Vancouver’s Kid Sister Is Skin Care Made Easy
Maxine Tamoto couldn't find a holy grail skin care product, so she invented her own.
If necessity is the mother of invention, then it’s no surprise that Kid Sister founder Maxine Tamoto had long suffered problem skin before launching her own skin-care line. Her acne-prone epidermis would turn dry in winter, then oily come summer, but “I’m a busy girl so I never had time for maintenance,” she says. “I was constantly searching for a one-and-done face-care approach.”
While searching for the holy grail of facial products, Tamoto, who was born and raised in Coquitlam, B.C., studied business management, then worked in Vancouver’s film industry before eventually settling on photography. It was the forced downtime during COVID that caused her to stop seeking the perfect skin-care solution and start inventing it. She connected with a chemist, and the two hatched a plan: Tamoto would create her own skin-care line while the chemist would help formulate it.
Kid Sister Skin Care was born in December 2021 when Tamoto took her fledgling product to a makers market. The brand has since expanded across Canada with its original hero product, Super Ego, a face oil designed to mimic the skin’s naturally produced oils to help keep it balanced year-round.
Tamoto’s skin is no longer problematic, and she wants others to experience her success. “There’s this industry that says you have to have glass skin and no wrinkles,” the 32-year-old entrepreneur says, “but it’s about giving yourself grace and just making your skin happy—that’s the vibe at the end of the day.”
