KSECRET Seoul 1988 Retinal Fermented Soy Eye Cream

What is this product?

KSECRET's Seoul 1988 Retinal Fermented Soy Eye Cream prints the number most retinal products hide: 레틴알 at 400 ppm, or 0.04 percent, which is a real working dose because retinal converts to retinoic acid in one step. Treat it as an active, not a daily eye moisturiser. The fermented soy in the name is the weaker half at 200 ppm, the second smallest disclosed amount in the formula. It is unscented and carries no exfoliating acid, and KSECRET publishes no test for the wrinkle and dark spot claims on its retail listing.

What makes it different?

Two disclosed amounts in a 47 ingredient list is unusual on its own, and the one that matters is the retinoid. Its sibling in the same line, a fermented rice face cream, prints 100 ppm, so this eye cream carries four times the retinal of the product next to it on the same shelf, which is the opposite of what shoppers usually assume about eye products. Bakuchiol rides along as a second vitamin A style route, and a five root herbal set of burdock, cnidium, yam, peony and rehmannia closes the list beside three peptides. Barrier support comes from cholesterol, hydrogenated lecithin and a phytosterol ester rather than from ceramides, of which there are none. People who are pregnant or trying to conceive are generally advised to avoid topical retinoids, and this one states its dose.

What is in it?

The full ingredient list as the brand publishes it, in the printed order. Each name links to what we know about that ingredient.

This brand publishes its ingredient list in Korean only. Names below are the matching INCI names from the Korean Cosmetic Association ingredient dictionary, except 3 with no dictionary entry, left in Korean.

Key ingredient

• Water
• Glycerin
• Dipropylene Glycol
• Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
• 1,2-Hexanediol
• Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate
• Niacinamide
• Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate
• Cetearyl Alcohol
• Butylene Glycol
• Cetearyl Olivate
• Sorbitan Olivate
• Hydrogenated Lecithin
• Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil
• Carbomer
• Tromethamine
• Propanediol
• Glyceryl Stearate
• Cholesterol
• Polyglyceryl-10 Oleate
• Ethylhexylglycerin
• Adenosine
• Brassica Campestris (Rapeseed) Sterols
• Phytosteryl/Behenyl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate
• Retinal
• Silica
• Disodium EDTA
• Aluminum/Magnesium Hydroxide Stearate
• Lactobacillus/Panax Ginseng Root Ferment Filtrate
• Lactobacillus/Rice Ferment
• Lactobacillus/Soybean Ferment Extract
• Saccharomyces/Coix Lacryma-Jobi Ma-yuen Seed Ferment Filtrate
• Saccharomyces/Potato Extract Ferment Filtrate
• Tocopherol
• Potassium Cetyl Phosphate
• Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate
• Sodium Hyaluronate
• Arctium Lappa Root Extract
• Cnidium Officinale Root Extract
• Dioscorea Japonica Root Extract
• Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract
• Rehmannia Chinensis Root Extract
• 3-0-에틸아스코빅애씨드
• Bakuchiol
• 에스에이차-올리고펩타이드-1
• 에스에이차올리고펩타이드-2
• sh-Polypeptide-1

Ingredients with no mark are ones we found nothing notable about, and when marks overlap on one ingredient we show the caution first.

We could not place these in the list above: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Polyglyceryl-10 Oleate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Retinal

Did the ad claims hold up?

We checked 2 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. None of them hold up on their own. They are partly right at best.

Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.

Each line is quoted as the brand published it, and each one was read on its own against the ingredient list and the documents the brand publishes.

How we read these lines