.JPG)
I bought a bunch of eye creams from History of Whoo and Sulwhasoo during my GMarket haul. I tried the History of Whoo Hwanyu Eye Cream last month, went back to my normal routine eye creams Sulwhasoo Essential Rejuvenating Eye Cream and The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Eye Cream, and then proceeded to try this out.
Description (from beclo.com):
- Made with a unique blend of special herbal ingredients that work together to tighten the look of skin and have you looking more youthful.
- Your skin will look more naturally vibrant and a bright complexion will be restored
- Spread it over your face using your fingertips and lightly press the surrounding area to further strengthen your facial muscles.
This is an anti-aging eye cream, and my primary focus for this eye cream was whether it took away the fine lines under my eyes. I think it did a great job in this area. It basically took away 90% of the fine lines. It is thus on par with The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Eye Cream (which is only $30, by the way...)
However, it definitely did not brighten as claimed. I used this as my only eye cream for the first week, not using Sulwhasoo Essential Rejuvenating Eye Cream and wow my dark circles came back almost instantly. My mom even asked me why I looked so bad. That was enough for me to know that it wasn't just my imagination. I added Sulwhasoo Essential Rejuvenating Eye Cream back in and my dark circles went back to normal after 4-5 days.
It also did not tighten the look of my under eye as promised. My eyes got puffier while using this eye cream and Sulwhasoo Essential Rejuvenating Eye Cream compared to when I use The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Eye Cream and Sulwhasoo Essential Rejuvenating Eye Cream. This actually indirectly made me realize The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Eye Cream has pretty good de-puffing effects.
So since I can get the same improvement of my fine lines with a $30 eye cream that also tightens better, I won't be buying this one.
Summary:
As effective as The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Eye Cream in taking away the fine lines under my eyes
Didn't do anything to tighten as claimed, eyes got puffy again
Did not brighten as claimed, my dark circles went back to normal
$165 for 20ml or $8 for 10 samples (10ml)
Grade: 4/5 because it performed very well to take away the fine lines under my eyes, but did nothing to tighten or brighten
Value: 2/5 because I can the exact same effects by buying the $30 The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Eye Cream
Repurchase? No
Hai...i enjoyed reading all your reviews..can u share with me frm which gmarket seller u bought these samples frm? Im interested to buy..but im afraid of being conned w fake samples/products..thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey! I actually don't have a particular seller I bought the samples from. Good look at the reviews on the GMarket website, it their power is high and you see lots of reviews for them then they're probably trusthworthy. That's how I did it :D
DeleteHi! Really enjoy your blog! Do you know if the History of Whoo line is safe for pregnant women to use?? I'm really interested in purchasing the products but I'm worried if any of the ingredients can cause adverse effects to the baby! Thanks for your input!
ReplyDeleteHi Melanie,
DeleteThanks for reading! To be honest, I really don't know. But in general I'd hold anything unnecessary off until your pregnancy term is over. Hope that helps!
hi!your blog is fantastic and it is also so organized that we can find anything we want without wasting any time..
ReplyDeleteı have sth to ask you..I am wondering ıf the products like missha ,face shop,etude house are market products in Korea?..ın many places ı read they are only popular with students because of their affordable prices..another friend of mine who has used some korean high-end products for some time highly recommended me to get those( sulwhasso,hera,amore pacific,etc) to get a better result..I also did a little research about the ingredients of some of sulwhasso products but they have hazardous chemicals that brands sholud avoid using..they are both expensive and they don't have clean content.I am confused..they are worth buying,they do as they promise, you think?ıf you inform me on this,ı will really appreciate..
Hi there,
DeleteI don't know Korean so I don't know exactly what ingredients are in the cosmetics. Missha/face shop/etude house are definitely on the lower end and as a result I wouldn't be surprised if they are not 100% pure. Sulwhasoo/history of whoo are known for putting herbs inside their products, but once again I don't know if (and doubt that) they are 100% pure.
I used to use western cosmetics and they never really worked for me. But then I started trying korean cosmetics and I found that they really worked for me. Short-term I don't see any irritation or side effects, if anything they have helped my skin out, but long-term who knows. But at the same time it's not like western cosmetics are 100% pure either.
So my advice would be maybe buy a few samples that you're interested in and see how you feel. At the end of the day everyone's skin is different and you just have to determine for yourself whether the benefits outweigh the risks. Hope that helps!
Hi again!
ReplyDeleteNone of Western cosmetics worked with me,either..What makes Korean brands different from the ones we know,you think?I don't think sulwhasoo are 100%pure by the way..there is a site that lists the ingredients of products..ı had a look at it and found out that there are some chemicals that aren't supposed to put inside cosmetics..we had better have someone who can review ingredients for us though..but unfournately there is nobody like that..Once we did but last year she moved to America to study medicine and we lost touch:)
I think some brands actually have their ingredients listed in English, though not a lot. I only know of Hope in a Blog that has a page dedicated to ingredient lists separated by brand. You might wanna check that out http://hope-inablog.com/ingredient-list/
Deletethis blog is active?
DeleteI think so? Their latest post was Dec 2013
DeleteIt is a blog full of useful reviews or sth maybe but not as organized as yours so it takes years to find what you look for..I think it needs an urgent organization:)
ReplyDeleteI would like to ask you about Sulwhasso by the way..it is almost the only product that got the best reviews of all..I am wondering if you think the same?thanks for your interest in advance..
Sulwhasoo is one of the two big high-end cosmetic brands in Korea, along with History of Whoo. I think Sulwhasoo is more popular overseas than History of Whoo (maybe purely due to marketing reasons, I don't know) because I was at the Lotte Department store in Seoul a few years back and all the tourists were flocking towards the Sulwhasoo counter.
DeleteThat being said, these two brands are catered more towards aging skin, so their products tend to be richer, oilier, anti-wrinkle, etc. Perhaps because of this, I haven't had the greatest results with their products because anti-wrinkle is not on the top of my concern list (yet..haha).
Hi Mad About My Skin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for an informative blog. I live in New York. I want to know if Gmarket is like eBay where you buy from various sellers. I want to buy the HoW Seol brightening intensive cream but not sure if they sell the real samples. Have you purchase your skincare products on ebay before? Do you know a good seller that sell the HoW products?
I am using the Hwa Huyn eyecream. I feel it helps with my dark circle but it does not help with my fine lines.
Hello,
DeleteThey work similarly in principle. You buy from various sellers (in GMarket they're more like stores where they sell a lot of samples and you pick which ones you want and add them to a cart). In GMarket, each seller/store has reviews with pictures so you can see how their packaging is, whether the samples look genuine etc.
If you're worried about fake samples, I would say GMarket is probably a safer choice for their more detailed reviews and because many Koreans use it. While I don't read Korean, I'm sure if they find a fake product they will give them a negative review.
I don't have a particular eBay seller for HoW products, but I like olive-world for higher end Korean cosmetics (Sulwhasoo, HoW, HERA). I've been buying my Sulwhasoo Rejuvenating Eye Cream which I'm still using now through him.
Hope this helps!
http://www.cconma.com/Cconma/store.fmv?no=252
ReplyDeletethe link where they execute part of their online sales.
information on this site is provided in Korean language as the target customers speak that language only.
Thanks for the link. Mmm..looks intriguing. Hope they'll put an English version of this site soon!
Delete