COSRX The Retinol 0.3 cream

What is this product?

COSRX The Retinol 0.3 cream is a 20 ml evening retinol cream in an aluminium tube. Its Korean statutory list prints retinol at 0.3 percent, the 20th of 51 entries, with adenosine at 36, a vitamin E group (tocopherol, tocopheryl acetate, tocotrienols), panthenol, shea butter and plant oils. It is a filed wrinkle improvement functional cosmetic. No fragrance entry, no essential oil and no exfoliating acid are printed. The brand positions it between its 0.1 cream and 0.5 oil and sends retinol newcomers to the 0.1 cream. Its guide starts at two to three evenings a week for two weeks, then every other evening. Pore, wrinkle and elasticity figures come from one brand-run 20 person, four week panel with no control, and the two irritation reports pictured name this cream but print no scores. Retinol is a retinoid, avoided in pregnancy as a precaution, and the page prints no such caution.

What makes it different?

A printed 0.3 percent retinol, the middle step of the brand's three strengths, in a filed wrinkle functional cream with adenosine alongside. Against the brand's 0.1 cream it shares 50 of 51 entries but reorders them, with retinol higher in the list. Its irritation reports are for this product itself, though no scores are shown.

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.

Key ingredient

• Water
• Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
• Butylene Glycol
• Glycerin
• Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil
• Tocopherol
• Tocopheryl Acetate
• Cetearyl Alcohol
• Trehalose
• Panthenol
• Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter
• Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer
• Dimethicone
• Glyceryl Polymethacrylate
• Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate
• Hydrogenated Lecithin
• Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
• Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer
• Carbomer
• Retinol
• Tromethamine
• Glyceryl Stearate
• Polysilicone-11
• Sodium Sulfite
• Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Root Extract
• Allantoin
• Glyceryl Caprylate
• Propanediol
• Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax
• Tocotrienols
• Stearic Acid
• Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate
• Palmitic Acid
• Ethylhexylglycerin
• Disodium EDTA
• Adenosine
• Sodium Hyaluronate
• Sorbitan Isostearate
• 1,2-Hexanediol
• Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil
• Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid
• Beta-Carotene
• Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer
• Myristic Acid
• Hyaluronic Acid
• Lauric Acid
• Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate
• Ascorbic Acid
• Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil
• 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid
• Glutathione

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: 돌콩오일, 해바라기씨오일, 오일팜오일, 글리세릴스테아레이트, 미리스틱애씨드, 라우릭애씨드, 레티놀

Did the ad claims hold up?

We checked 26 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. 2 of them hold up. The rest are only partly right or have nothing behind them.

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

What else is worth seeing?

Products we read alongside this one.

• COSRX The Retinol 0.1 CreamThe gentler one of the two
• COSRX The Retinol 0.5 OilThe stronger one of the two