Jinjja or Not

Written in Korea · Bought at Korean retail

Is it jinjja,
or not?

Korean snacks and skincare, judged by someone who lives here and can read the label.

Jinjja ✓ Worth it Not ✗ Skip it
3 taps · 15 seconds

Which Korean snack should I actually buy?

Answer three questions and I'll name one — plus what I left out, and why.

Find my snack → 3 taps · 15 seconds

Oil, balm or foam for my skin?

Matched from the Korean label data on 12 cleansers I've bought and used.

Find my cleanser →
or just browse everything I've tested ↓
Haitai Honey Butter Chip bag, held on a Korean street Round Lab 1025 toner bottle, Korean label showing through Post Oreo O's cereal rings in a glass bowl Round Lab birch juice sunscreen tube, Korean packaging Samyang Carbonara Buldak instant noodles multipack Three Korean Pringles cans: butter caramel, dakgangjeong and Texas BBQ Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Cleansing Oil bottle, Korean label beplain Mung Bean pore cleansing milk balm jar Orion Goraebap Marine Boy snack box Korean Cheetos bag with a bowl of the puffs poured out Post Oreo O's Korean cereal bag Three Nongshim Saewookkang shrimp snack bags

Every photo on this site is mine.

mat-gwa-meot

What's actually worth buying

Korea has one phrase for both halves of this site — 맛과 멋, taste and beauty. It rhymes in Korean. It doesn't in English, so I'll show you instead.

what this is

Two shelves, one job

I live in Korea and buy everything here with my own money. Korean law makes a brand print how much of the ingredient named on the front is actually in the bottle, and that number is almost never on the export label. I read it, use the product properly, and tell you whether it is worth your money — or when it is worth it, and when it is not.

mat · taste A handful of Korean corn-soup chips A Korean snack stick dipped in mayonnaise Pork belly lifted from a bowl of Korean instant noodles All verdicts →
Worth it, onceTurtle chips Bought againYakgwa, 3 brands
meot · beauty Scooping cleansing balm from a green jar Five Korean cleansers lined up Holding a Korean ginseng cleansing oil bottle All verdicts →
Bought againDr.G Red Blemish cream Will buy againAnua heartleaf oil

Latest verdicts

Will buy again

Nurungji: The Rice Crust in a Box

Will buy again

Beauty of Joseon Daily Tinted Fluid Sunscreen: Zinc Oxide First

Jinjja ✓

Korea's Whale Crackers Are Sold Abroad Under a Different Name

Jinjja ✓

The Pringles Flavour Named After Korean Fried Chicken Is 0.025% Chicken

Comparison

3 Korean Cleansing Balms, Compared

Jinjja ✓

beplain Mung Bean Milk Balm, 20 Days In

Every verdict on one page →

Questions people ask

Who writes these reviews?

Sunny Park. I am Korean, I live in Korea, and I buy every product here myself at Korean supermarkets, convenience stores and beauty shops.

Are these paid or gifted reviews?

No. Everything on this site was bought with my own money. Some links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you buy through one, at no extra cost to you. If anything is ever gifted, that page will say so.

Why does reading the Korean label matter?

Korean cosmetics law makes a brand print how much of the ingredient named on the front is actually in the bottle. Anua's heartleaf cleansing oil is 10 ppm of heartleaf. celimax's jojoba oil is 1,500 ppm. Those numbers are on the Korean label and almost never on the export one.

Where do you buy the products you review?

In Korea, in the shops Koreans actually use. That is also why some things here are not sold abroad yet, and why the Korean version is sometimes a different product from the one exported under the same name.