The quiet evolution of Arissa Cheo

Arissa Cheo is staring nervously at two chairs, set facing each other with a large gap between them, as if they are ticking time bombs. She is about to do a video interview during our cover shoot – except that she prefers we go off-camera, as she claims she is “unnatural” in front of it. 

“Ok, let’s do it,’ Arissa finally agrees and puts her game face on. She is ravishing in a Sonia Carrasco blazer, Miu Miu tank top and Junya Watanabe x Levi’s jeans ensemble. It is hard to fathom that this It girl of the early 2000s is afraid of the very device that propelled her to fame. 

Rewind to three days ago when Arissa and I chatted for a good two hours: She tells me multiple times that she is an extremely private person, is not a celebrity, and does not understand the public’s fascination with her life.

Yet, she has been planted firmly in the limelight for over two decades now. In the early days of the Internet, she was one to watch for her stunning good looks and dreamy blog hosted on website-building service Moonfruit. Her page was filled with soothing tunes, imaginative haikus and whimsical animations. 

I had it bookmarked on my browser, because like everyone else then, I wanted to get to know the “prettiest girl in Singapore”, a nickname that originated from her time at Methodist Girls’ School.

The story behind Romi Beauty: From concept to cult-favourite brand

Now the 43-year-old entrepreneur is known for a different creative pursuit: Romi Beauty, a Singaporean beauty brand launched in 2022 with style savant Yoyo Cao and her cousin Lin Ting. Born from a lack of fuss-free products for their various needs (Arissa has sensitive skin, Yoyo travels a lot, while Lin Ting is a busy mother of two), Romi Beauty sets itself apart with versatile products infused with skincare benefits. The brand is named after a friend’s kid (meaning “dew of the sea”), and it took the trio two years of trial-and-error to formulate a line of products they were happy with.

“As part of the R&D process for the Glow Getter Treatment Mask, we tried countless sheet masks,” Arissa admits with a laugh. “We found that often, the formula feels great but doesn’t produce optimal results, or the formula is good but the sheet isn’t. So, we decided to come up with our own,” she shares. 

“My skin was not in its best condition the other day, and I had to attend a work event. I needed a quick fix to minimise my pores and even out my skin tone, so I put our mask on, and my skin was visibly brighter and smoother,” she says, as I struggle to see any pores on her luminous, porcelain-like skin. “It is one of the best – if not the best – sheet masks to hydrate and illuminate skin. To this day, all our products from Romi still continue to surprise me.”

Romi Beauty’s Glow Getter Treatment Mask sells out every two to three months, which is a testament to the cult status and efficacy of the brand’s first product. Packed with niacinamide, rice extract, triple berry complex, oligo HA and kakadu plum, it supercharges skin moisture, brightens and evens out skin tone and texture.

Arissa is in charge of Romi Beauty’s product development, a role that sees her constantly discovering and researching all types of beauty products on the market. She beams as she tells me how much she loves what she does. On average, each product requires at least a year of development from initial concept to completion.

“We begin formulation with our lab in Korea, and they provide us with initial samples that are in alignment with our banned list of ingredients,” Arissa explains. “From there, we refine the base formula and select active ingredients, adjust texture and viscosity, as well as fine tune pigment levels and shade ranges for colour products.”

The team goes through multiple iterations of each product before an optimal balance of efficacy and functionality is achieved. The same philosophy extends to its packaging, where aesthetic appeal is just as key as durability and user experience. Romi Beauty’s Dream Skin Tint’s packaging has already been changed twice since 2022.

Arissa reveals that one of their biggest challenges with Romi Beauty is the beauty landscape being oversaturated with products all claiming to be the next best thing, which leaves customers facing fatigue, scepticism, and decision paralysis.

“This makes it harder than ever for brands to truly capture their customer’s attention and earn their trust,” she says. “We need to craft products that we genuinely feel are exceptional and worthy of their trust.”

