The Power Of Balance

After an immersive afternoon hosted by Sulwhasoo, LAUREN TAN is ready to dish out the secrets to healthy skin.

YOU MUST KNOW the First Care Activating Serum EX. First launched in 1997, it is credited for turning Sulwhasoo into the first beauty brand to surpass W1 trillion ($1.25 billion) in revenue in 2015. The first step in the Sulwhasoo skincare ritual, it combines modern science with traditional Korean herbal medicine to moisturise and nourish skin, as well as boost the absorption and efficacy of treatment products that follow.

Given its pedigree, you’d wonder how the brand would mark the serum’s 20th anniversary. But save for a new limited-edition bottle design that’s positively resplendent with a plum blossom pattern by artist Park Yongcheol, the serum remains drop for drop the same. In any case, the serum was last upgraded only in 2015, with an extraction process that supposedly enhances its active ingredients.

So confident in the efficacy of its serum, Sulwhawoo doubled down its efforts (literally) by pushing out a First Care Activating Mask that’s infused with the same active ingredients. Each sheet is made from ultra-soft cotton and designed to hold one-third a bottle of the First Care Activating Serum EX. But really, what makes this serum so loved and efficacious? Here’s the breakdown.

YIN-REPLENISHING THEORY