sulwhasoo essential firming cream

this is the description from the website: a rich skin firming face cream that takes care of flakes and tight patches without feeling heavy, and addresses loss of elasticity of jisun firming complex, a potent blend of antioxidant-rich goji berries, black beans, and arrowroot. it offers deep hydration and helps smooth tone and texture. at night skin goes into repair mode, which means this emollient skin firming face cream formulated with a cocktail of nourishing black bean extract and antioxidant-rich goji berries, makes way for a radiant, smoother complexion. it's also perfect for creating a smooth, even canvas for makeup.

key ingredients: jisun firming complexTM - a special ingredient complex of goji berries, black beans and arrowroot. the proprietary complex effectively supports a firmer look of the skin.

ingredients list: water, butylene glycol, glycerin, caprylic/capric trigylceride, cetyl ethylhexanoate, butylene glycol dicaprylate/ dicaprate, cyclopentasiloxane, polyglyceryl-3 methylglucose distearate, glyceryl stearate, cyclohexasiloxane, cetearyl alcohol, PEG-100 stearate, hydroxyethyl acrylate/sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer, phenoxyethanol, polyacrylate-13, fragrance, polyisobutene, honey, limonene, lilium candidum bulb extract, paeonia albi-flora root extract, rehmannia glutinosa root extract, polygonatum officinale rhizome/root extract, nelumbo nucifera flower extract, ethyl-hexylglycerin, polysorbate-20, polysorbate-60, kaolin, linalool, pueraria loba-ta root extract, glycyrrhiza uralensis (licorice) root extract, citronellol, citral, geraniol, benzyl benzoate, hydrolyzed soybean extract, tocopherol.

the packaging: since i bought this in a set, it comes in a yellow/white box with the picture of everything inside at the front. at the back there's a list of the products inside. on the side there's a bit description and ingredients list on some of the items in english and korea. the cream itself comes in a miniature version of the full size product. it comes in a white plastic tub with yellow plastic screw cap. there's a yellow plastic cover inside so the cream doesn't come in contact with the air directly. unfortunately, they don't provide any spatula. the sample size is 15 ml which is really generous since usually full size one comes in 30 ml, but i read in the website that the full size is 75 ml. anyway, the packaging is quite deceiving since it looks as big as the votre peau full size moisturizer.

the scent: as you can see, there's added fragrance in the ingredients list. by now, you'd realized that all sulwhasoo products are fragranced. this one has the original hanbang scent, which is according to my nose smells a mix of herbal and ginseng scent. it's stronger compared to the other cream that i tried before this one, but not as strong as the overnight vitalizing mask, if my memory served me right. anyway, sulwhasoo always corporate fragrance as part of their skintainment, to give more holistic experience so don't expect them to go unscented.

the product: their description is right on the spot. it's a rich cream, very thick. i think it's the thickest cream that i've tried so far. however, it melts easily to my skin. since i use retinol serum right now and another cream that contains AHA, i decided to use this in rotation with them both. on days that i use retinol serum, i top it off with this cream. and when i don't use retinol, i use the AHA cream. i did this for almost a month and it works well. 

the result: as i've said, i use this every other day, alternating with AHA cream. i think since i use this every other day, my skin can tolerate it well. however, i don't think it might be the case if i used it every day. the amount of this cream that i use is way less than the amount that i use of votre peau one. this gives semi matte finish, but in the morning, i can feel the layer of moisture on top of my skin before i wash it off. 

i think this cream might be more suitable for dry skin as it's thick and rich. so, the title might be suitable as firming as it's quite dense. 15 ml is a lot for this type of cream since i only use this at night, so it lasts me more than a month since i only use this every other day. again, let me remind you that all sulwhasoo products are scented. as for the price, i believe that the price comes from something, so if you wanted to splurge, then this might be a good option as their products are high quality, not to mention the pretty packaging. as for me, i don't think it's for me, so i won't purchase the full size one. compared to the concentrated ginseng, this one is thicker and richer, so if you have normal or combination skin, you might want to try the other one rather than this one.