OK, so Koreans are now synonymous with plastic surgery and known, worldwide, for being ridiculously obsessed with beauty — and I mean the straight up physical kind. I held out pretty long on the Korean beauty product craze, even waiting until last year to try the now ubiquitous BB cream.

But finally, I’ve given in. My people are onto something … Enter The Face Shop, where you can find a Korean beauty product to fight every flaw — real or imagined — on your face. And, perhaps, more impressively, fight those flaws at a variety of price points.

I patronized the one in SF’s very own JapanTown, which, despite all its oddities, I have a total soft spot for … At any rate, I decided if I’m going to go for it, to go for the gold. So that’s exactly what this is. I purchased this over-priced vat of facial serum, paired with a glass dropper of magic oil. It is made, allegedly, of gold (?!?) and ginseng, which, to Koreans, is pretty much like gold.

Official verbiage from back of fancy box:

Myeonghan Miindo Heaven Grade Ginseng Cream Special Set
24K Gold Cream with the wild autogenous power of 6-yr-old Heaven Grade Ginseng and Natural Pine Mushrooms

That’s right — mushrooms. I’ll let you know when I start looking younger.

I also purchased a much less absurdly priced product, a BB Cream, which seems to be working quite well. Clearly it’s been in use and already taken a beating.