Our journey to Dongdaemun...the search for Cetaphil

If you're coming to teach English in Korea, you might want to consider bringing along some toiletries with you. There are some products that you just can't buy over here. One of them is deodorant. However, if you look long and hard enough, as they say "seek and ye shall find"...that was the case for us at Dongdaemun.

Devante was looking for Cetaphil and after some online research we discovered the basement of the Doota Fashion Mall in Dongdaemun hides a plethora of foreign health and beauty products. Let's take a look at what we were able to find!

Doota Fashion Mall is across the street from Dongdaemun Stadium.


Make your way to B2, the "Luxury Gallery" in the basement:


Once you've made it to B2, you will be able to find an assortment of products! Bengay, Vaseline, Polident, Band-Aid, Lamisil, Ex-lax...etc can all be found at Moota!


Look at the second shelf, there's the deodorant (I stocked up at Costco before I arrived). You can also buy deodorant in Itaewon and some markets around Myeong-dong as well (plus others I am sure). Look, there's Nivea, Dove, Old Spice, Lady Speed Stick, Gillette..etc can all be found at Moota!


For all your beauty needs...such as Clearasil, Darphin, Biotherm, all in Korea!


There it is...Cetaphil in Seoul, South Korea!


Trying to find Old Spice High Endurance deodorant? Here it is!


As for how these retailers found these products, who knows. Some theories include "they fell off the back of a truck"...or they were "smuggled" off the US Army bases stationed in Korea. Or they could be knock offs from China. Or they could be the real deal. That's for you to decide.

Once thing is for sure, you will be paying a hefty premium for these products. When there is a demand, price always increases. That's your economic lesson for the day (FYI: I failed an economics class in university--that's how credible my advice really is).