Community Highlights: Meet Ling-Ling Nie of Tender Cosmetics

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ling-Ling Nie.

Ling-Ling, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Before launching Tender Cosmetics online in 2025, I worked as a lawyer for almost two decades. During my career, I chased down growth opportunities relentlessly and dedicated every fiber of myself to excelling in my job, taking on new projects to stretch myself, and helping others achieve their goals, too Unfortunately, I neglected my own health along the way and developed a life threatening abdominal infection that put me in and out of the hospital for several months having surgeries. It took me almost three years to feel like myself again, and I still take daily medication to manage the long term effects.

Part of my recovery was learning how to take better care of body and mind so that my ambitions could be more sustainable, and part of that involved building a joyful morning routine that would help me start my day feeling great. I began using under eye patches, ice rollers, and sheet masks because they felt so good on my skin, which then inspired me to find a way to extend that cooling sensation throughout the day. That is how Tender Cosmetics was born.

Tender is a category-defining beauty brand that offers cooling cosmetics to bring back the joy in getting ready for your day. The brand currently offers eyeshadows, blushes, and highlighters, all of which are cream-based and are infused with cooling ingredients.

What I think is unique about Tender is that the products prioritize how beauty feels–they make the person wearing it actually feel great from the cooling effect, while also giving them a beautiful and healthy glow in several universally flattering shades.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There is such a long arc to building a business, and I’ve really had to learn to appreciate the concept of delayed gratification. It takes a much longer time that you might think to develop custom cosmetic formulas, custom packaging, a strong and unique brand, and a marketing strategy that not only retains your loyal customers but can also generate more demand. Each of these work streams require a huge investment of time and money. So, when things go sideways, which they do all the time, I have to metabolize all of the emotions that come with that process. It can be very discouraging. Those are the moments where I have to remember that helping others feel great about themselves is why I built Tender Cosmetics, and that’s the mission I revisit in my mind every time I need motivation to keep going. I find there is great fulfillment in that pursuit.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Many years ago, someone asked me what I thought the purpose of life is. Without giving it a lot of thought, I said that it was to have a good time while we’re here and to help as many people as we can along the way. I recalled that conversation when I was building Tender Cosmetics, and that sentiment has become a core value of the company. It informs the decisions I made about what products I want to bring to market, how I want them to perform, and most importantly, how I want my customers to feel.

From personal experience, it is really easy for a woman to put herself last on the list of priorities because this world demands so much of us, and we get so much praise when we’re being a source of support, both emotionally and financially, for the people in our lives. And that can actually be exhausting over time if you’re not managing the impact on your wellness. I hope that the cooling cosmetics I have developed can serve as a special and helpful source of support for busy women and become part of a restorative makeup routine that will help them thrive.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
What I’m seeing and what I hope to see are fairly similar at the moment. With the current economic state of the world, I’ve observed that people want to simplify their lives in all aspects, including their beauty regimens. We’ve seen a shift towards more streamlined skincare routines with higher quality ingredients and conscious “editing” of the makeup products and tools in our bags to combat the overconsumption culture that has been influential for a while now. There’s a cyclical nature to beauty trends in my opinion and the pendulum will swing the other way again in the future. My aim is to build a brand that is evergreen and that offers products that consumers will come back to time and time again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tender-cosmetics.com
• Instagram: @tender.cosmetics and @_linglingnie_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Tender-Cosmetics/61568153464976/#
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tender-cosmetics

Image Credits
Hannah Lozano Photography