David Chung, The Visionary Behind Farmacy, The Rootist And ILabs, Talks Beauty Tariffs—And His Boldest Venture Yet

Forbes

25-05-2025

David Chung, founder and CEO of iLabs, headquartered in Mahwah, NJ, with global operations.
When Modere, a 23-year-old health and wellness MLM, abruptly shut down on April 11, 2025, it left thousands of direct-selling distributors without income or warning. It reignited age-old questions about the viability of multi-level marketing models, as the Utah company joined a domino line of similar companies—like Beautycounter, Seint, Rodan + Fields, Epicure,—that have recently shuttered or quick-pivoted to affiliate marketing.
Despite the fallout, serial beauty entrepreneur David Chung remains steadfast in his vision for Amare Global, a mental wellness and supplements company he acquired last year for an estimated $60 to $80 million.
'I wasn't actively looking to buy another company, but ... I looked into it and saw a lot of potential, despite the challenges.'
His goal: to redefine what direct selling can be in beauty and wellness.
'I'm always hungry to grow and make a difference—not just financially, but by bringing value to society,' says Chung, a philanthropist and advocate for Korean-American and AAPI communities.
Known for creating beloved brands like Farmacy Beauty and The Rootist, Chung is no stranger to innovation. With Amare Global, he sees an opportunity to essentially rebrand the MLM model—offering transparency, science-backed products, and a more sustainable path to income.
'My journey as an entrepreneur started from humble beginnings,' he reflects. David grew up in South Korea before moving to Queens, NY at age 11. His mother, Judith, opened a small cosmetics shop, which expanded into the Cici Korean Shopping Center. Chung witnessed how his mother's brick-and-mortar helped shape and build Koreatown in New York City.
In honor of her, Chung created the Judith Ehm Foundation to support public charities that help Korean-Americans, Asian-Americans, and the broader community with education, social services, and healthcare.
David Chung's mother, Judith Chungwon Ehm Chung, was one of the pioneers of Korea Town on 32nd Street in New York City, and a central figure in the Korean American community for decades.
'She passed on a mindset of perseverance and grit that still drives me today,' he says.
By the age of 25, Chung opened his first business, Nova Imports, and became a distributor for luxury Italian designer Emilio Pucci. He soon expanded into beauty, launching retail stores like Mona's in New Jersey and Cosmetic World in California, which sold luxury skincare brands like Dior and La Prairie. In 2003, he created his own high-tech skincare line, 3LAB, which became a top seller at Barneys New York.
To enhance product innovation, Chung founded Englewood Lab, a New Jersey-based R&D and manufacturing hub that served over 100 global brands, including L'Oréal and Clinique. In 2018, he sold a majority stake in Englewood Lab for $53.7 million, shifting focus to Farmacy, a clean skincare brand he had founded in 2015.
Farmacy pioneered a 'farm to face' philosophy, using responsibly sourced ingredients and bypassing raw material vendors to work directly with farmers. 'We had to remove 80% of the ingredients and replace them with cleaner, natural materials,' Chung said. 'We launched with Sephora and never looked back. And it ended with a beautiful exit.' The brand's star product, Green Clean Makeup Meltaway Cleansing Balm, became a cult favorite. The company's rapid rise led to a reported $350 million acquisition by Procter & Gamble in 2021, according to the Korea Economic Daily.
Building on that success, Chung in 2023 launched iLabs, a vertically integrated product development and manufacturing center in NJ serving both indie and global beauty brands. It offers R&D, formulations, and other turnkey contract manufacturing services for skin, body and hair brands. Its sprawling, state-of-the-art headquarters in New Jersey, employs his team of chemists, scientists and engineers. He later added Morae Packaging to offer sustainable packaging solutions. He then founded The Beauty Bank to incubate branding, digital marketing, PR and e-commerce operations for its brands. Today, Chung oversees nearly 1,000 employees across his portfolio of companies.
The Beauty Bank developed branding for The Rootist, a haircare line focused on scalp health and sustainability, which launched exclusively with Sephora North America in February 2024. Its ultra-concentrated formulas minimize water and packaging waste. 'Most shampoos and conditioners contain 70 to 90% water,' Chung explains. 'That means unnecessarily large bottles and excessive plastic waste are moving around the world to landfills.'
Chung's latest venture—his acquisition of Amare Global in January 2024—aims to leave a larger legacy. Founded in 2016 by Hiep Tran, Amare offers wellness supplements rooted in gut-brain axis research, a field that links gut health to emotional wellbeing. The challenge? Amare operates through a direct-sales model.
But Chung is undeterred. He believes Amare represents the future of wellness—and of direct selling itself. Here he discusses how his vertically integrated iLabs ecosystem paired with his philosophy of grit and giving back is the perfect formula for rebranding and restructuring Amare.
Before we discuss your latest venture, let's talk tariffs. How will the tariffs affect cosmetic manufacturing and packaging, and iLabs in particular?
