If there was anything that the founder Suh Sungwhan cared about as much as his children, that was research center. During the post-war time when any cosmetic was selling like a hotcake, nobody was interested in improving the product quality or investing in research. But, Suh Sungwhan was far-sighted enough to understand the importance of research and technology development for his business. He worked tirelessly to create an environment in which researchers could devote themselves to their research efforts.

In 1964, Suh Sungwhan shared his idea with the researchers to make ginseng-based cosmetics. Ever since he came back from his trip to Grasse in Southern France, he believed that his country's economy and culture could flourish through plant cultivation. The idea of making ginseng cosmetics was pretty much inspired by that trip.

However, very little was known about the beauty benefits of ginseng at that time, and no critical studies at all. The researchers had no idea where to start or what to research about it. So, their research had to start from the scratch. They extracted every possible property of a ginseng from its leaf to the root and studied them intensively to find its skincare benefits.

Two years later, they developed ABC Ginseng Cream, the world's first herb-based cosmetics. However, they continued to carry out research and, in 1972, they finally succeeded in extracting saponins, an effective ingredient found in the leaves and petals of ginseng. But still, the outcome was less than satisfactory because they did not have enough time to figure out how to eliminate the unique smell of ginseng and the irritation it caused when applied on the skin.

The following year, however, Suh's long waiting and support were rewarded with the world's first cosmetics using ginseng saponins, Ginseng SAMMI.

SAMMI and Ginseng SAMMI, released in 1975, were successfully exported to Japan, Canada and the U.K.

Unlike Koreans and Asians considering ginseng merely a health food, Westerners showed great interest in this cosmetic product made by the mysterious and special plant that came from Asia. Their interest once again convinced Suh Sungwhan that he was not wrong about the endless possibilities of Asian plants and nature.

Once he gained the ability of making ginseng-based cosmetics, his interest extended to more various medicinal herbs. He believed that it would be possible to extract more beneficial ingredients from millions of plants in nature, as it was with ginseng.

It was not at all easy to transform his ideas into reality and he underwent many trials and errors. Then, in 1987, his long-cherished dream came true with the development of Sulwha. It was the first reputable medicinal herb-based cosmetic product to use effective ingredients extracted from herbs such as Job's tear, Korean angelica, gardenia and licorice. The name 'Sulwha' signified a way of bringing the beauty of winter blossom to customers. Ten years later, Sulwhasoo, also known as the essence of medicinal herb-based cosmetics, was born. This was some 40 years after ginseng research first began.

* This column is extracted from the critical biography of the founder Cosmetics would still be my purpose, even in another life.