What is Arktastic? Our Journey from Marketplace to Beauty Tech

Arktastic was launched in 2020, with a small team and a whole lot of passion. Our goals? Powerful. Our ambition? Endless! A few connections between talented individuals led to a plan on building a marketplace. It was going to be set in Australia, with our little Melbourne team excited to ‘connect the world through shopping.’ After all, why couldn't individual sellers across the world reach the Australian market more easily?

Arktastic as a company was built on tenants of community, sustainability and excellent customer experience, to create a niche and new way to shop.

Despite having such a small team, we had no trouble finding sellers from all over the world. From Italian watches to French designers, we were suddenly offering a variety of brands available to our users. It was exciting and overwhelming and our platform grew it's first 15,000 orders. (True fans will remember our candle era 🕯️).

But a vital pattern emerged, with only a small team it became harder to accept the expansion of categories and products. And our customers were the ones suffering due to our lack of focus. So, an important choice was made! We wanted to make our customer experience great, so we set out to achieve that exact goal!

This exact above question was what our team set out to answer! We put together a catalogue of all our favourite Korean beauty brands, products from skincare, to haircare to whole body and bath care. We then designed key elements that we thought would make beauty more accessible, beneficial and enjoyable for customers.

How to use it correctly! This was a common problem that our customers and general users of K-beauty struggled with. Korean beauty is stronger and more pure than traditional, western skincare and users were reporting a higher rate of reactions and skin irritation. 

To combat this, we started testing the products ourselves - via trial-and-error to see, what was the best way to use these products? This led to the creation of our blog (the one you're reading right now!) to help elaborate on this, provide helpful advice and even link in the science on how best to optimize your routine.

After writing 200 blogs, we came to a singular conclusion. Skincare is complex. Yes, you can work to make it more simple, but everybody has such unique skin (with products that work only for them), that it was just not possible to recommend routines for all users.

This was the background for Pogi! 🐱Designed to manually run through each skincare ingredient, product and put them together into a routine, Pogi is designed to embrace the complexity of skincare and use it to recommend unique combinations for users. He takes in information about your skin, answers your questions and helps find skin-compatible products to maximise your routine.

Pogi's development was a massive achievement for our team and he's continuing to evolve and update for the better, to give more in-depth and research-backed skincare advice.

Our latest improvement to user experience has been developing an app that helps provide lightning fast speeds, as well as access to Pogi, routines, our blog and Pogi points. It's been a labour of love (as our website is all custom-designed and coded), but has been a fun addition for our customers to use.

Arktastic has evolved (and will continue to evolve) with a combined love of beauty and business. With experts in skincare, business practice and IT we have created a powerhouse of ideas that is determined to grow. 

Our goals are to deliver skincare to you that works, makes you feel confident (and is accessible at prices that benefit both the customer, whilst upholding the brand's value). We are looking to the future; to continue providing quality content, access to Pogi's help (so you can feel like an expert in healthy skincare) and celebrate brands that are sustainable, natural and use exciting new science.

"Arktastic has been a labour of love, growth and constant evolution. To everyone who has supported our local team, whether it's been from the first orders on our website to reading our blogs ~ genuinely thank you. It's been a fun journey and we will continue to push for innovative and exciting beauty experiences (and bring them to you!)"
 

- Arktastic Director, Rahul

In 2026, we're still proud to be custom-built, Melbourne-based and work to support the community that has grown around us. Australian-owned and operated, we're looking to the future of beauty and dedicated to creating a space for positivity and kindness.

Want to check out more of Arktastic? Discover more of what we do below: 

• Download the App: Meet Pogi, track your orders, and start earning Pogi Points with our live Arktastic App.
• Read Our Reviews: See what our community has to say on our Trustpilot Profile.
• Explore Skincare Guides: Learn more about active ingredients in our What Is Niacinamide Guide or browse our Top 5 Fine Lines Treatments.

What is Pogi inside the Arktastic app? 
Pogi is our interactive AI skincare assistant built directly into the app. Pogi helps analyze products in your cart, provides personalized routine-building advice, and powers our Pogi Points rewards program.

How does Arktastic support environmental sustainability? 
We support and promote brands that utilise both sustainable practice and recyclable materials. We also work hard with our partners to reduce plastic materials during the shipping period, as well as use biodegradable wrap to protect products being shipped to our customers. 

Is Arktastic expanding into software and technology? 
Yes, Arktastic is actively developing software solutions alongside our beauty store to analyze skin concerns and help users build smarter, personalized routines.