Serum
General Moisturizer
Korean South Korea
Korean South Korea

What's inside

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Ingredients Side-by-side

Show highlights for:

Reviews

No reviews yet

Be the first to review

Write the first review
3.00
Overall rating
5
4
3
2
1
What people say
Hydrating 62% Light 50% Absorbs Well 42%

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

1,2-Hexanediol is a synthetic liquid and another multi-functional powerhouse. 

It is a:

  • Humectant, drawing moisture into the skin
  • Emollient, helping to soften skin
  • Solvent, dispersing and stabilizing formulas
  • Preservative booster, enhancing the antimicrobial activity of other preservatives 
Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning

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

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient that works well with other ingredients.

Though this ingredient works well with most skin types, some people with sensitive skin may experience a reaction such as allergic rashes, closed comedones, or itchiness.

Learn more about Butylene Glycol
Emulsion Stabilising, Gel Forming

Carbomer is a high-molecular weight polymer of acrylic acid. It is used to form gels and thicken formulas.

Due to its large molecular size, carbomer has minimal skin penetration and is considered an inert ingredient.

A high amount of carbomer can cause pilling or balling up of products. Don't worry, most products contain 1% or less of carbomer.

Learn more about Carbomer
Skin Conditioning

Coptis Japonica Root Extract, also known as Japanese Goldthread, is a traditional East Asian herb. It is prized for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties.

That’s not all - research in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science found that its active compound, berberine, may help reduce fat accumulation and slow down fat cell development.

This makes it a promising ingredient for slimming and anti-cellulite products!

Learn more about Coptis Japonica Root Extract
Skin Conditioning

Ethylhexylglycerin is created from glycerin. It is a multitasker ingredient that:

The CIR Expert Panel found minimal skin absorption or sensitization of any kind in a safety assessment. Though this ingredient is considered well-tolerated, a small number of cases of allergic dermatitis have been published since 2002. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure.

Industry-reported use ranges from 8% in rinse-off products and 2% in leave-on formulations.

Learn more about Ethylhexylglycerin
Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting

Glycerin (or glycerol) is a compound naturally found in your skin. It's a powerhouse humectant that pulls water into the stratum corneum.

Topically, glycerin does several things at once:

Your skin makes glycerin on its own (mostly from sebaceous oil breakdown) and shuttles it to your outermost layer of skin, or your epidermis, via aquaporin-3.

Aquaporin-3 is a transporter that is essential for normal skin hydration, elasticity, and repair. Interestingly, mice lacking in AQP3 have dry and less elastic skin that can be fully corrected with glycerin.

This ingredient is non-irritating, plays well with almost every ingredient, and works across all skin types. Typical use is anywhere between 3-10% but can go up to 79% in some leave-on products.

Just know very high concentrations (>40%) can feel tacky in low humidity.

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

Learn more about Glycerin
Skin Conditioning

You might know this ingredient as Matrixyl. It is a synthetic peptide made up of five amino acids attached to a palmitic acid, a fatty acid that helps it absorb into skin more easily.

As a signal peptide, Matrixyl acts like a little messenger. Once it reaches your skin cells, it tells them to ramp up production of collagen, elastin, and other proteins that keep skin looking firm and smooth.

A 12 week clinical study found that a moisturizer containing just 3 ppm of Matrixyl led to a significant improvement in fine-lines and wrinkles. Another study showed an 18% reduction in wrinkle depth, 37% reduction in wrinkle thickness, and a 21% improvement in skin firmness after just 28 days of twice-daily use.

The coolest part is that it works at incredibly low concentrations (like 0.0003%) and it plays well with other actives.

The CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) panel found it to be non-sensitizing across multiple tests and human patch tests also showed no irritation or sensitization.

Fun fact: Matrixyl was originally developed by French company Sederma and Procter & Gamble.

Read more about other common types of peptides here:

Learn more about Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4
Skin Conditioning

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 is a synthetic signal lipopeptide. This just means it is a three amino acid chain bolted onto a palmitic acid tail so it can slip through the skin's lipid barrier.

This peptide has a "build more, lose less" approach.

It's designed to mimic the collagen-stimulating activity in your skin by copying a snippet of one of your skin's own matrix proteins. This nudges fibroblasts into making more collagen while inhibiting the enzyme that breaks down skin protein.

The manufacturer's in vivo study of 45 volunteers found 1% and 2.5% reduced the appearance of wrinkles by 7% and 12% respectively, after using it twice daily for 84 days.

This is in the expected range for peptides; they're slow and cumulative actives and not overnight fixers.

Typical use levels range from 1-3% and this ingredient gets along with pretty much everything.

On the fungal acne front:
Although palmitic acid sits in the chain length that Malassezia can feed on, this ingredient has it locked in an amine bond. This makes it hard for Malassezia to access as a source of food, and therefore fungal acne safe.

Learn more about Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5
Solvent

Propanediol is an all-star ingredient. It softens, hydrates, and smooths the skin. 

It’s often used to:

Propanediol is not likely to cause sensitivity and considered safe to use. It is derived from corn or petroleum with a clear color and no scent.

Learn more about Propanediol
Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Remember to stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water

Similar Comparisons