Setting my personal SK II beauty regimen aside, I embarked on two new facial products that I’ve been constantly using for more than a month now. I’ve been putting into test the Sulwhasoo Snowise Balancing Water as my facial toner, and the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum as my daily facial serum. I know that the First Care Serum is the bestselling product of Sulwhasoo and a lot of people swear by it, so I was naturally intrigued and wondered just how good the product is, or if Sulwhasoo’s skin care line warrants a cult-following given the price of their products.

Sulwhasoo is high-end Korean skin care brand owned by Amore Pacific, and it’s much loved by a lot Koreans. The brand’s philosophy believes in the concept of beauty and harmony of energies, combining traditional medicine with modern science. The main ingredient of most of their product is Ginseng, but it’s not just any other Ginseng, it’s the best kind of Ginseng thought to be found only in the Korean Peninsula. Ginseng, when used as a skin care, has a lot of potential benefits. One being good in the anti-aging department and it also has brightening properties.

As a general observation of the two products I purchased, they both are in heavy glass containers that depicts a whole authentic Korean aesthetic vibe. The bottles are not necessarily too big or too bulky, and they’re both opaque, so you won’t be able to see how much product is left inside. Both the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum and the Snowise Brightening Water smells very herbal-like, but it’s not overwhelming to the senses, instead, it’s pretty invigorating.

Sulwhasoo Snowise Brightening Water (4.22 oz: $63) – This slightly hefty toner is meant to be applied with the palm of your hands and pat starting from the center of your face. With Broussonetia Kazinoki, a Mulberry extract known to brighten and soften rough skin. The toner is meant to prepare skin for other Snowise products like the Snowise Brightening Cream and Brightening Serum. However, I didn’t plan to use this toner for that purpose, instead, I just wanted a good toner that can help brighten my dark spots or post-acne marks. So far, in my experience, this toner feels like a gel and it’s tricky to use a cotton pad with this, as the consistency seems a bit too thick for a toner. You might really need to use your palms when applying this, but I prefer to still use a cotton pad because I want my toner to take off excess makeups that didn’t rinse away after washing. Fortunately, the formula spreads very easily and it feels very soothing. As far as the benefits and changes I’ve noticed, this product did not irritate my skin and it keeps it plumped. Didn’t notice any brightening effect so far, but my acne scars seemed to have not darken further.

Suwhasoo First Care Activating Serum (2 oz: $84) – With Milkvetch that promotes skin circulation and Dwarf Lilyturf with Licorice to restore skin’s radiance. This bestselling product is meant to restore the skin’s moisture and nutrients. The serum has golden brown color and smells like Ginseng with some other herbs. It feels like a gel and it spreads easily onto the face, which then the skin absorbs easily and also has a relaxing feel to it. I truly love the consistency of this serum and a little bit goes a long way, perhaps 2-3 pumps will work per application. I also love the cap since it’s very easy to take it off or replace it whenever you use the product. When it comes to its effect, I do notice an overall evenness of hydration on my face throughout the day. I no longer have dry patches around my mouth and my skin’s not secreting too much oil. It’s still oily-prone, but not as much, and it looks my skin’s regulating the sebum production well. This serum seems to work to balance the skin’s chemistry, no wonder a lot of people have fallen in love with it.

Bottom line, I like Sulwhasoo a lot and I’m planning to try more of their products soon. They’re really pricey, but you could sense that they put a lot of value and effort on their products. They feel luxurious, soothing, traditional, and there’s an element of care and wisdom to it. Compared to SK II, I definitely feel like they’re neck and neck with each other. I also like SK II a lot and will always be using them, but these two products from Sulwhasoo would be great add on.

The Snowise Brightening Water is available at: Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus & Bergdorf Goodman

The First Care Activating Serum can be found at: Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman & Neiman Marcus

For more skin care stuff, follow moi on Instagram: @reviewsandotherstuff