If you’re a beauty expert, a K-beauty fan, or a connoisseur of spas, you have may have already heard about Shangpree — or you may be new to K-beauty and may be hearing this name for the first time. Whether you’re already familiar with Shangpree or not, here are 7 fascinating facts about Shangpree you should know.
1. Shangpree’s R&D Director is Korea’s Top Skincare Expert
Her name is Dr. Wol-Hee. A well-known name in academic circles, Dr. Wol-Hee holds a Ph.D in cell biology and is often referred to as one of Korea’s most revered estheticians, the doctor of all things skin and how skin cells behave. In fact, she was given the authority by the Korean government to create Korea’s esthetician license exam, and she selects the top esthetician every year to represent Korea in international facial competitions.
Luckily for us, Dr. Wol-Hee is one of the masterminds behind Shangpree’s products, which means we know that every product has been developed with the expert knowledge of the Albert Einstein-equivalent in skincare.
2. Shangpree’s products are so popular, knock-offs exist.
Like the luxury brand Hermès, Shangpree, too, deals with knock-offs. We’re not talking about similar products or formulations; we’re talking about products that are printed with the Shangpree logo, using Shangpree’s design and ingredient list that people fraudulently try to pass and sell as the genuine thing. This is when you know a brand has reached a rarified level of cult popularity.
What does this mean for you? We’re proud partners with Shangpree as their exclusive US distributor, which means that you can take comfort in knowing that you will always receive a genuine Shangpree product when you shop with us.
3. At Shangpree, Training is More Like a College Degree.
An esthetician with twenty years’ experience at a top-notch spa might be able to work anywhere, but not at Shangpree. Every single esthetician, regardless of years of experience, hired by Shangpree goes through three years of training before they can even touch a client’s face — Shangpree’s standards are that exacting.
To further demonstrate their high standards, each year, Shangpree enters the Facial Therapy Competition hosted by CIDESCO, the world standard for beauty and spa therapy. In June 2018, Shangpree proudly announced that Joo-Eun Kim, the Master Esthetician and Spa Director of Shangpree, was the Special Award Winner in the 2018 Facial Therapy competition. As this is the highest award one could receive in the world, Ms. Kim is now recognized as the world standard master esthetician and beauty therapist.
Ms. Kim wasn’t the only esthetician from Shangpree who won awards during this year’s CIDESCO competition. This year alone, more than 820 people participated from around the world, and all 12 Shangpree estheticians who entered won awards:
- GJ Song: 1st Prize awarded by CIDESCO’s Korean branch
- JE Lee: 1st Prize awarded by the Present of International Olympic Competition, Korean Associate
- MJ Kim, CS Lee, HJ Won: 1st Prize awarded by the Senior President of CIDESCO
- The remaining 7 won gold medals in their categories
Shangpree has entered and won in CIDESCO’s competition for the past 10 consecutive years. This is a testament to how exacting Shangpree’s standards are.
4. Shangpree Has Developed Truly Unique Treatments, from Bubbling “Hip” Masks to Energizing Shoulder Pastes to an All-Over Mask that Heats Up.
Shangpree is more than their incredible spa products. Their facials are unreal, but Shangpree also develops body treatments and in-spa massages that are unlike any others in the world. For example, there's a treatment where an herbal paste is slathered over thin-disposal-underwear-clad buttocks to help with gut health and reproductive health — if you’re in Korea, we recommend you try it. It’s one of the most unique treatments that will leave you feeling balanced refreshed, sometimes with a more regulated flow.
5. Shangpree Has the Most Incredible Female Founder and CEO Who Will Teach You Life Lessons. Seriously.
We noticed that, when we would speak to people at Shangpree, everyone seemed to have been there for fourteen years, twenty years. A five-year employee would be considered a newbie, which meant that, when people join Shangpree, they simply don’t leave. We were curious why.
Shangpree’s founder, Jun Hee-Hyoung, is the epitome of a rockstar leader. Employees consistently told us that working at Shangpree is simultaneously like working for a company, participating in a continuous self-improvement class, and being part of a family. Whenever they spoke of the founder, they couldn’t help but gush about her positive, inspirational leadership.
6. Clients are clients for life.
It’s notoriously difficult to get an appointment at Shangpree because, once clients come in for their first treatment, they come back for their second, then their third, and so on. There are many A-list celebrities who regularly come to Shangpree for treatments and become known for their incredible skin, but Shangpree doesn’t have only a devoted celebrity following — skincare fanatics from all over the world travel to Seoul for treatment … and keep coming back.
7. Each formula is spa-grade.
Before a product even goes into development, every last master esthetician has to approve it because only Shangpree products can be used on clients. These products must impress everyone who comes to the spa and also continue to impress clients and customers at home because they release the same formulas they use in their spa for at-home use. This surprising approach means that Shangpree products live up to the same standards upheld at their spa. It’s no surprise, then, that their S-Energy line is one of the most sought-after lines from spa-goers, from their gentle, hydrating cleansers like the S-Energy Cleansing Gel and the S-Energy Facial Mousse Cleanser to their skin-plumping serum.