China has been hit harder than any other country, and if these tariffs stick around or get worse, it could make it nearly impossible for us to continue sourcing materials from there. That's especially challenging when it comes to packaging materials for beauty products, which is where we're feeling the most impact.
This shift is opening new opportunities for iLabs. Luckily iLABs has manufacturing in both the U.S. and South Korea, which is a low tariff jurisdiction. Some of the skincare brands that used to manufacture abroad and ship to the U.S. are now reaching out to us to produce here instead.
From a formula perspective, our R&D expertise allows us to help our customers switch out raw materials from China to low-tariff countries.
We also have our own packaging company, Morae Packaging, so we directly manufacture glass and plastic components which avoids tariff uncertainty from China.
So, while the situation isn't easy, it's also pushing us—and our partners—to be more agile. It gives iLabs the opportunity to step up as a go-to partner for brands that want to manufacture closer to home, move faster, and reduce risk in a changing global market.
Let's move on to Amare. In a climate where MLMs are not welcomed with open arms, why did you choose to acquire Amare?
I wasn't actively looking to buy another company, but one of my employees introduced me to Amare, which was facing a financial crisis. I looked into it and saw a lot of potential, despite the challenges. The company was mismanaged—financially and strategically—and had made some costly mistakes with a previous acquisition. But I knew that with my resources, experience, and the companies I've built, like iLabs and Rootist, I could turn it around.
Within months of acquisition, we paid off debt and restructured operations.
What's next for Amare?
In 2025, Amare is on track for over $200 million in net sales. Our vision is to grow that to $1 billion within the next three years. We've already implemented key changes: a new management team and centralized operations for materials and manufacturing. Sales and marketing remain in Utah, but we're building operations in New Jersey.
This isn't just another direct selling company. We're reshaping the future of direct sales into what we call Next Generation Marketing. Traditional MLM models are outdated. People learn about products on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and live shopping platforms. Our sellers should be able to educate, promote, and earn income in real time and from a direct website or social platform. Its future is affiliate-driven and transparent.
How does Amare address mental wellness issues?
This category is broad and urgent—people are dealing with stress, sleep disorders, focus issues, and more. Amare's products, like Happy Juice and our cognitive support supplements, are grounded in clinical research and proven efficacy.
But this business isn't just about supplements; it's a platform for total self-care: focus, sleep, emotional balance, and community. We currently have over 40,000 brand partners and around 50,000 active consumers. My goal is to equip our partners with the right tools—especially digital and video content—so they can educate others and share products authentically. Not every product is right for every person. Transparency matters.
What's your long-term vision for Amare?
There will be no private equity investors. I want to build something special without outsiders interfering with their quest for fast profits.
I don't need fast profits because I have built a sustainable ecosystem of beauty R&D and manufacturing operations. I tell my team: don't obsess over profit. Focus on relationships, service, and reputation. For example, if an iLabs manufacturing client can't pay full on time, we still deliver our best service. That's how you build long-term trust and a premium brand.
This is where many private equity firms fail. They look only at numbers and forget the people who made the business successful. That's how great companies like Beautycounter and Rodan+Fields have been damaged by private equity.
The Rootist Densify Collection
You are already known for Farmacy and The Rootist that have become bestsellers in Ulta and Sephora. Why take this risky move and acquire Amare?
Farmacy was born out of a vision for clean beauty. It aligned with an emerging generation of consumers who cared about sustainable ingredients, and the planet. But Amare gives me something deeper—a chance to build a business while helping others.
The Rootist was born from a similar idea—solving the root cause of hair issues with smart, waterless formulations. Why ship big bottles that are 80% water? We created compact, high-tech products and packages that actually deliver results. It's innovation with intention.
You've been a leader for Asian-American communities long before the pandemic spurred the AAPI empowerment movement.
After my mother passed away two years ago, I started Judith Ehm Foundation in her honor. It supports Korean-American communities and nonprofits globally. Amare also has its own nonprofit arm, Caring Hands, helping communities in Mexico, the Philippines, and beyond. Giving back is part of our DNA.
With Amare now part of your portfolio of companies, what is next for you as a serial beauty entrepreneur?
Keep evolving, keep innovating, and keep leading with purpose. I believe the next generation of beauty and wellness will be defined by authenticity, mental strength, and meaningful impact.
This is my dream. This is my legacy. And I'm just getting started.