I've got an entire collection of Beauty of Joseon sitting on the shelf behind me. Cleansers, moisturisers, toners, serums, sunscreens and eye patches. It's a beautiful collection, and having spent time using the products and looking at their formulations, there are certainly some I like.
But I've come away with a slightly unexpected question.
Is Beauty of Joseon helping people understand skincare, or making it more complicated?
I spend a lot of time in clinic talking to people who feel completely overwhelmed by skincare. They know the names of ingredients, they've heard about the latest products, and they've often spent quite a lot of money trying to get things right. But they're not always sure what each product is doing, why they need it or where it belongs in their routine.
And looking at Beauty of Joseon, I can understand why.
The brand builds much of its identity around traditional Korean ingredients: rice, ginseng, green plum and honey. There's nothing wrong with that, and some of these ingredients have interesting properties. But the ingredient on the front of the bottle isn't necessarily the one doing most of the work.
Take the Ginseng Cleansing Oil. I'm far more interested in how effectively it dissolves sunscreen, emulsifies and rinses away than I am in the ginseng story. It's a wash-off product, after all.
Or the exfoliating toner. If I'm recommending an acid to somebody, I want to understand the concentration, the intended strength and how it fits alongside the rest of their routine. A lovely ingredient story doesn't answer those questions.
I actually quite liked Dynasty Cream. It's a perfectly decent moisturiser, with familiar supporting ingredients including glycerin, squalane and niacinamide. But I don't think I'd have been particularly excited by it in isolation. It became a quieter contender in a room of noise.
The Green Plum Cleanser and Radiance Cleansing Balm were also perfectly respectable products. But The Shelf isn't intended to hold everything I think is fine. It's reserved for the things I'd genuinely reach for or recommend.
And from this collection, three entries made it.
What we recommend…
Glow Replenishing Rice Milk
A milky, dual layer toner with rice extract and rice amino acids, designed to hydrate, soothe and smooth the skin while a sebum controlling powder layer reduces excess shine. Shake well before use. Suited to dry and combination skin.
Revive Under Eye Patch: Ginseng + Retinal
Cooling hydrogel patches with ginseng root water, retinal and bakuchiol, designed to hydrate, smooth and firm the delicate under eye area. Contains retinal, so best used in the evening. Suited to all skin types.
Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics SPF50+
A lightweight daily sunscreen with SPF50+ PA++++, rice extract and probiotics, designed to protect against UVA and UVB while hydrating and soothing the skin. Non-greasy with no white cast, and suited to sensitive and dry skin.
Sun Aqua-Fresh: Rice + B5 SPF50+
A lighter, more fluid take on the original Relief Sun, with SPF50+ PA++++, 30% rice seed water and panthenol, designed to protect against UV while hydrating and soothing the skin. Fast absorbing with no white cast or sticky finish. Suited to all skin types, particularly oily and combination skin.
The three that made The Shelf
1. Glow Replenishing Rice Milk
I really liked this. In fact, I liked it enough to give it away, and I'd happily buy it again for somebody else.
It's a beautifully hydrating toner, but I wish Beauty of Joseon made that clearer. The name doesn't immediately tell you it's a toner, that it's a dual-phase formulation requiring a shake before use, or where it belongs in a routine.
Look at the INCI and the hydration makes sense. Alongside the rice extract are familiar humectants including glycerin, propanediol and hydroxyethyl urea, with panthenol providing additional skin-conditioning support. There's also a powder phase designed to help manage excess surface oil.
So while rice gets the headline, I suspect the humectant system deserves rather more of the credit than the marketing might suggest.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. But I'd also have to explain what it is, how to use it and why somebody might benefit from it. And I can't help thinking a product should make those things easier.
The Shelf verdict: YES, BUT. Lovely hydration. Unnecessarily mysterious presentation.
2. Revive Under Eye Patches
These were a surprise, mainly because I'm not particularly passionate about eye creams.
But I genuinely enjoyed these patches. They were calming, soothing, non-irritating and quite lovely to use.
They're marketed around ginseng and retinal, a vitamin A derivative. Retinal appears low down the published INCI, although that doesn't establish its exact concentration or tell us how effective it might be.
What interests me more is the combination of the hydrogel format with ingredients such as glycerin, allantoin and beta-glucan, which makes much more sense of the comfortable, hydrating experience I actually enjoyed.
I'm not using these because I believe they're delivering some extraordinary vitamin A treatment. I'm using them because they feel lovely.
And perhaps we should allow skincare to be enjoyable without insisting that every product is transforming our faces.
The Shelf verdict: YES. For comfort and hydration, not the retinal headline.
3. Relief Sun SPF50+ and Relief Sun Aqua-Fresh SPF50+
Both of these deserve a place.
They use modern UV-filter systems and have supporting formulations designed to make daily sunscreen comfortable and appealing. The original Relief Sun has a creamier character, while Aqua-Fresh offers a lighter alternative.
And that's useful, because sunscreen is one of the most important products in a routine, but only if somebody is happy to wear it consistently.
I liked the sunscreen enough to give one to my son to take on holiday, although for swimming or prolonged outdoor activity I'd always check that the product offers appropriate water resistance.
The rice, probiotics and panthenol may be part of the wider formulation story, but the UV filters are doing the essential protective work.
Here, the purpose is wonderfully straightforward: protect the skin from ultraviolet radiation, in a texture somebody actually enjoys using.
The Shelf verdict: YES, to both. Good daily sunscreen options, without needing to get lost in the ingredient story.
My final thoughts
I don't think Beauty of Joseon is a bad brand. Quite the opposite. There are some genuinely enjoyable products here.
But I do think the brand sometimes asks consumers to work rather hard to understand what they're buying.
And that's what has stayed with me.
We're surrounded by skincare information, but information isn't necessarily understanding. Knowing that something contains rice, ginseng or retinal doesn't tell us whether we need it, whether it suits our skin or what it will realistically achieve.
I want skincare to feel less complicated, not more.
So three entries from this collection have earned a place on The Shelf. The others aren't necessarily bad products; they simply haven't given me enough reason to choose them over the alternatives already available.
Beauty of Joseon is very good at telling a story about skincare. I just wish that story did a little more to help people understand it.
