Sooryehan Bon Firming Cream - First Impressions
About my skin
I used to stick to more affordable products and use a lot of different products to address features like signs of aging, larger pores and CCs, redness and dull skin. This usage of a large quantity of more affordable products might be changing because of trying Sooryehan!
I'm going to call these things I'm addressing "features" rather than "concerns", which is just a personal preference. My skin doesn't need fixing, I just tailor my routine to address certain aspects of it. This may seem a pedantic choice of words but language matters!
I'm 40 with combination skin, prone to CCs but not acne (unless I've used a product that disagrees with me) and my skin is perpetually dehydrated because of the actives I use. My neck is dry, dry as a desert, and very sensitive, so I use an entirely different routine that would be too bland for my face - plus, my neck routine wouldn't address my face skin features.
Cost of Sooryehan Bon Firming Cream
£45.19 from Stylevana, but with another £6 off from a code. Price varies a little in typical Stylevana fashion, it's £43 right now. Purchased with my own money, as usual!
Introduction
I'm going to reference Odile Monod again and it's probably going to happen a lot!
I look longingly at the creams she reviews when she demonstrates the texture. It all looks so good but they're often on the more pricey side. And furthermore, knowing she has dry skin suggests to me that a lot of these moisturisers probably have shea butter, which is my kryptonite. I'd be growing my very own field of closed comedones, skin the texture of bubble wrap. No thanks.
However, the Bon cream doesn't have shea butter (I double checked and Google translated the product insert before using it). Huzzah! A hanbang cream I might actually be able to use :)
Oh, Sooryehan, your products are incredibly well-formulated, this cream was everything I hoped it would be!
I sigh at the thought other of using other moisturisers now. They're so.... basic. Unnourishing (not a word, don't care). Uninnovative (not a word, don't care). Unappealing and bland.
I just gave away my backup next-best cream because what even is the point of using it anymore.
If the Sooryehan doesn't work, I'll use Cosrx Advanced Snail 92 All in one cream and Illiyoon ATO Ceramide Concentrate cream. And sulk.
I'm annoyed, again, because I really genuinely thought multiple moisturisers, as a routine choice, were right for my skin. That logic has been proven the rationalisation of a noob.
I am utterly ruined for anything else.
Thankfully, the Bon cream has passed my initial 5 day testing period (usually breakouts occur in the first 5 days for me, but there are exceptions).
Packaging
Despite my feelings about the gold packaging of the Sooryehan Ginseng First Essence, I was a little disappointed that this didn't come in a gold box.
There's no pleasing some people!
However, on the upside, the box doesn't appear to have a plastic coating so it's likely to be more recyclable. Good good.
Arguably, the packaging is actually nicer than the gold box for the First Essence - the warm bronze colour has a pearlescent finish (which means it'll give my skin a pearlescent finish, right?)
It has a pearlescent gold jar that is a squat oval, like if you took a ball of dough and squashed it so it was a slightly flattened sphere. It's got a shiny gold plastic rounded collar under the lip of the jar.
I will absolutely give the Bon cream credit for having a fancier lid - that embossing on the box of the Ginseng First Essence appears on the lid of the Bon cream, under shallow glass dome. Gorgeous!
The cream comes with a spatula, which is a little bit more premium than some other spatulas I've received - although I got a Facetheory metal spatula recently and it's quite fancy, so I've been using that for preference. But also because I'm very lazy at washing used spatulas so I like to have a few on hand.
Texture & Feel
I've described this as ganache. Velvet, smooooth, rich.
When you apply it, it stretches to form a soft point and then might stand straight or fold over itself. It's not gloopy like snail, it's not that kind of stretchy.
I've got it: there's an elasticity to the cream, it is exactly the way meringue forms peaks. Have a google if you don't know what I mean by this - I found a picture that compares different meringue textures - the Sooryehan is perhaps between firm and stiff peaks.
Yes: this cream is Michelin starred meringue.
The feel is unbelievable. You'd think it would feel heavy but it melts to form a second skin. There's so much more I want to say.... keep reading because it falls under the other sections.
Ingredients
I've Google translated the ingredient list, taken from the insert. If you have sensitivities, allergies or ingredients you avoid, please do your own research and don't rely on this ingredient list!
