COSRX
COSRX 5 PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Vital Hydrating Hydrogel Mask 34g X 3ea
Put it on, forget it, take it off clear.
Nine hyaluronate entries, and an alpha-arbutin the front of the box never mentions.
Two to three hours, or sleep in it.
What this mask does
A 34 g hydrogel mask, three to a box, built on a carrageenan gel with nine forms of hyaluronic acid, Niacinamide, Alpha-Arbutin, Hydrolyzed DNA and Acetyl Hexapeptide-8.
Two to three hours is the point
A cotton sheet mask has to come off at twenty minutes, because past that it starts drying and taking water back off your face. A hydrogel does not: the gel holds its own water, so it can sit for hours, and this one is designed to be worn until it goes clear.
That is a genuinely different product from a sheet mask, and it is why it is sold three to a box rather than ten. It is an evening, not a step.
The ingredient nobody puts on the front
Alpha-Arbutin is on this list. It is one of the better-studied materials for the look of dark spots, and it is unusual to find it in a hydrating mask — it belongs to the brightening category. Read the box and you get PDRN and hyaluronic acid; read the label and you also get arbutin.
The PDRN here is Hydrolyzed DNA, listed once, at position thirty-two of forty-one. No percentage is declared.
Key ingredients
Ingredient · What it is, and what it is used for
- Hydrolyzed DNA
- Hydrolysed deoxyribonucleic acid — the material sold as PDRN.
- Alpha-Arbutin
- Glucoside of hydroquinone from bearberry. Studied for evening out tone.
- Niacinamide
- Vitamin B3. Studied for evening out the look of tone, for the look of pores, and for breakout-prone skin — which is why it turns up in so much of this catalogue.
- Sodium Hyaluronate
- Sodium salt of hyaluronic acid. A material skin already contains, so it reads as its own; used to pull in water and hold it.
- Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer
- Cross-linked hyaluronate. The cross-linking stops it washing away as fast as the plain form, so it keeps working on the surface for longer.
- Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate
- Hyaluronate given a positive charge so it sticks to skin instead of rinsing away.
- Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid
- Hyaluronic acid of reduced molecular weight. Used to pull in water and hold it.
- Acetyl Hexapeptide-8
- Synthetic hexapeptide, the one sold as argireline. Studied for the look of expression lines.
- Hydrolyzed Collagen
- Collagen broken into fragments small enough to stay dissolved. It holds water at the surface — it does not become your collagen, and nothing applied to skin does.
- Panthenol
- Provitamin B5. Used to calm irritation, and pulls water into the surface and holds it there.
- Centella Asiatica Extract
- Extract of Centella asiatica, whole plant. Used to calm irritation; used to slow oxidation, in the formula and on skin.
- Carrageenan
- Polysaccharide from red seaweed. Sets how thick it is — the gel itself.
How the formula works together
The mask is mostly gel: Carrageenan, Irish Moss, Sclerotium Gum, Cellulose Gum and a cellulose crosspolymer, set with Potassium Chloride. That network holds the essence against skin for the whole wear.
Inside it, three groups. The hyaluronate family — nine entries at different molecular weights — does the water. Niacinamide, Alpha-Arbutin and Adenosine do the tone and signalling. Panthenol, Allantoin, Centella and a Lactobacillus ferment do the calming.
Forty-one ingredients, no fragrance and no essential oil. The label repeats Sucrose, Allantoin and Sodium Hyaluronate twice each; that is how it is printed and we have not tidied it.
Who it is for
Labelled for all skin types. Contains Alpha-Arbutin, so it does more for tone than a plain hydrating mask.
How to use it
- After cleansing, open the pouch and peel the film from the mask.
- Fit the lower half around the mouth first, then the upper half around the eyes.
- Leave for two to three hours, or until the gel turns transparent.
- Remove and pat in what remains.
Details
- Size
- 34 g × 3 masks
- Wear time
- 2–3 hours, or until transparent
- Made in
- Korea
- Ingredients
- 41, published in full below
Full ingredient list
Purified Water, Glycerin, Acrylate Copolymer, Niacinamide, 1,2-Hexanediol, Carrageenan, Irish Moss, Sclerotium Gum, Potassium Chloride, Sucrose, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cellulose Gum, Hydroxyethylcellulose-10 Crosspolymer, Panthenol, Allantoin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Adenosine, Hydrolyzed Corn Starch, Disodium EDTA, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Sucrose, t-Butyl Alcohol, Lactobacillus Ferment, Allantoin, Alpha-Arbutin, Centella Asiatica Extract, Propanediol, Tocopherol, Sodium Phytate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed DNA, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate, Hyaluronic Acid, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Potassium Hyaluronate
In label order, unedited.
Ships from Korea.
