Korean powerhouse brand Sulwhasoo focuses on using hanbang, traditional Korean medicine focusing on ingredients that are indigenous to Korea.  The founder, Suh Sung-whan, took an interest in hanbang herbs and used these medicinal botanicals with science backed research found at Kyunghee University of Oriental Medicine.   In 1966, Sulwhasoo was founded in the AmorePacific family and use their herb farms to harvest ingredients such as ginseng, lily, lotus, green tea and camellia.  Did you also know that Sulwhasoo has a few skincare items that are labeled for men?  Men, shmen… Skincare is skincare, so I chose the Skin Reinforcing Emulsion, thanks to the generosity of Jolse Cosmetic, a premier K-Beauty online shop

Skin Type/Concerns: oily, blemish prone, aging concerns, pores, fine lines/wrinkles, hyper-pigmentation

I received these products complementary to review and was not paid.  All reviews are my own honest opinion and  I never have been asked to write copy for a brand.  This blog post might contain promo codes, affiliate and referral links, which using my links will help generate a small commission that helps support my blog at no extra cost to you.

The ladies line doesn’t have an emulsion, which is a shame. I love emulsions as I use them in place of a moisturizer cream ~ emulsions are like a light lotion so it works better for my oily skin.  Sulwhasoo’s Skin Reinforcing Emulsion  contains quite a different ingredient line up from the regular Sulwhasoo products, so this is very exciting for me!

Starting off with some nice moisturizing and hydrating ingredients, such as humectant glycerin, which helps wounds, sealing in moisture and maintains the skin’s water balance on an intercellular level, which makes the skin look healthy, moist and soft to touch.  Anti-bacterial, moisturizing squalane penetrates and absorbs rapidly into your skin, has anti-oxidant properties, helping prevent UV damage hyper-pigmentation age spots and aids in cellular growth.  Yeast-derived amino acid adenosine became popular after it was found to help improve the reduction of wrinkles, smoothing your skin and anti-inflammatory. There is also moisturizing lipid cholesterol and dimethicone, which helps lock in moisture.   

Besides being moisture-rich, this also contains hanbang ingredients ~ traditional Korean herbs.  These ingredients contain antioxidant, skin barrier strengthening and repairing benefits:  Anti-irriant, anti-inflammatory licorice root is a skin-brightening ingredient as well as reducing flaking and smoothing your skin. Skin-soothing ophiopogon japonicus root is part of the evergreen family, containing antioxidant homoisoflavonoids, which is known for its anti-inflammatory, anti-irritation and anti-bacterial benefits. 

Lingzhi, also known as ganoderma lucidum and reishi, is an Asian fungus. It is well known in Asian herbal medicines and contains ganodermic acid and ling zhi 8-protein ~ anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic ~ which help reduce skin inflammation, puffiness and fine lines and wrinkles. It also helps combat free radicals, healing damage and promoting cell regeneration.  Acanthopanax senticosus is also known as Siberian ginseng and it is full of skin benefits ~ anti-inflammatory, protects against oxidative damage for anti-aging, soothing and provides a nice radiance effect on the skin. 

Antioxidant, flavonoid-rich scutellaria baicalensis is another powerhouse botanical ~ reduces inflammation, brightens skin as it helps inhibit melanin production , skin-soothing, anti-aging, hydrating and helps remove excess oils and dead skin cells.  Pine bark has  been used for over 4,000 years in Korean medicine and its uses span from topical use for anti-aging and age reversal to internal uses for a healthy heart, strength and vitality. Orange daylily, hemerocallis fulva,  is full of carotenoids and polyphenols, along with antioxidants. It helps soothe skin and can help with the overall skin tone. 

Ginger contains 40 antioxidant compounds that help with anti-aging, removes toxins and stimulates your blood circulation.   It combats and prevents damage from free radicals, helping improve elasticity which makes your skin firm, toned and less wrinkles.  It have anti-bacterial properties to help fight off infections, it is also an anti-septic and antimicrobial, which helps keep blemishes away and its anti-inflammatory properties help reduce redness and swelling of the skin.   It also helps reduce the appearance of hyopigmented scarring ~ these scars are lighter than your skin tone and occur when your skin loses its pigmentation ~ it is the exact opposite of hyper-pigmentation.   It also is a skin brightener and can help even out your skin tone by inhibiting the production of melanin.

This emulsion also has vitamin C-rich sea buckthorn, which also contains vitamins A and E, beta carotene, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids.  Vitamin C is important for brightening and stimulating collagen production.  Sea buckthorn is known for its antioxidant properties to help slow down aging and to regenerate new skin cells, while penetrating deep into your derma layer and locking moisture inside. 

Ingredients: water, butylene glycol, glycerin, squalane, caprylic/capric triglyceride, pentaerythrityl tetraethylhexanoate, behenyl alcohol, dimethicone, glycyrrhiza uralensis (licorice) root extract, ophiopogon japonicus root extract, ganoderma lucidum (mushroom) stem extract, acanthopanax senticosus (eleuthero) root extract, scutellaria baicalensis root extract, zingiber officinale (ginger) root extract, pinus sylvestris bark extract, panax ginseng root extract, hippophae rhamnoides fruit extract, hemerocallis fulva flower extract, adenosine, glyceryl stearate, stearic acid, cholesterol, hydrogenated lecithin, hydroxypropyl bispalmitamide MEA, palmitic acid, synthetic fluorphlogopite, glyceryl caprylate, xanthan gum, carbomer, ethylhexylglycerin, titanium dioxide (CI 77891), tin oxide, tromethamine, disodium EDTA, phenoxyethanol, fragrance cosDNA

Sulwhasoo Skin Reinforcing Emulsion comes in a beautiful chocolate brown bottle with a bronze colored cap.  The application method is a pump and the emulsion is a nice, creamy yet lightweight lotion.  It is very moisturizing without being sticky or greasy on the skin.  It feels like silk going on my skin.  The fragrance is amazing ~ it is a nice woodsy and herbal mix, very unisex with notes of pine, sandalwood and camphor.  The fragrance is very relaxing and inviting and is not overpowering.   

This emulsion absorbs quickly, leaving my skin feeling soft, supple and moisturized without any oily shine.  I did not experience any breakouts while using this product.  I do think the titanium dioxide in here helps with the oils and also provides a bit of a tone-up here, as my skin looks a little bit more brighter ~ this is temporary, of course. I would not say it leaves a white cast on my light-medium skin tone, but if you have darker skin tones, it could leave a white cast.  This is a really nice emulsion and if you have oily skin like me, you can use this as your primary moisturizer.  For Sulwhasoo, the price point is really good on this product ~ the retail price is $50.00 for 90mL bottle; however, at Jolse, you can purchase this for $41.63.  Currently, they are sold out of this at their store, but I am hoping it comes back in soon! 

Jolse offers free global shipping plus gives a lot of samples out ~ the more you purchase, the more samples you get! Please note that the prices do fluctuate a little bit due to the WON to USD exchange rates.  Please click on my links to purchase, as I make a small commission at no cost to you!  All prices are in USD ~   Jolse offers free global shipping plus gives a lot of samples out ~ the more you purchase, the more samples you get! Please note that the prices do fluctuate a little bit due to the WON to USD exchange rates. Make sure to check your coupon zone (click here) for money saving discounts. You need to log into Jolse first, then download the coupons before you use them.  Their coupon savings has recently changed and your savings is now tied into how much you spend there, so make sure to check it  out

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[ products received for review purposes.  blog post contains affiliate links ]