Our Core Ingredient
Aged Vinegar
Not just any vinegar
107 was founded on the belief that age-old beauty secrets matter. The all-natural vinegar we use in our formulations is handcrafted according to secret recipes derived from traditional Asian medicine remedies. These secrets have been passed down for 36 generations within our family of dedicated artisans. Our vinegar is fermented and aged for up to 30 years, using proprietary methods developed and perfected over many centuries. The knowledge, care and time invested to make our vinegar is why it’s so special, and why we’re so passionate about it.
A superfood for your skin
Our vinegar is not only good for your gut, it’s good for your skin. Our multi-year fermentation and aging process produces an extraordinarily rich microbiome (or culture of probiotic bacteria). In your gut, these helpful bacteria work hard to neutralize irritants and break down raw ingredients into smaller, more absorbable molecules. They perform the same function within the vinegar itself, producing a potent mixture of molecular byproducts (or naturally-formed postbiotics) that are beneficial for the skin. Such postbiotics include amino acids, alpha hydroxy acids and acetic acid.
Sourced from nature
Ingredient purity is essential for our vinegar, so only the highest quality peak-harvested ingredients are used to make it. These all-natural ingredients are grown on the artisans’ own farm or acquired from exclusive sources in Korea. Our vinegar contains some of the most unique ingredients you won’t find anywhere else: natural bedrock water from the aquifers of Ganghwa Island; three types of local rice (white, brown and glutinous); and a blend of Asian herbs and local ingredients (including ginkgo, honey, turnip root, dried orange peel, lilyturf root, balloon flower and Korean red pine needles).
Made with love
Our vinegar comes from the heart. Typical commercial vinegar can be easily manufactured in as little as one day. Not our vinegar. The artisans who make our vinegar strongly believe it is a living organism that can change greatly depending on how it is treated, so they nurture it with love and devotion. From start to finish, they prepare, brew and age our vinegar by hand. They use special handcrafted tools like earthenware urns made from pure soil and stirring rods carved from lightning-struck trees. They tend to our vinegar daily, caring for it through many seasons, for as long as 30 years.
Used with purpose
The longer our vinegar ferments and ages, the higher the concentration of postbiotics. This is what makes our vinegar an especially powerful ingredient for skin care. 107 was the first skincare brand in the world to use aged vinegar, and today, all our formulations use vinegar that has been aged for at least seven years. We strive to create stress-free formulations that are gentle yet effective by integrating our vinegar with proven, synergistic ingredients. We are dedicated to using our vinegar with the same care and purpose as the artisans who make it: to help improve the holistic wellness of others.
Artisanal Heritage
Our vinegar is made exclusively for us by HANEGA, 107’s parent company and one of the oldest and largest aged vinegar breweries in Korea. Located at the foot of Mani Mountain in Korea, HANEGA is a family business owned and operated by 107’s Co-Founder, Seyong Shin, and his mother, Okran Chung. The HANEGA family has been making aged vinegar for 36 generations. For centuries, the vinegars HANEGA produced were sold only to traditional Asian medicine clinics. In the late 2000s, HANEGA began developing and selling vinegars for commercial consumption, and its products can now be found nationwide in Korea, including in some of the country’s most prestigious department stores.
Okran, a pharmacist with a background in traditional Asian medicine, serves as the Head Artisan at HANEGA. She and her team of artisans have dedicated their lives to helping others through their craft. Together, they’ve honed centuries of knowledge and tradition to develop a range of vinegars and vinegar-based products, derived from traditional Asian medicine remedies to help improve both inner and outer wellness. These products are based on 107 different recipes, formulas and methods developed by Okran and her family – proprietary secrets that have been passed down from generation to generation at HANEGA. Today, only Okran and Seyong know all the secrets.
It is HANEGA’s dedication to tradition and craft that inspires 107’s commitment to authenticity and efficacy. Named after the number of secrets developed and held by HANEGA, 107 was born from HANEGA’s heritage and is driven by the same singular purpose: to help improve the holistic wellness of others.
Learn more about HANEGA at Great Big Story.