Why these, and not the rest
Everything on this site can be bought somewhere else, and often for less. What you are buying from us is the shortlist.
We do not make any of it. Eleven products are on the shelf because two people used them, kept using them, and would hand one to a friend. That is the whole test. This page sets out what it means in practice, because a promise you cannot check is just a slogan.
Chosen, not stocked
A distributor will sell us a hundred lines tomorrow. The reason we carry eleven is that every one had to be used for long enough to know whether it did anything. Products that did nothing are not here, and neither are the ones that worked but were unpleasant enough that we stopped reaching for them.
On every product page there is a note saying why that one earned its place, with our names on it. If we cannot write that note, the product does not go up.
We describe. We do not diagnose.
Skincare is sold on promises, and the promises get bigger the further you are from the people who made the product. We would rather be dull than wrong, so:
- We describe products the way the brand that made them describes them, and we say where that description came from.
- We do not claim anything here treats, prevents or cures a condition. Under UK rules a cosmetic that makes that claim stops being a cosmetic and becomes an unlicensed medicine, and the claim is usually untrue anyway.
- We will not tell you what to do about a skin condition. If something is painful, spreading, changing or not getting better, that is a conversation for a GP, a pharmacist or a dermatologist, not a shop.
- The full ingredient list is on the pack. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or using prescription skincare, check with a professional before adding anything new.
[ Kelly and Debbie — this is the section your NHS background belongs in. Two or three sentences on what that work taught you about claims and evidence, and why it made you sceptical. Please tell us exactly what your roles were, and whether either of you is still on a professional register — it changes what this page is allowed to say. ]
Korean sunscreen: what is actually different if you are in Britain — the one bit of received wisdom about K-beauty that does not survive crossing the Atlantic.
Brands we can stand behind
Every product here is made by somebody else, and we say so on each page — COSRX, Centellian24, Dr.HEDISON, REJURAN, re’mirae, E·S·K, WBCo. and MUIHOOD. We are a retailer. The responsible person named on a pack is the brand’s or the importer’s, not ours.
[ Kelly and Debbie — where do you buy from, and how do you know the stock is genuine? This is the question a careful customer will ask about Korean skincare, and a straight answer here is worth more than anything else on the page. ]
What we still do not know
We would rather say so than fill the gap with something that sounds good.
- [ Anything you are still testing, or a category you have deliberately left empty because nothing was good enough yet. ]
Nothing on this page is medical advice. We are a shop, not a clinic.
We are a shop, not a clinic. Nothing here is medical advice — if your skin needs looking at, please see a GP, pharmacist or dermatologist.