Moon Kwon

Founder and CEO of Moon Cosmetics, chemist, businesswoman, activist and writer.

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MOON

Moon Kwon is a native of Busan, born on June 11, 1973. She’s the founder and CEO of Moon Cosmetics, businesswoman, activist, writer and mother of seven children. She was married to Alexander Valentini from 1994 to 2020.

She’s the proud mother of Liam Matteo (Running Back from the New England Patriots), Ethan Kwon (YouTuber), ᑎᗩYᗩ (artist), Alexa Valentini (stylist), Devyn Kwon, Autumn Valentini and Olivia Kwon. Since 2010, she has been responsible for her twin nephews Max and Graham Valentini.

The entrepreneur has lived in Seoul, Lakeland and moved to Orange County in 2005. In 2019, she bought a mansion in Calabasas County, where she currently resides with her mother-in-law, Rosa D’Angelo and her three youngest daughters Devyn, Autumn and Olivia and her nephews.

Besides her company Moon Cosmetics working with environmentally friendly products, she’s also an activist in the feminist community, giving talks on being a successful businesswoman in her industry. She also actively supports the LGBTQ + community with her children. In her spare time, she maintains a blog called “Aligned”.

PERSONAL DATA

EARLY LIFE

Moon was born in Busan, a metropolitan center that’s renowned for its beaches, mountains and temples. Her mother, Hyebin Kwon, had her after a sudden involvement with an American soldier, which is why she moved with her daughter to Seoul to find the man.

She studied at Baemyung High School where she met her senior Park Jin-young, two years older. They dated for a year and a half and they were each other’s first love. That was before Hyebin decided that they should move to the United States, causing the couple’s relationship to end.

Her mother made that decision after discovering that Moon’s father had been raised in Florida. The girl didn’t support Hyebin, pointing out that he had abandoned both and that they would be exchanging their lives for a small possibility. The relationship with her mother was aggravated by this situation, especially when Hyebin seemed not to give a damn about her daughter and spent most of her days looking for a man.

Moon met Alexander Valentini in high school, falling in love too quickly to realize what she was getting into, the result of a mother’s lack of affection. He looked perfect. The two were dating, but she still kept in touch with Jinyoung, with whom she had maintained the friendship after they had been lovers. Park Jin-young helped her with every single one of her concerns and both share a great deal of respect for each other. He even paid for half of her college tuition at the USCB, where Moon graduated in chemistry.

MARRIAGE & KIDS

After getting pregnant, Alex suggested that the two should move to South Carolina, in the small town of Beaufort, where they would have more peace to raise the baby. Moon no longer wanted a change in her life, which caused an ugly argument between the couple, that only ended when he agreed to marry at her request. She gave birth to her firstborn Liam at the age of 20 and married a year later. Honestly, she didn’t want any more children at that point in her life, since she was in college and she and Alex weren’t having a good time after the wedding, especially after they found out she was pregnant again, with another boy, whom she named Ethan.

A year later, Moon and her husband left the children with Alex’s parents and went on a date, in an attempt to reconcile. A few drinks and weeks later, they were pregnant again. Kwon made it clear that it would be the last time she would go through pregnancy after discovering that it would be a girl, choosing the name of Naya for the child who hadn’t yet been born. In another ultrasound, the couple discovered that they were having twins. Another period of intense fights happened in the family because it would be two against four babies: Liam (2), Ethan (1) and the newborn twins. Alexander’s parents, Giuseppe and Rosa Valentini helped to raise the children. Moon was very scared when she brought the girls to the world and talked a lot with Jinyoung, who later became Naya and Alexa’s godfather.

Still, five years later, Devyn was born.

MOON COSMETICS

Another reason for the fights between Moon and Alex was that she always talked about opening her own cosmetics store and starting her own line while reselling some Mary Kay products. She was even promoted as a Sales Director and opened her first store in Beaufort, with the support of her in-laws.

She wanted to go to Los Angeles to develop her own business, so she ignored her husband’s protests and went there with her five children without looking back. Eventually, Alex joined the rest of the family. Moon managed two large stores in LA and eventually founded its own industry in 2005, with a significant number investors and partnerships that she gained with her speaking skills.

Her brand, Moon Cosmetics, started the sales with handmade essences and cosmetics such as body creams and soaps made by Moon herself, using environmentally friendly products. Currently, the company works with several beauty products, still has its handcrafted line and had an expansion into a makeup line, led by her son Ethan Kwon. There are four official stores in Los Angeles, two in New York, one in Seoul and the online store, generating more than 10,000 jobs.

ADOPTION

Moon revealed many facts about herself and her family on her blog, one was that she always liked children, but that it wasn’t her wish to be pregnant four times. With her career going up and children happy with new friends in Los Angeles, she convinced Alex to adopt. In 2006, they became Autumn’s legal parents.

In 2010, at age 37, the couple adopted a newborn baby boy named Joseph and in the same year, her brother-in-law Matteo died in a car accident. He was with his triplets in the vehicle and Sophie, the youngest, died in the ICU while the boys were left without parents, since the children’s mother had divorced Matteo years before and made an agreement that she wouldn’t have contact with the children. Moon welcomed Max and Graham with open arms.

Despite being very busy with her job, she always found enough time to be a present mom. When she was at home, it was a rule to talk and spend time with her kids, being very open with them, encouraging them to follow their dreams.

ALIGNED

In addition to being a successful CEO, businesswoman, chemist, activist and mother, she’s also a writer. Whenever she finds time, Moon writes on her personal blog “Aligned”, which has a logo created by her ex-husband: the moon surrounded by five stars on each side, representing Rosa D’Angelo (her mother for all intents and purposes) and her children in a perfect line.

She writes about the challenges of being a businesswoman, mother and wife, telling her life story, emphasizing having the honor of being the mother of such incredible kids that are so different from each other. Moon also opens up about anxiety and what it’s like to raise her children in three different cultures (Italian, South Korean and American).

MOON COSMETICS™

HANDMADE LINE
(2005 – on going)

ETHAN
(2014 – on going)

THE 4 COLLECTION
(2016 – limited edition)

NAYA
(2016 – on going)

THE X COLLECTION (MULTIPLY)
(2018 – limited edition)