Skincare, read from the label
K-beauty ingredients, routines, and answers to what people actually ask.
Exosome, NAD, stem cell: three words the ingredient list does not have
Some trend words have a line in the ingredient list and some do not. These three do not, and what sits in their place is worth knowing before you buy.
PDRN is on forty product names, and the lists actually back it up
Most trend words shrink when you read the ingredient list. This one does not. Forty Korean products are named for PDRN and every readable list carries it.
Mucin is having a moment and Korean lists barely print it
Snail mucin is everywhere in conversation and on two Korean labels we hold. The one product named for mucin prints no mucin at all, and prints something else.
Retinal is the rare trend word that arrives with a number
Twelve Korean labels put retinal on the front. All twelve print it in the ingredient list, and eleven print how much, which almost no trend word does.
Minimalism, counted against what a formula actually needs
Four ingredient names appear on most Korean labels we hold. Knowing which four tells you how short a short list can honestly get, and when short is a signal.
Slugging arrived without the ingredient it was built on
The routine is named after petrolatum. Five Korean labels we hold print it and all five are lip products, so the face version runs on something else.
The needle in a needle shot is printed as silica
Three Korean products are named after microneedles. No list among them prints a needle or a spicule. All three print silica, and none prints how much.
Peptide labels do not carry one peptide, they carry a pile of them
161 Korean labels carry a peptide and between them they print 724 peptide entries. One label alone accounts for 48 of those, and it prints a level for none.
Vegan is a claim about sourcing, and the list cannot confirm it
Six Korean products carry vegan in the name. No ingredient list prints the word, because it is not an ingredient. Here is what you can check yourself.
The thing that tones up a tone up sunscreen is a pigment
Six Korean labels put tone up in the name. All six carry titanium dioxide, none of the 42 labels holding it print how much, and that number is the whole effect.