If you read my earlier post about buying Lucas Papaw from a Chinese seller on Shopee, you already know I was skeptical from the start. The price was too good. SGD 7 with delivery, compared to the SGD 23 we usually pay at retail. And the ointment had a noticeably darker yellow tint that made us uneasy.
Well, we tested it. And here is our honest verdict.
What We Noticed
We gave the China version a fair run. Applied it on Yunhan the same way we always do, consistently, morning and night. But her skin just did not respond the way it does with the Malaysian version. The redness and irritation that Lucas Papaw usually calms down in a day or two? It stayed. No obvious improvement.
To be clear, her skin did not get worse either. It just did nothing. And when you are dealing with eczema, “nothing” is not good enough.
Switching Back
After about a week, we went back to our usual Malaysian-sourced Lucas Papaw. The one with the paler yellow ointment and the distinctly 3D-feel print on the tube. Within a couple of days, Yunhan’s skin started settling down again.
That told us everything we needed to know.
So Is the China Version Fake?
Honestly, I cannot say for certain. The ingredients list looked similar. The packaging said the right things. But the results were clearly different, and for us, results are what matters.
It could be a formulation difference, a storage issue during shipping, or something else entirely. Whatever the reason, it did not work for Yunhan’s skin the way the original does.
Our Decision
We are sticking with the Malaysian version. Yes, it costs more. But with eczema, you are not just spending money on cream. You are spending it on your child’s sleep, their comfort, and your own peace of mind. Saving SGD 16 is not worth a week of watching your kid scratch.
If you are in Singapore and looking for the genuine Malaysian Lucas Papaw, your safest bet is to buy it directly from a trusted pharmacy or bring it back from Malaysia yourself. I would avoid the suspiciously cheap listings on Shopee unless you can verify the seller carefully.
Sometimes the cheaper option is worth it. This one is not.