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Updated on January 04, 2024

Overview

What they are

These products are both cruelty-free and reef safe essences. They have a total of 6 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain hyaluronic acid

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for dry skin, brightening skin and sensitive skin

Free From

They both do not contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, oils, parabens, silicones or sulfates

We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that needs an update? Let us know.

COSRX Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence
COSRX Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and see relevant ingredients

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Notable Ingredients

Benefits

Benefits

Ingredients Side-by-side

found in both products
Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence
Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate Humectant
Helps hydrate Dry Skin  •  Not safe for Fungal Acne

Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate (GFF) is a yeast traditionally used to make the Japanese alcoholic beverage, sake.

Niacinamide Smoothing
Niacinamide  •  6 Benefits

Niacinamide has emerged as an all-star ingredient due to its many benefits.

Sodium Hyaluronate Humectant, Skin Conditioning
0 / 0
Hyaluronic Acid

Sodium Hyaluronate is hyaluronic acid's salt form. It is commonly derived from the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid.

0 Com. / 0 Irr.
Betaine Humectant, Skin Conditioning
3 Benefits

Betaine is a common humectant (a substance that promotes retention of moisture). It's known to be gentle on the skin and can help balance hydration.

Panthenol Skin Conditioning
0 / 0
Helps reduce irritation

Panthenol (also referred to as pro-vitamin B5) is a common ingredient that helps hydrate and soothe the skin.

0 Com. / 0 Irr.
Glycerin Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting
0 / 0
2 Benefits

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

0 Com. / 0 Irr.
1,2-Hexanediol Skin Conditioning, Solvent

1,2-Hexanediol is a multi-tasker ingredient. It acts as a preservative to increase shelf-life and can aid other preservatives in preventing microbe growth. 1,2-Hexanediol also helps the skin retain moisture as a humectant.

Allantoin Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Soothing
0 / 0
3 Benefits

Allantoin plays a role in soothing and moisturizing the skin. Because of this, it is often added to products with strong active ingredients.

0 Com. / 0 Irr.
Butylene Glycol Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning
1 / 0

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

1 Com. / 0 Irr.
Xanthan Gum Emulsifying, Emulsion Stabilising, Gel Forming

Xanthan gum is used as a stabilizer and thickener within cosmetic products. It helps give products a sticky, thick feeling - preventing them from being too runny.

Disliked Full details ->
Ethyl Hexanediol Solvent

Ethyl Hexanediol is an aliphatic alcohol. It is a solvent.

Adenosine Skin Conditioning
2 Benefits

Adenosine is in every living organism. It is one of four components in nucleic acids that helps store our DNA.

Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence
Hippophae Rhamnoides Water Masking, Perfuming, Skin Conditioning
Fragrance

Hippophae Rhamnoides Water is created by distilling parts of the seabuckthorn plant.

Unknown Full details ->
Butylene Glycol Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning
1 / 0

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

1 Com. / 0 Irr.
Glycerin Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting
0 / 0
2 Benefits

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

0 Com. / 0 Irr.
1,2-Hexanediol Skin Conditioning, Solvent

1,2-Hexanediol is a multi-tasker ingredient. It acts as a preservative to increase shelf-life and can aid other preservatives in preventing microbe growth. 1,2-Hexanediol also helps the skin retain moisture as a humectant.

Sodium Hyaluronate Humectant, Skin Conditioning
0 / 0
Hyaluronic Acid

Sodium Hyaluronate is hyaluronic acid's salt form. It is commonly derived from the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid.

0 Com. / 0 Irr.
Panthenol Skin Conditioning
0 / 0
Helps reduce irritation

Panthenol (also referred to as pro-vitamin B5) is a common ingredient that helps hydrate and soothe the skin.

0 Com. / 0 Irr.
Ethyl Hexanediol Solvent

Ethyl Hexanediol is an aliphatic alcohol. It is a solvent.

