Review: HERA White Program Biogenic Cream

This is my second product from HERA. Surprisingly, both products are from the same White Program line, which is for whitening. I've actually never come across HERA until getting a complimentary sample of HERA White Program Biogenic Effector. But it's endorsed by Shim Min Ah (a famous Korean actress) so although it may not be as high end as Sulwhasoo or History of Whoo, it's definitely higher end than Skinfood, Etude House, etc.

Description (from amazon.com):

• An essential brightening cream recovering clear, even color-toned skin 
• "Melanobarrier LC" Technology makes skin look bright and clear
• Great moisturizing and nourishing facial cream with rich ingredients
• Absorbs quickly, leaving the skin soft and smooth
• Improve skin texture and skin tone. Test completed by dermatology

My impression:

This is quite a rich cream with a thick texture. It takes slightly more effort to smooth it out on my face so initially I was afraid I would get some pimples or enlarged pores the next day. Fortunately that was not that case.

When I'm trying out a whitening product, I'm always looking for both whitening and brightening effects. Whitening is making the colour of my skin one or a few shades whiter. Brightening is improving the overall skin texture, tone to make my skin look healthy and..well, bright. The colour of my face is, by default, an unhealthy, jaundiced yellow tan. I look like I haven't slept for the past 2 days. I also get dark from the sun very easily. That's why both brightening and whitening are very important to me.

The reason I wrote the paragraph above is because I found this cream impressive on both fronts. One sample is enough for two uses and I've been using it at night only, but when I wake up, my skin looks not just brighter but also a shade whiter. When I look closely at my acne scars from 2-3 years ago, they don't look lighter or anything. But somehow it manages to make my skin look whiter. In terms of making my overall skin look whiter, HERA's White Program line has given me better results than Sulwhasoo's Snowise EX Whitening Line and History of Whoo Seol Whitening Line.

In terms of brightening, it definitely improves skin texture and skin tone and makes skin look bright and clear as they claim. It smoothes out the little bumps on my face and calms the redness from the scars down. I think it does better than Sulwhasoo and History of Whoo also, but Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream is still better. But Missha's snail cream didn't make my skin look a shade whiter whereas this one does.

This cream is as impressive as its Biogenic Effector from the same line. Unfortunately, I only had 3 samples that lasted 6 nights, so I can't say if it can actually permanently whiten my acne scars. It's price tag is actually not as bad as expected ($90 for 50ml on Amazon), but I probably will just end up getting samples since it's still a bit steep for me.

I think I'm going to get my hands on the other products from this line so I can try out the whole line. 

Summary:

The only whitening line I've tried so far that successfully does both whitening and brightening

Smoothes out skin bumps, improves skin texture
Whitens more than Sulwhasoo and History of Whoo's whitening lines
Doesn't brighten as much as Missha's Snail Cream

$90 for 50ml on Amazon

Grade: 4.5/5 because it both brightens and whitens and does it more effectively than the whitening lines from higher-end brands Sulwhasoo and History of Whoo

Value: 4/5 because the price tag is not that bad if you compare it with all the higher end brands

Repurchase? Yes, I think I'm going to try out this whole line