Weekend wellness: Beauty of Joseon
One of the things I learned from the pandemic was to build balance into my day. To start the day off slowly with morning rituals, take meaningful breaks during the day and wind down with low-stress activities before bed. Today, skincare is part of this balance, but it was not always like this. For many years pre-pandemic, skincare was functional since my margin for self-care was non-existent; sleep in until the very last second, slap on some vitamin C and sunscreen and run out the door as fast as possible. Beauty of Joseon, a minimalist Korean skincare brand, changed this for me practically overnight.
At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to explore wellness-related topics on my blog. I post largely about design, business, books and media, and wellness didn’t seem to fit the theme. The more I thought about it the more I realized that it would be impossible for me to post about my work and interests with any degree of sobriety without mentioning the things I do to create the conditions in which I do my best work. A bit heady for a skincare review (I’ll get to that bit in a second, I promise), but I think we could all benefit from recognizing our daily rituals as integral to our wellbeing and defend them. This could be anything; time to meditate in the evening, a weekly dip in the pool or a well-rounded supplement regimen.
As for skincare: I’ve always been the type of person who reads the packaging, both at the grocery store and the drugstore. Learning to read the INCI is like a superpower, allowing you to see through marketing fluff into the ingredients underneath. Typically I put down a cosmetic product at the drugstore, pharmacy or department store as quickly as I picked it up, because at best, it is full of more innocuous filler ingredients (water, silicone) than active ingredients or, at worst, it is full of ingredients that actively damage the skin (denatured alcohol, perfumes and essential oils). A straightforward, no-nonsense approach to skincare is important - we should probably pay attention to what we put in and on our bodies - but if I’m being honest, it also creates a functional relationship to skincare which is more akin to taking vitamins or drinking a protein shake; it works, but it’s just not that exciting.
Many Asian cosmetics brands take a holistic approach to skincare with a very specific philosophy of beauty which goes back hundreds of years. Beauty of Joseon’s products are inspired by the beauty rituals of the Joseon dynasty and traditional herbal medicines but include ingredients with proven efficacy for skin. They formulate very precisely and without popular filler ingredients and irritants, which is rather uncommon, marrying a no-nonsense skincare approach with something perhaps more ritualistic. In the skincare industry, this is typically a tradeoff - effective formulations with research-backed ingredients or formulations that feel good but offer no proven benefit for the skin. Beauty of Joseon’s hybrid approach is what changed my perspective on skincare and made me realize that it didn’t need to be a chore - it could be a ritual - and could be as enjoyable and restorative as a warm bath or a hot cup of tea.
What I like
Beauty of Joseon is cruelty free and largely vegan. Only one of their products, their Revive Serum, contains snail mucin.
I’m a huge fan of Asian calligraphy and the visual design of the labels is a pleasure to look at.
The brand release an illustrated calendar called the “Small Happiness Calendar Letter” every month, celebrating that month’s events.
What I don’t like
Beauty of Joseon’s serum vials and bottles are made of plastic. I honestly wish they used glass, which is easier to recycle.
The company doesn’t mention which grade of ginseng they use in their products. 6-year red ginseng has a much higher concentration of ginsenosides.
There is a specific carbon expenditure associated with importing products from halfway around the world.
My top 3 products
I use this sunscreen every day. it is purely organic (chemical) and contains no inorganic (mineral) filters whatsoever, which means that there’s no zinc oxide to leave a weird white cast or soak up any ounce of moisture you have in your skin. Among several other filters, it also includes the new-generation filter Tinosorb M which includes properties of organic and inorganic sunscreens by both absorbing and scattering UV light. On top of that. It’s basically weightless and won’t sting in your eyes. Probably the most cosmetically elegant sunscreen I’ve encountered.
This is basically “ginseng juice” as it contains mostly ginseng extract and 2% niacinamide. At it’s very simplest, it’s an antioxidant solution which combats melasma (which is extremely common as years of sun exposure catch up to you). There’s no fragrance and no nonsense in here. It’s great.
If you wear sunscreen, you need to wash it off. This low pH cleanser is formulated with green plums, which contain Alpha Hydroxy Acid (via citric acid) which gently exfoliates dead skin cells from the top layer of skin. It creates a creamy foam which is easy to spread and washes off easily. This cleanser is great for dry skin because, as an effect of its low pH, doesn’t strip the skin of natural oils.
This review has not been sponsored by the brand and does not contain any affiliate links. All products mentioned here have been purchased by me directly.