Purified water, butylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, glycerin, cyclopentasiloxane, cetylethylhexanoate, cetearyl alcohol, hydrogenated polyisobutene, macadamia seed oil, PVP, 1,2- Hexanediol, glyceryl stearate, triethylhexanoin, panthenol, ginseng leaf/stem extract, ginseng extract, Gwanggwakhyang leaf extract, Algae extract, Bokryeong extract, Kobon extract, mung bean extract, carob bean extract, Gwalu root extract, Matsutake mushroom extract, ginger extract, cinnamon tree fruit extract, white dance extract, tangerine peel extract, eggplant extract, hydrogenated olive oil, olive oil, olive oil unsaponifiables, jojoba ester, PEG-100 stearate, cetea Lilglucoside, polyglyceryl-3methylglucose distearate, phytosteryl/octyldodecyllauroylglutamate, dimethicone, stearic acid, polyacrylate-13, polyisobutene, polysorbate 20 , Stearyl Behenate, Inulin Lauryl Carbamate, Mica, Titanium Dioxide Red Iron Oxide, Tromethamine, Trisodium EDTA, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 4, Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Geraniome . Nuclear Sincinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, Limonene, Lining (?)
I should probably do some commentary on this: I got it for the ginseng!
I love creams with silicones and I hoped the oil wouldn't be problematic - in terms of how it dried down and how it felt.
Fragrance
The scent is more subtle than the Ginseng First Essence. I barely notice it now.
I wish I could describe the scent but I can't figure out the notes.
There's slight sweetness and it reminds me a little of what is described as "amber" in perfumes, but subtle, very subtle. When it's warmed, it smells a touch sweeter, closer to the Ginseng First Essence.
It's a a low to medium complex smell.
I have grades of smell now: the Ginseng First Essence is on the simpler end of the scale, Bon Firming cream low to medium, The Black Serum medium to high and The History of Whoo Ultimate Revitalising Balancer is top, highly complex!
What Step?
Last!
No more many moisturisers - just this. I can live without Cosrx 92 and whatever else I've previously said I can't live without.
And second to last before sunscreen. I am debating whether I use this AM regularly, which I'll discuss below.
So far, I've tried a few different products with it - not all at once. I have a lot of open products and sometimes just use whatever I feel like with no regard to logic.
Watery: Missha Artemisia Calming essence + mist, Missha Time Revolution FTE Rx Pro-ferment, Mixsoon Bifida toner, Hakutsuru Daiginjo Medicated Sake Whitening Lotion, I'm From Rice toner
Thicker: Cosrx 96, Hada Labo Premium Lotion, Mixsoon Bean essence, Papa Recipe Blemish serum, Sooryehan Hyobidam Fermented Toner, The History of Whoo Ultimate Revitalising Balancer, Sooryehan Ginseng First Essence, Sooryehan The Black Serum, Sooryehan Hyobidam Fermented Emulsion
Sunscreen: Verdio UV Moisture Gel N
Experience
Application
Taken from the insert:
Directions: At the last stage of basic routine, take a modest amount, dot it to face and smooth it all over face. Rub your palms each other and cover your face with warm hands and lightly lift up your skin. For neck, wrap your neck with hands while massage out- wards from center to help absorb deeply.
Tips: For optimally elastic skin, massage your face and neck using OX method after applying SooRyeoHan Firming Cream.
I have followed these instructions every time I've used it (apart from a hungover morning and on a work day).
The dotting and warming makes it feel like an event. Which, for a premium cream (even if it's one of the cheaper options from Sooryehan), is important!
Premium products have something of a theatrical presence: it's not just about great ingredients, great formulation but also the experience. This is a pretty common viewpoint when it comes to premium products, but it should be repeated. More on this below.
The application method definitely makes a difference. On a work day, where I just don't have the time to dot, warm my hands and massage it - I notice a difference in how it applies. It feels thicker, less malleable, it doesn't melt like ganache. It's over-beaten meringue.
But just because it's not as elegant if I have less time will not stop me using it as my one and done cream! I can live with a little less elegance, knowing I'll have time in my PM routine to fully appreciate it.
Moisturising Power
I've already covered quite a bit of what I have to say in the previous sections but let me reiterate that this cream is extremely moisturising and I'm impressed I don't feel the need to layer it up with other creams.
And, what's more interesting is that i can actually use less of the Bon cream compared to other moisturisers with no loss of skin comfort. No need to use an additional product that is primarily occlusive. My skin feels moisturised but not greasy in the morning and the evening, for that matter. Although as I said, not all sunscreens are quite right for this one, only my lightest feel balanced (Verdio and Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun gel).
My fine lines around my eyes seem plumped, given I've barely used actives recently - but I am also using three other Sooryehan products also so draw what conclusions you will from that. I'll revisit this in a later post, although I do feel I have less plumping around the bottom of my eye bag area - something that always happens if I haven't used retinal much for a few weeks.
