How Rael Disrupted The $52B Feminine Care Market With K-Beauty Innovation

Forbes

4 days ago

Yanghee Pail, Founder & CEO
Rael
When Yanghee Paik immigrated to the United States from Korea to attend Harvard Business School, she envisioned a future revolutionizing the Korean entertainment industry in Hollywood. Instead, she rewrote the rules of an entirely different industry—feminine care.
"I had a very different vision when I was in my 20s," Paik said. "When I wrote my MBA application, I talked about how I wanted to be the person revolutionizing the Korean entertainment business by learning in Hollywood."
After a successful career at Disney in strategy and digital content distribution, Paik yearned for more impact and agility—something she couldn't find inside a massive corporation. "I felt like a small piece in a huge machine... I started thinking that I wanted to be on the other side."
What followed was an unexpected dinner with journalist-turned-co-founder Aness An, who asked Paik a simple question, "Do you know anything about how pads and tampons are made?" The answer sparked what would become Rael, a fast-growing holistic wellness brand at the intersection of K-beauty technology and clean, organic feminine care.
Rael's journey from a $2 million startup to a global wellness brand worth nine figures was not driven by flashy marketing or celebrity endorsements. It began with a focused, data-driven strategy that prioritized product excellence, consumer behavior insights, and digital-first distribution.
Holistic Cycle Care With K-Beauty Technology
Rael
"Back in 2017, everybody was jumping into a direct-to-consumer model... But we wanted to be more efficient, and we wanted to be where women are ready to purchase," said Paik.
Their research revealed that women were actively searching for organic pads on Amazon, but they had few quality options. Rael entered the platform with Korean-made, organic cotton cover pads and invested heavily in high-conversion product pages, optimized listings, and visual education.
'We didn't do any brand marketing when we started... But our goal was to launch the products, gain a lot of honest reviews, and then continue evolving, upgrading the products to perfect them before we go out to the retailers.'
That strategy paid off quickly. "Within less than six months, we became the number one organic pad on Amazon," said Paik. "Since 2017, we have consistently ranked as the number one pad on Amazon in the feminine pad category."
Rael now stands in a market with enormous potential. According to Statista, the global feminine hygiene market is valued at $52.31 billion, with the U.S. market alone at $6.70 billion. The sector is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.83% between 2025 and 2029, signaling significant room for innovation, disruption, and expansion.
Rael's retail footprint is rapidly expanding, and the way consumers access holistic feminine care is evolving. Today, Rael products are available in over 20,000 retail locations throughout the United States. In 2025, Rael is executing its most ambitious retail expansion to date. Walmart introduced the brand's best-selling organic period care line in 1,549 stores in May, followed by the rollout of its cramp relief collection, including its popular menstrual heating patch, in 2,700 stores this June. Ulta Beauty plans to expand to 300 physical locations by July, blending Rael's skincare and period care into a single retail experience. Meanwhile, Walgreens will bring Rael's comprehensive line of hormone-conscious products, including period care, cramp relief, skincare, and intimate wellness, to 5,000 stores nationwide starting in July.
"These retail partnerships are more than just expansion—they represent a shift in how we approach cycle syncing and self-care in the U.S.," said Paik. "Our mission has always been to make clean, high-performance cycle care accessible to all."
Rather than relying on a single hero SKU, Rael strategically expanded its product line to deepen wallet share and brand loyalty. From pads and tampons, they moved into skincare, intimate care, and supplements, all tied to what Paik describes as "holistic cycle care."
"We wanted to take care of women not only for that one week when they're bleeding but throughout the four weeks of the cycle," she said.
Sales are now divided almost equally between feminine care and skincare, with the best-selling products being their organic cotton pads and pimple patches.
Rael's TikTok strategy became a powerful growth engine, with over 600,000 followers. "We've been pushing a lot of educational yet entertaining content," said Paik. 'Breaking the taboos and then making it normal to talk about periods.'
Their international expansion—especially the rapidly scaling Korean market—now accounts for over 20% of global revenue. With its sights set on Japan, Southeast Asia, Canada, and Europe, Rael is positioning itself as a global leader in cycle care. "We use the Korean angle to go to Japan and Southeast Asia because there's a lot more affinity to Korean brands and Korean content in those Asian markets," said Paik.
Rael is carving out a niche in the $6.9 billion U.S. market, which has long been dominated by multinational giants such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, and Edgewell Personal Care. Despite these incumbents, Rael's combination of clean innovation, K-beauty science, and cycle care storytelling positions it as a formidable disruptor.
In addition to its tremendous revenue growth, Rael is committed to corporate social responsibility. Since 2019, the company has donated over 4 million units of period products in partnership with I Support the Girls. This non-profit organization collects and distributes essential items—including bras, underwear, and menstrual hygiene products—empowering women experiencing homelessness, impoverishment, or distress to stand tall with dignity.
Two-thirds of the 16.9 million low-income women in the U.S. couldn't afford menstrual products in the past year, and half had to choose between period care and food. After the devastating wildfires in January 2025, Rael donated 2.2 million units to those affected in Los Angeles, working through I Support the Girls, Baby2Baby, The Pad Project, and Brown Bag Lady.
Paik's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly women of color, shares invaluable insights on embracing your story.
"I always felt so disadvantaged in the U.S. market as an immigrant... But now I'm using my difference, my cultural uniqueness, as my strength," she said.