A small lab by the harbour

Six of us mix, test and fill every bottle in a former net shed on Shapowei, five minutes from the ferry to Gulangyu.

A woman at a white bench mixing liquids beside notebooks and bottles

Gloved hands pouring amber liquid from a brown bottle into a glass tube

Started by a chemist with touchy skin

Chen Yu spent nine years formulating for large beauty brands in Guangzhou, and reacted to half of what she made. In 2019 she came home to Xiamen to make the gentle range she could not buy.

Every batch is still tested on her own forearm first.

On the bench this month

Three glass tubes holding clear and milky liquids with small bubbles — Stability tests for a lighter gel cream, kept at 40 °C for twelve weeks.

Violet pump and dropper bottles lined up on a pale sage background — Violet glass samples for next year’s serums. It blocks more light than clear glass.

Amber bottles and a small jar on a rough stone in warm light — Small batches of 400 bottles, so nothing sits on a shelf for months.

Why Xiamen?

The sea fennel grows on the rocks below Huandao Road, and the oolong farms of Anxi are a morning’s drive away. Humid summers and sharp winter winds also make it a fair test of whether a cream works.

Swimmers in the sea off Xiamen with the city towers behind

Come and see the lab

The front room on Shapowei is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 19:00, with testers of everything.

Plan a visit