Korean Make up Trash, Treat or Stash: Etude House's GOBACK Firming Cream

Trash, Treat or Stash. The Korean make-up products I've discovered are better off in the bin, the ones you should treat yourself to every now and again, and the ones that are so good that you should definitely make sure you have a stash of them.



Sometimes Korea gets the best of all of us, whether it's too many nights on the soju (or makeolli) or long classes with students that really don't want to be there. The other day I was teaching a second grade class and a little boy sincerely asked me 'Teacher, are you sick?' when I shook my head he went on to ask 'oh! Did someone in your family die?' I told him definitely not, so then his last idea was 'did you lose something?' Nope. He looked completely bewildered, and when I caught my reflection in the mirror after the class I caught his drift. I looked like I'd not slept in days. I managed to drag my haggered self around for the rest of the day and when I got home slapped on lots of GOBACK Firming Cream , which is the anti-age cream I have in Korea.

Cost: This costs about 25,000 won for a 50ml pot. That's about £15, so one of Etude's more pricier products, but being away from the products I was used to in the UK, namely Boots No.7 Protect and Pefect's range, I thought I would try it out. It's still about £7 cheaper than Boots' equivalent.
Prettiness: It comes in a fancy lilac pot, which does actually make me feel older than I am as it's very 80s style. Where did all the cuteness go?! I have to say that I also find the smell pretty awful too. To me it smells like damp moss, it's very hard to explain but I don't like it! Looking at the ingredients it claims to have fermented 6 year old ginseng water, which probably explains the awful odour!
Usability: Easy! Just smear it on like a moisturiser after your usual routine.
Effectiveness: I have to say, the smell put me off using this for long enough to really be able to report on the effects, but the days I did wear it I noticed my skin was quite greasy and shiny. It would appear that you're forced to choose between looking old or being shiny and smelly!


Overall: I think it's a pretty obvious thumbs down from me. I couldn't bear the smell long enough to see if the product miraculously made unwanted wrinkles and bags disappear. I also didn't like how greasy my skin felt after using it. In my opinion, using my normal moisturiser is worth a few scathing remarks from my students, and perhaps I should work on getting some good rest!
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