Currently, Romi Beauty has a total of six products, the latest being the Lip Treatment Repair Mask, which is infused with barrier-repairing actives and nourishing oils to revive dry lips. The brand has also just opened its first standalone store in August at Ngee Ann City, a cute mini store swathed in varying shades of pink, and fashioned after a bathroom.

“We had amazing turnouts from our pop-ups, so when the chance came to have a permanent space, we jumped at it,” Arissa discloses, after their successes at Boutiques Fairs Singapore and Merry Market at New Bahru last year. “It’s been such a rewarding journey – finally having a place where our community can come in, try the products, and actually meet us in person.”

She believes that having face time with customers also helps to take the brand further. “It’s great to be able to interact with customers, get feedback from them, and find out what they really think about our products. As a consumer, when you get to meet the people who founded the brand, it becomes more personal.”

Arissa, Yoyo and Lin Ting pride themselves on their special bond, which overcomes the complexities of adult friendships. At work, Yoyo focuses on creative marketing and creative direction, while Lin Ting is in charge of operations and finance.

“Yoyo and I always tell each other that we need to learn how to build character from Lin Ting. She is literally an angel on earth and the kindest person, so there is a lot we can learn from her,” she says, describing their friendship as harmonious. “Ting is the voice of reason in our trio, while Yoyo and I are more creative and unfiltered. We all complement one other in many ways, giving and taking in balance to shape an unspoken equilibrium in our ‘triad-ship’.”

Romi Beauty’s overall aim is to encourage selflove, and empower women to look for products that serve to improve and enhance, instead of covering up imperfections. “Empowerment is less about becoming someone else, and more about feeling confident to show up as you are,” Arissa affirms.

Their next product launch? Eye and cheek makeup, tentatively slated to be released in November this year.

Arissa Cheo: A born leader

There is a certain childlike guilelessness about Arissa that is unmistakeable the longer you spend time with her. She is honest and reflective when she speaks, often drifting off topic to divulge a little bit more about herself.

She lets on that her perceived public persona – seen as difficult and demanding – is different from her actual self, but is surprisingly matter-of-fact about it. “What is portrayed in the media usually reflects only selective aspects of an individual,” she says. “Every person is inherently multidimensional, with different facets of their identity expressed in varying ways, depending on the context or situation.”

On set, we get a glimpse of who she really is. Frequently laughing and engaging in banter, she squeals in delight at the sight of a ceramic dog being brought in for her cover shoot. Her face also lights up visibly when her Ya Kun Kaya Toast order of iced Milo and kaya butter toast arrives.

Perhaps it is a reflection of her grounded upbringing despite her privileged family background. Arissa shares that her parents always “emphasised values like responsibility, humility and empathy”.

Her father runs a family business in edible oils and is very traditional, she adds. He prefers for her not to join the family business, although he is supportive of her other ventures and is her biggest influence.

“My dad is kind and has a very good heart. He can talk to just about anyone,” she praises. She is also close to the rest of her family, which includes her mother and two younger brothers, Elroy and Hubert.

Arissa breaks into laughter as she recalls a time during her childhood when she lived with her grandmother, in a house with a garden and basketball court. “I am the oldest among my siblings, right? So I guess you could say that’s why I was very assertive and would take the lead. I would create all these silly games, like taking cardboard boxes to slide down the slopes in the garden, making everyone swim like mermaids or mermen in the pool, or getting my brothers to play with my Barbie dolls.”

Then there were the times when she and Lin Ting would experiment with clothes and accessories from her mother’s drawers, and pretend to own a fashion company. “I would design the clothes or decide on whatever we were selling, and she would be in charge of the cashier. We played such games when we were young, and it became a reality later on in life. Here we are as business partners, but this time, Ting is more in charge,” she says in amusement.

From fashion to beauty: Arissa’s entrepreneurial pivot

The sisterly duo started out with a multi-label fashion e-commerce store Carte Blanche X in 2009, partly inspired by celebrity hotspot and lifestyle boutique Kitson in Los Angeles. 

