounding wordplay, no AI-generated brand story. Just their names.
How it started
I’ve been going to Korea for work twice a year since 2019. Every trip, I’d come back with a suitcase full of K-beauty — for me, for my wife, for friends who asked. The same brands kept coming up: DABO, TSUYA TSUYA, TSUYA II. None of them had any Malaysian distribution. My friends here either bought them at inflated prices from personal shoppers, or they didn’t get them at all.
In 2023, I started posting on Instagram what I was bringing back. People asked if I could ship to them. Then to their friends. Then to their offices. By the end of 2024 it was a side business taking up most weekends.
In early 2025 I incorporated as J.A. COSMEHEALTH (the legal name) and registered the brand JoAndrew (the customer-facing name). I partnered with a Korean sourcing agent who buys direct from the manufacturers, no middlemen. I negotiated wholesale rates, set up a small warehouse in KL, and started shipping properly.
What we sell (and what we don’t)
JoAndrew is focused on three Korean brands I personally use and trust: DABO, TSUYA TSUYA, and TSUYA II. I don’t carry 50 brands because I can’t honestly vouch for 50 brands. Every product on this site has been on my own bathroom counter, my wife’s, or both our parents’.
I don’t carry products with known irritants (denatured alcohol as a main ingredient, harsh fragrance, known allergens) and I don’t carry products that test on animals. If a brand I’m considering doesn’t meet these three, it doesn’t come in.
Why Malaysia, not Singapore
The site is joandrew.com.sg for historical reasons (the .com.sg was registered first, back when I was thinking SG-focused). The business is Malaysian. The warehouse is in KL. The phone is Malaysian. The WhatsApp is Malaysian. The “SG” in the URL doesn’t mean we ship from Singapore or that we’re a Singapore company — it just means we kept the original domain.
About 70% of our orders ship to Malaysian addresses. 25% go to Singapore. The rest are Brunei, Indonesia, and the occasional Thailand or Philippines order. We ship everywhere we can legally send Korean skincare with a tracked courier.
How I run this
It’s me (Malk), one part-time helper who packs orders two afternoons a week, and my wife who handles customer service when I’m not around. That’s the whole team. When you WhatsApp us, you’re reaching me. When you order, my wife or I pack your box.
No call centre. No chatbot. No outsourced support team. Just a small operation that takes 2–3 days to ship because we’re not Amazon.
What I won’t compromise on
- Authenticity. Everything we sell comes direct from the Korean manufacturer. We have invoices. If you ever doubt a product is real, WhatsApp me and I’ll send you the original Korean receipt.
- Honest descriptions. No “miracle cure”, “anti-aging breakthrough”, “celebrity secret”. If a product hydrates, I say it hydrates. I don’t promise results I can’t deliver.
- Fair prices. Our prices are roughly the same as what you’d pay in Korea, plus MY customs/duties (which we pay, not you), plus shipping. We don’t markup 200% because we could.
- Easy returns. If something’s wrong, we fix it. If you just changed your mind, 7 days to send it back unopened. See our Refund Policy.
Get in touch
If you’ve got a question, a complaint, a product request, or a story about how a product worked (or didn’t) for you, I want to hear it. WhatsApp +60 16-323 4635 or email hello@joandrew.com.sg.
Thanks for reading. Thanks even more if you order from us.
— Malk