The Best-Selling Serum You Need to Add to Your Skincare Routine — STAT

The mark of a good skincare product? How well it sells. If it truly works, the thinking goes, and customers will keep on purchasing it — not to mention tell all their friends about it. And that’s been exactly the case with the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum.

The formula’s been around since 1997 in South Korea, where it was developed by one of the leading Korean skincare brands long before the term “K-beauty” came into existence. Despite its OG credibility, though, it’s anything but old news; instead, it keeps winning new fans thanks to its time-tested, science-backed ingredients and unbeatable performance. In fact, it’s so popular that a bottle is sold every 7 seconds globally*.

With that, we’re taking a closer look at what sets this face serum apart from the competition — and what makes it one of Sulwhasoo’s best-selling skincare products.

*Based on aggregated global unit sales data excluding duty free stores from 2020-2021

The Formula

For starters, the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum isn’t just a serum. It’s technically a “prep serum,” which means that it looks and feels like an essence and is meant to be used after cleansing — which, for the uninitiated, is typically used to dampen skin and allow following products to better absorb into skin.

Unlike your average essence, however, it features the highly concentrated herbal ingredients expected from a serum, effectively giving you the best of both worlds. This hybrid formulation also makes it easy to slot into your existing skincare routine and amplify its overall results — teamwork!

The Ingredients

Inspired by the concept of hanbang, a.k.a. Korean herbal medicine, the formula is powered by a JAUM Activator™, which is a proprietary complex of five herbs, including peony, white lily, and sacred lotus. This complex was created through years of sifting through data in ancient Asian literature, through which the team at Sulwhasoo could determine the right proportion of these ingredients for the best possible results — what the brand calls the “golden ratio.” As a result, the JAUM Activator™ complex is able to target six skin concerns in a single step, delivering hydration, brightness, radiance, translucency, a fortified moisture barrier, and improvement in visible wrinkles.

The Ritual

While its ingredients are largely responsible for delivering visibly smooth, soft, and glowing skin, the application method is another big part of the magic behind the serum. The brand recommends applying it via what it calls the "First Peace Ritual."

Begin by warming two or three pumps of the serum between your hands, then bring your hands to your face and take a deep breath — which, by the way, will instantly make you feel relaxed. Then, slowly apply the serum in circular motions, beginning with the nose area and working your way out, while massaging it evenly into skin. Finally, use the palms of your hands to gently press the serum into your cheeks, forehead, chin, and around the eyes. Finish it off by wrapping your face in both hands, then follow with the rest of your routine.

The Results

As we mentioned, results are what keep a skincare product at the top of its game — and, after 25 years, this serum’s payoff just keeps getting better. In a study conducted by the brand, 98% of people agreed their skin felt moisturized, hydrated, and softer, and 96% agreed skin appeared to have a healthy glow and boost effects of skincare products used in next steps.**

In another study to understand the long-term benefits of using First Care Activating Serum, the brand discovered that Korean women who have incorporated First Care Activating Serum into their skincare regimen for an average of 12 years look 13.3 years younger compared to average skin care users of the same age groups.***

It’s results like these that might explain why the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum continues to be such a success year after year — and shows no sign of stopping.

**Based on a 4-week independent consumer study on 539 women ages 22 to 56

***Based on a study on 95 Korean women ages 22 to 80 with up to 20 years of consecutive usage of First Care Activating Serum evaluating skin conditions based on 5 Youth Indicators--hydration, brightness, radiance, translucency and eye wrinkles--compared to the same age groups in Sulwhasoo's skincare characteristic data base of 195 Korean women