“It was a whole lifestyle,” Arissa muses. She spent 10 years in Los Angeles in total, initially moving there to do a degree in communications and film at University of Southern California. “Celebrities would hang out there, people would go in just to take pictures of the store, and they sold a look that people aspired to.

“Carte Blanche X was well-received at that time. We sold products from niche brands like Mawi, Erickson Beamon, Sretsis, Runway Dreamz, and Sass & Bide,” she recalls. “We also had our own casual wear and accessory brand Sacred Hearts X, as well as fashion articles to complement that.”

This was later followed by her eponymous fashion label Arissa X, which Arissa debuted at Singapore Fashion Week (SFW) in 2016.

“Arissa X was meant to just be a loungewear brand with T-shirts, hoodies and some accessories, but I churned out a whole collection after being offered the opportunity to present at SFW. I didn’t have any background or experience in designing clothes or even doing a fashion show back then, so I don’t think the first collection was very good,” she admits.

“But I continued with a second collection and it was way better. At the time, I somehow gravitated towards designing pieces that were edgy and a little risque, even though I hardly wore [those sexy styles].” 

Today, her style ethos has undergone a 180-degree turn. Arissa feels that she is best suited to beauty entrepreneurship (and has always been more of a beauty girl) – but if she were to launch a fashion business again, it would probably be a quiet luxury label in the spirit of The Row and Toteme.

While Arissa X is still up and running online, she is no longer actively working to continue the brand as she channels her energy into Romi Beauty. Of her various business ventures, she tries to keep sight of the bigger picture.

“My dad has shown me through example that sustaining a business is about consistency, discipline, persistence and patience. I’ve realised, through him, that longevity comes from focusing on the longterm vision,” she says candidly. “Even when the immediate challenges feel overwhelming, the ability to keep moving forward without losing sight of where you’re headed – that’s what ultimately carries a business through.”

When it comes to personal growth, Arissa thinks she is learning to act less on impulse, and be more intentional about staying calm when trying to overcome challenges.

“I’m trying to master the discipline of pausing to think before reacting. In that moment, a problem may feel catastrophic, but in hindsight, many of them often appear far less significant,” she explains. “A clear mind and calm state almost always lead to better decisions.”

A future built on hope

We wrap our video interview as the sun’s last rays slip into nightfall. Arissa is still as fresh and energetic as ever, but she breathes a sigh of relief. It has been a long day, and this is her first magazine cover shoot in eight years.

When I ask Arissa to describe this season of life, she shares that she is in an “intensively self-reflective and transitionary” stage. Her two beloved English bulldogs had recently passed on: Bowie the week before (on the day of Romi Beauty’s store opening), and Hercules in November last year.

“After Hercules passed away from heart failure, we also found out that Bowie had a heart tumour. It was my first time dealing first-hand with a death so closely, yet having to deal with Bowie’s health issues at the same time,” she sighs. “Both their passings dredged up a lot of memories and emotions, as I have had them for 12 years. It marks the end of an era, and I’m left to pick up the pieces as so much of my life has revolved around them.”

Human resilience is something she’s been thinking a lot about, which she finds both fascinating and extraordinary. “We have this innate ability to hold on to hope. In that same vein, I often remind myself that whatever comes next can’t possibly be worse than being stuck in my prolonged state of limbo. Therefore, I’m always hopeful of what is to come.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: REUBEN FOONG, ASSISTED BY: AMOS LEE
CREATIVE DIRECTION & STYLING: LENA KAMARUDIN, ASSISTED BY: KALINA WOJCICKA & ELISE WONG
ART DIRECTION: RAY TICSAY
HAIR & MAKEUP: MANISA TAN, USING REVLON PROFESSIONAL & CLE DE PEAU BEAUTE, ASSISTED BY: LENY FU
FLORAL STYLING: FAWN WORLD
LOCATION: OBJECTS.RE