Potential Drawbacks
So far, as I've said, it's felt a bit heavy on my skin when I haven't used the warming dot method - I've tried a sunscreen with alcohol over the top and it felt like my skin was becoming a touch oily by the afternoon.
Today I've used the warming dot method but just done it more quickly than I would for a PM routine and Verdio sunscreen, which much better, although I applied it at midday because I forgot 🤷🏻♀️
I tried it with less of a wait before Verdio and it's still great. Dear readers, we have a winning combination here! And it's a major bonus, because the Verdio is sooooo cheap ❤️
My lips taste perfumey in the morning. But... I'll live with that. It's not much of a problem when I do my morning routine early but when I'm not working, I tend to mooch around so the perfumey taste is more noticeable.
My eyes might not like so many thicker products with fragrance - it could be a coincidence but my eyes have felt drier over the last week. I am reluctant to take it away from my eyes (I'll use more eye drops and suffer for my art) but I might investigate Sooryehan eye creams....
Another potential downside was how it might perform in summer. Last year it was so hot and humid - when I applied any of my usual first creams, I was immediately a sweaty emollient mess. Or if it wasn't so hot, by the time I'd completed my uphill rush to work (approx 20-30 mins), I was then a sweaty emollient mess.
The only thing that worked was Hada Labo Perfect Gel because it forms a film that lets sweat out but doesn't lift off the cream itself and my skin stayed well moisturised all day.
It's not summer yet but I left late and it was raining persistently and quite hard. But when I got to work, my face was wet but no diluted cream came off my face when I touched my cheek. It may not work but nonetheless I am optimistic for the summer. Plus, there's always the Sooryehan Hyobidam Fermented Emulsion as an option!
Why it's changed how I think about skincare
Another match made in heaven! My skin + Sooryehan are total besties.
I've occasionally trialled just one cream and it results have been fine. Dry patches happen on my cheeks because I'm a sweaty, restless side sleeper.
My previous HG cream routines involve some kind of light cream (or several) then something with silicones on top. That's always worked best for me.
Moisturisers with oil seem like they should work never do. I end up with dry patches or, at best, patches that don't feel moisturised come morning.
I now know that's down to less well formulated products.
I know I keep banging on about formulation but it turns out it makes a massive difference.
Schrödinger's Feminism
I don't really have much to say that's an actual feminist critique for the Bon cream and you'll see why below.
I mean, it makes me feel fancy - everything about it, from the box to the jar to the formulation - whispers "fancy".
No, nothing about this cream is so gauche as shout. It's a honey-drenched, seductive whisper.
And of course, for me, as much fun as I had writing that - as I've said, it's not my wheelhouse. There's a certain cognitive dissonance in using a product like this - which I talked about in more detail for the Sooryehan Ginseng First Essence review.
However, despite me feeling somewhat unnerved in terms of gender identity and general working classness, the cream is good enough that I will overlook any feeling of being out of place with it. I'm going to consider fancy skincare a new subject position: one that might actually end up being more thrifty in the long run: if I can just use a few, rather than many, I would actually save money.....
I'll come back to the idea of theatre that I mentioned above. There's something dramatic in these very fancy packages: there's a stunning outer which contains a stunning inner! Oh and it's hefty, you could do some damage if you swung this at someone! The weight, of course, adds to the impression of luxury.
Regardless of the ooh's that the packaging inspires - because there's a classic femininity to that luxe jar, I truly haven't found another moisturiser formulated like this.
I consider all the Sooryehan products I've tried, so far, very well-formulated but all of the runnier ones have a lot in common: they all feel like lighter or heavier serums.
And the emulsion is a bridge between the serum textures and the Bon.
There is something very theatrical about the texture of the Bon (that thick but whipped and melting texture). It feels incredibly premium. Despite pretty much being the cheapest Sooryehan moisturiser.
And here's where I'll stand my ground: despite the cognitive dissonance of the packaging, I can ignore it entirely. The cream performs so well that I don't really have any brain space for what it looks like.
For me, lots of hydrating steps are interchangeable but moisturiser is where formulation can make a bit difference. And This. Is. It.
And the funny thing? It's not even that expensive (relatively, for hanbang)
Final Thoughts
Instant HG.
I mean, that's all you need to know, right?
I'm just about to embark on an extremely stripped back routine for a month or so. One hydrator AM + Bon, the same plus The Black Serum PM.
Before I go splurging on more full sizes, it's worth knowing if I can just use one AM and get a full size of The Black Serum as a third PM product.
I'll be testing this out with my usual actives, as that's a bit of a non-negotiable for me.
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