The Story Behind AmorePacific
AmorePacific was founded by Sung-Hwan Suh after he discovered Jeju Island, a volcanic island off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. What’s so special about this island? It turns out that the fertile volcanic soil contains 10 times richer minerals than normal soil, which is why Sung-Hwan Suh was inspired to use this soil to grow green tea. Sung-Hwan Suh was convinced that the benefits of green tea could be experienced in more ways than just drinking it, which is why he set up a research center to study, extract, and formulate green tea as a beauty ingredient, pioneering the use of green tea in skincare. Thus, AmorePacific was the first brand to scientifically discover the positive effects of green tea on the skin and the only beauty company in the world to cultivate its own green tea ingredients. Today, AmorePacific is Korea’s largest beauty company and is available in 5 countries around the world. In this review, we’ll discuss some of the brand’s best selling products, key ingredients, AmorePacific reviews from real customers, and more.
What are the Best Skin Care Products of 2023?
The Top 5 AmorePacific Skincare Products
AmorePacific offers products for every step of your skincare routine, including cleansers, toners, eye care, serums, masks, and moisturizers. If you aren’t sure where to get started with this brand, check out the top 5 best selling AmorePacific skincare products.
The Essential Creme Fluid
AmorePacific Essential Creme Fluid is a daily moisturizer with a soft, milky-type texture that quickly absorbs into skin and moisturizes without stickiness. This moisturizer can be used by all skin types, both day and night.
Treatment Enzyme Peel Cleansing Powder
AmorePacific Enzyme Peel is an exfoliating cleanser with a powder-to-foam formula powered by plant-derived enzymes. It is said to gently remove dead skin cells, impurities, and makeup to reveal a brighter, smoother complexion. The enzyme peel can be used by all skin types except for those with sensitive skin. It is gentle enough to be used both more and night.
Treatment Toner
The AmorePacific toner is said to balance pH levels and complete the cleansing process while priming the skin to better receive products to follow. This toner can be used by all skin types, both day and night.
Vintage Single Extract Essence
This AmorePacific essence is said to improve the look of elasticity, clarity, and texture and prep skin for steps to follow. The formula contains a high concentration of fermented green tea leaves. An essence should be used after applying toner but before applying your moisturizer, both day and night.
Time Response Eye Reserve Creme
The AmorePacific eye cream is a rich anti-aging eye cream that features a concentrated source of antioxidant-rich green tea. It can be used by all skin types, both day and night.
What Are The Key AmorePacific Skincare Ingredients?
As we mentioned in the introduction, the key ingredient that AmorePacific uses throughout their line of skincare products is green tea. We’d like to start out by summarizing how the brand harvests their green tea leaves because the process is rather intricate. Instead of just handpicking the leaves, they gently pluck the leaves with the less dominant hand, at dawn, only 15 days of the year. In order to make the Vintage Single Extract Essence, the green tea leaves are naturally fermented for 50 days and then placed in traditional Korean ongis by tea masters in a special location of their garden where they age for another 50 days.
Now let’s move onto the benefits of green tea leaf extract. One of the most important components in green tea extract is the polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). This polyphenol has been extensively studied for its health and beauty benefits. For example, a 2001 study in the journal Carcinogenesis found that topical application of EGCG to human skin resulted in decreased oxidative stress and an increase in antioxidant enzymes after UV irradiation. This is why green tea leaf extract can help improve the look of skin clarity, texture, and elasticity.
One disadvantage of AmorePacific skincare products is that most of them contain fragrance, and some formulations contain pretty high concentrations of fragrance ingredients. We understand that consumers appreciate when products smell pleasant, but we’d like to point out that fragrance is not skin care. Fragrance ingredients (both natural and synthetic) have the potential to cause sensitization, irritation, and even skin damage. Even if you don’t have a full blown reaction to the fragrance ingredients, the damage may still be occurring every day. Ultimately, this can cause mild problems for your skin in the short term and worse problems in the long term.
Where is AmorePacific Skincare Sold?
AmorePacific skincare products are sold on the brand’s website, as well as numerous online retailers such as Sephora, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and more.
What is The AmorePacific Return Policy?
AmorePacific accepts returns on merchandise purchased from their website within 60 days of purchase for a flat fee of $5.
Is AmorePacific Cruelty Free?
AmorePacific is not cruelty free because AmorePacific skincare products are sold in mainland China where animal testing is required by law.
AmorePacific Reviews
The brand doesn’t display customer reviews on their website, so we had to take a look at Sephora’s website to find out what customers really think of this brand. AmorePacific reviews on Sephora’s website are a mix of positive and negative. The product with the most reviews is the AmorePacific Enzyme Peel, which has over 1,500 customer reviews. There are many reviews that mention this peel exfoliates the skin very well while still keeping it hydrated. For example, one review says, “My face felt so pure and clean after using this. My skin was perfectly hydrated, but without any excess moisture. The powder turns to foam instantly with water. Any scents that may be present were undetectable to me. This was the softest gentlest exfoliator I have ever used. I’m sure it could be used daily.”
However, it’s important to also take a look at the negative AmorePacific reviews before purchasing a product from this brand. The majority of the negative reviews for the AmorePacific Enzyme Peel are from customers who experienced acne breakouts after using this product. For example, one reviewer shares, “Felt exfoliated but broke me out horribly! Tried to get through the purge but I think this just doesn’t have what I need for my acne. It was so expensive too.” There are also many customers that express they do not like having to mix the powder with water, and others who say it’s simply not worth the high price point.
What Are Some Alternatives to AmorePacific?
Overall, we aren’t very impressed with the AmorePacific skincare products. Yes, green tea leaf extract contains potent antioxidants and therefore is a good skin care ingredient, but the skin needs more than just this one ingredient in order to stay healthy. In addition to antioxidants, the skin needs ingredients that will help replenish the lipid barrier and ingredients that will help stimulate the production of new collagen. It’s also important to choose fragrance-free skincare products to avoid skin irritation and damage. One product that comes to mind that meets all of these criteria is Formulyst’s Anti-Aging Concentrate.
The Anti-Aging Concentrate is a fragrance-free, highly concentrated serum that contains squalane to help strengthen the skin’s lipid barrier, thereby locking in moisture. It also contains vitamins C and E, which work together to provide powerful antioxidant activity, protecting the skin against environmental free radicals that are known to degrade collagen. The formula includes Matrixyl 3000, a peptide complex composed of the matrikines palmitoyl tripeptide-1 and palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7. These two peptides work synergistically to restore and maintain the skin’s youthful appearance by signaling to cells to produce more collagen. Overall, Formulyst Anti-Aging Concentrate is a multi-tasking serum that is formulated to help promote the five signs of youth – radiance, elasticity, firmness, skin tone and smoothness.
There’s no need to compromise when it comes to finding skincare that is effective and safe. Carrot & Stick takes a tough love approach to skincare, perfectly balancing the power of plants with cutting edge science. Not only is Carrot & Stick good for your skin, it is also good for the environment as the formulas skip harmful chemicals commonly found in skin care products.
Maja Domijan Original review: May 16, 2023.
I’ m using Amore Pacific products for a long time. My skin is moisturized and beautiful. I kook younger than I am.