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Humectant, Skin Conditioning
Loved

Sodium Hyaluronate is hyaluronic acid's salt form. It is commonly derived from the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid.

Like hyaluronic acid, it is great at holding water and acts as a humectant. This makes it a great skin hydrating ingredient.

Sodium Hyaluronate is naturally occurring in our bodies and is mostly found in eye fluid and joints.

These are some other common types of Hyaluronic Acid:

Learn more about Sodium Hyaluronate
Skin Conditioning
Loved

Panthenol (also referred to as pro-vitamin B5) is a common ingredient that helps hydrate and soothe the skin.

lt is a humectant, meaning that it helps the skin attract and retain moisture.

Another benefit is the anti-inflammatory abilities. This means that it's great for sensitive, irritation-prone skin.

Once oxidized, panthenol converts to pantothenic acid. Panthothenic acid is found in all living cells.

Learn more about Panthenol
Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting
Loved

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Learn more about Glycerin
Skin Conditioning, Solvent
Mixed

1,2-Hexanediol is a multi-tasker ingredient. It acts as a preservative to increase shelf-life and can aid other preservatives in preventing microbe growth. 1,2-Hexanediol also helps the skin retain moisture as a humectant.

In products that are water-based, this ingredient can help stabilize perfumes and fragrances. It can also help make the texture of products softer and more smooth.

Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning
Mixed

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

  • It is a solvent, meaning that it helps to dissolve other ingredients. This also enhances the absorption of the product into one's skin.
  • It is a humectant, which means that it helps attract moisture into the skin.
  • It helps improve product application.

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient. It is unlikely to irritate skin, and works well with pretty much all other ingredients.

Solvent
Mixed

Ethyl Hexanediol is an aliphatic alcohol. It is a solvent.

Solvents are used to keep ingredients together in a product. They can help dissolve ingredients to stable bases or help evenly distribute ingredients throughout the product.

Ingredient Ratings

Here's what our community thinks of the ingredients in these two products.

Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence
8
3
1
liked
mixed
disliked
not rated
Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence
3
3
1
liked
mixed
disliked
not rated

When to use

300 Routines
48% use in am
52% use in pm
95% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->
252 Routines
45% use in am
55% use in pm
96% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->

Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

COSRX Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence 12 ingredients

4.4 /5
from 5 ratings
Absorbs Well (1) Great Value (1) Hydrating (1) No Scent (1)
screamadelica's avatar

screamadelica

8 months ago · Normal Skin
Review

love this!
i love how hydrating and soothing this product is. if your skin can handle fermented ingredients, then this essence is a great...

love this!
i love how hydrating and soothing this product is. if your skin can handle fermented ingredients, then this essence is a great alternative to their snail essence (unfortunately, there are a ridiculous number of fakes of the snail essence on the internet, but i don’t see as many counterfeits of this one).
this product actually contains more galactomyces (ahem sorry i meant PITERA™) than the significantly more costly SK-II essence. interesting, huh?

sioloisiol's avatar

sioloisiol

21 days ago · Oily Skin
Review

At first, it seemed like it wasn't doing much, but after consistently using it every night for about 5 months, I noticed a significant improvement...

At first, it seemed like it wasn't doing much, but after consistently using it every night for about 5 months, I noticed a significant improvement in my skin! While I still have visible pores and sebaceous filaments, I believe my skin texture has gotten better.

As for my PIH, I haven't really noticed any big changes just using this product on its own. I don't think the 2% niacinamide is strong enough to make a noticeable difference. But, when I started adding TO Alpha Arbutin to my routine after using this essence, that's when I saw some real progress in lightening my hyperpigmentation!

COSRX Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence 7 ingredients

4.0 /5
from 1 rating
itsyogirljeni's avatar

itsyogirljeni

1 year ago · Combination Skin
Review

Essence that feels like moisturizer.
This product does nothing but smoothing effect on my skin. No breakout or irritation.