(SPOT.ph) It almost seems like a secret that the locals would rather keep to themselves—nestled among greenery on top of a small hill, this store requires a walk through a small forest of sorts with warnings that say “Beware of snakes.” Once you get to the clearing, a building that somehow fuses the modern and the organic appears, its big glass windows offering a peek into warmly lit, mostly wood interiors. It’s called Innisfree Jeju House, and it’s a wonderland for fans of the Korean skincare brand.
Innisfree Jeju House was opened in 2013, built to showcase the brand’s natural raw ingredients. You can buy your skincare favorites here, and while the store doesn’t carry any of the makeup lines, it has plenty of extras worth checking out. There’s an entire section of products exclusively available on the island, like essential oils and skin mists. You can also make your own bubble bomb or bar of soap using Innisfree’s signature ingredients from Jeju—green tea, volcanic minerals, or tangerine.
Jeju island’s rich natural resources are clearly the star, a fact that’s evident even at Green Café, the shop’s cozy eatery. You can take a pit stop here to just grab a Green Tea Latte or Jeju Sea Lemonade, or to have a full-blown meal—try the Jeju Lady Diver’s Basket Brunch, which is a hearty combination of seafood, vegetables, and flavored rice balls.
A short walk from Innisfree Jeju House, you'll find the O'Sulloc Tea Museum and the famous Seogwang Tea Garden, a sprawling field where the the brand's green tea is grown organically. Measuring just under 530,000 square-meters, it was developed from a rocky, barren landscape to become South Korea's biggest tea plantation—and was featured in an Innisfree ad with Lee Min Ho. (K-Drama fans, get ready to take lots of pictures.)
Innisfree Jeju House, open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., is at 23 Sinhwayeoksa-ro, Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo, Jeju-do, South Korea
