Why we stock Beauty of Joseon
Two products in, several left out, and the honest state of what we can and cannot verify about the brand.
Routinae sells some of the products written about here, so read this the way you would read any shop’s opinion of its own shelves. Where we think a cheaper product does the same job we say so, and where the evidence is thin we say that too. Our buying standard is published so you can check the argument against it.
Beauty of Joseon is the brand most people arrive at K-beauty through, usually via one sunscreen. That popularity is a reason to look harder, not a reason to skip the work.
What we kept
Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics SPF50+. The sunscreen that converted a lot of people to wearing SPF daily, and unusually for a viral product the reason holds up: no white cast, no heaviness, and it does not pill under makeup. The filter system - DHHB, Tinosorb S, Tinosorb M and Uvinul T150 - is fully permitted in the EU. There is a persistent myth that Korean sunscreens are not EU-legal on filters. For this one, that is simply not true.
Glow Serum Propolis + Niacinamide. A gentle entry into tone work at 2% niacinamide, low enough that it rarely causes trouble. We stock it precisely because it is mild - the 10% serums are more effective and considerably more likely to irritate someone new to actives.
What we left out
Several products, for ordinary reasons: duplication with things already here, and in one case a price we could not justify against a cheaper product doing the same job. We would rather stock two things from a brand we can argue for than eight we cannot tell apart.
What the evidence actually supports
Niacinamide has reasonable published support for the appearance of uneven tone. Propolis has much less, and what exists is thin. We are not going to borrow confidence from the brand's marketing on that one. If propolis turns out to do nothing for you, the niacinamide is still working.
On the sunscreen: SPF numbers are only as good as the test behind them. In 2020 an independent test found a different Korean brand's SPF50+ product testing at SPF 19, and the brand halted sales. We ask suppliers for the ISO 24444 and ISO 24443 test reports rather than taking the number on the carton.
What we can and cannot verify
Beauty of Joseon publishes a multilingual EU page with ingredient lists and cautions, including Dutch. That is useful, and it is an Article 19 labelling page - it does not contain a CPNP number or name an EU Responsible Person. We checked, because we had assumed otherwise.
That is not a criticism of the brand. The Responsible Person belongs to whoever imported a given batch, not to the brand - which is why the same product can have different Responsible Persons depending on who brought it into Europe. It means the paperwork has to come from our supplier, per SKU, and we are still collecting it.
Who should skip this brand
If you have a bee product allergy, avoid the propolis serum entirely. If you need water resistance for swimming or sport, the Relief Sun is not the right sunscreen. And if you already own a sunscreen you reliably wear every day, you do not need this one - the best SPF is the one you actually use.