Korean products have a reputation now, and reputations attract copies. Search any marketplace for Korean skincare or red ginseng and you will find thousands of listings, most from resellers who have never met the maker.
We buy differently. Every brand in our shop has been visited by us, in person, in Korea. We ask where the ingredients come from, who makes the product, and how big the batch is. If a maker cannot answer, we do not stock them. Fewer than one in twenty make it through.
Three things we look for. A maker who will put their name on the work. Ingredients with a traceable origin: six-year red ginseng should be able to tell you which field it grew in. And a product that would sell in Korea to Korean customers, without needing an export story.
That last test rules out a lot. It is also why our shop is smaller than most, and why we are comfortable with that.