Grooming Awards 2024: Best Serum — Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum VI - Men's Folio

Grooming Awards 2024: Best Serum — Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum VI

Men’s Folio’s Grooming Awards 2024 spotlights the winner for the category Best Serum — the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum VI.

Men’s Folio’s Grooming Awards 2024 spotlights the winner for the category Best Serum — the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum VI.

For people in their 20s and 30s, there is little to no use for extreme, harsh actives as they can create an opposite effect and damage the skin. The key is to keep skin looking plump, glowing and smooth — all with buildable, simple ingredients. Turns out, this can be easily achieved starting by adding ginseng into one’s routine. Not the actual herb itself, but its concentrate found in the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum VI, given it is known to be a miracle worker that has made it the most coveted serum to grooming fans across the board for years with its promising effects.

The product is intriguing, as it aims to be a first-step serum— used after cleansing and/or exfoliating, before toners. The serum is a great way to support the skin barrier function by supplementing instead of replacing. Not only does it prove to give a healthy glow after continuous use, Lymphanax™ — the patented ginseng-derived component — reduces tightening of skin after cleansing and makes for a great alternative to medically-derived acids that focus purely on hydrating. To bolster its effectiveness, the serum comes packed with VitaminC, prized for its brightening properties that will not leave skin sticky or overly dry.


Indeed, it did help prevent water loss without leaving any burning effects on the skin. Its barrier-boosting benefits mean fewer worries about downtime or purging — more about calming things down and allowing one’s skin to heal itself. Best of all, it comes in a paraben-free formulation.

Photography Jaya Khidir
Styling Manfred Lu

Once you are done with this story, click here to catch up with our August 2024 issue.