Best Hanbang Beauty Brands To Try
STYLE STORY GUIDE
Best Hanbang Beauty Brands To Try
From Sulwhasoo to Beauty of Joseon, these are the Korean skincare brands blending traditional herbal ingredients with modern formulations for hydrated, nourished and healthy-looking mature skin.
In Korean beauty, a popular style or category of products is known as Hanbang.
Hanbang skincare is inspired by ingredients and techniques traditionally used in Korean herbal medicine. Think ginseng, red bean, licorice root, botanical extracts and fermented ingredients, but reworked into modern skincare products designed for today’s routines.
While Hanbang beauty has evolved a lot over the years, many of the most famous brands in the category are still loved for the same reasons: hydration, nourishment, elasticity and support for mature-looking skin.
Listen While You Read
The Korean Beauty Show Podcast
Want to understand why ingredients like ginseng, licorice root and fermented botanicals remain so popular in Korean skincare?
Listen to our episode on Hanbang skincare for a deeper dive into the brands, ingredients and beauty philosophy behind this category.
Brand One
Beauty of Joseon
The modern Hanbang brand that introduced a new generation to traditional Korean ingredients.
Beauty of Joseon products are loosely inspired by the skincare wisdom recorded in the Kyuhab Chongseo, a guide written for women during Korea’s Joseon Dynasty.
The brand combines ingredients like ginseng, rice bran water and red bean with contemporary formulas, making it one of the easiest entry points into Hanbang skincare.
Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream
This was the first Beauty of Joseon product we ever stocked at STYLE STORY and the brand’s first release.
It contains rice bran water, ginseng root water, squalane and niacinamide to hydrate, brighten and support skin elasticity.
Beauty of Joseon Red Bean Refreshing Pore Mask
This wash-off mask helps absorb excess oil and gently smooth away flaky skin without leaving it feeling tight or stripped.
Red bean has a long history in Korea and was traditionally used alongside mung bean as a facial cleanser.
Beauty of Joseon Revive Serum: Ginseng + Snail Mucin
This lightweight serum combines 63% ginseng root water with snail mucin to hydrate, brighten and support a healthy-looking complexion.
Many of Korea’s most iconic ingreidents trace their roots back to traditional herbal ingredients like ginseng.
Brand Two
Sulwhasoo
The luxury Korean skincare icon famous for ginseng and mature skin care.
Undoubtedly one of Korea’s best-known luxury exports, Sulwhasoo is famous for its use of Korean ginseng.
Sulwhasoo’s journey began with Korean ginseng, which is why the brand remains so closely associated with anti-aging skincare, nourishment and elasticity.
Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum
If you try nothing else from Sulwhasoo, make it this serum. It hydrates, nourishes and preps skin for the next steps in your routine.
Sulwhasoo Essential Firming Cream
A rich moisturiser for mature skin that focuses on firmness, resilience and hydration.
It features black soybeans, pueraria lobata root extract and lycium Chinese fruit extract to support a smoother, more resilient-looking complexion.
Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Serum
This luxury serum features encapsulated ginseng and targets skin texture, tone, fine lines and bounce.
Editor’s Note
Not A Fan Of Strong Herbal Fragrances?
One thing many luxury Hanbang products have in common is a distinctive herbal scent. Some skincare lovers adore it. Others prefer something softer, lighter and more modern.
If you’re interested in Korean skincare for dry, dull, perimenopausal or mature skin but don’t love strong herbal fragrances, you may prefer a modern Korean skincare approach focused on hydration, glow and barrier support.
STYLE STORY founder Lauren Lee later launched Jelly Ko, a multi-award-winning Korean skincare brand created for dry, dull, dehydrated, peri and mature skin, without the traditional Hanbang sensory experience.
Brand Three
The History of Whoo
A luxury Korean skincare brand inspired by royal beauty rituals.
The History of Whoo combines traditional Korean royal beauty secrets with modern skincare technology.
The brand is best known for rich, luxurious formulas designed to support mature skin and minimise the visible signs of aging.
The History Of Whoo Jinyulhyang Intensive Revitalizing Eye Cream
This moisture-rich eye cream contains red ginseng to help support firmness and hydration around the eye area.
The History Of Whoo Jinyulhyang Red Wild Ginseng Facial Oil
This facial oil is ideal for dry and mature skin because it contains concentrated wild red ginseng extracts, almond oil and other nourishing botanical ingredients.
Wild red ginseng is one of Korean beauty’s most prized ingredients because of the time and care required to extract it.
Brand Four
Pyunkang Yul
A Hanbang-inspired brand focused on hydration and balance.
Developed by Korea’s Pyunkang Oriental Medicine Clinic, Pyunkang Yul takes a more pared-back approach to Hanbang-inspired skincare.
The brand doesn't focus on expensive traditional ingredients but rather simple formulas, hydration and supporting the skin barrier, making it a popular choice for dry and sensitive skin.
Pyunkang Yul Mist Toner
This mist toner contains 95.8% barberry root extract to calm and moisturise sensitive skin.
It’s a lightweight option for skin that needs hydration without heaviness.
Pyunkang Yul Essence Toner
This intensely hydrating toner contains 91.3% milk vetch root extract, which is rich in betaine and minerals.
Pyunkang Yul Concentrated Eye Cream
A rich eye cream designed to provide deep hydration and support the delicate skin barrier around the eyes.
Continue Reading
More Korean Skincare Resources
Korean Skincare For Mature Skin
The ingredients and products worth knowing if your skin is dry, dull or changing with age.
Ginseng In Skincare
Why Korean beauty brands keep coming back to this traditional ingredient.
The Korean Beauty Show
Listen to Korean skincare trends, brand stories and beauty industry insights from Seoul.
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“Many Hanbang brands believe that the main goal of Hanbang cosmetics is “to restore overall skin function, rather than be limited to the external cause of skin concerns.”
-STYLE STORY
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