numbuzin
If a numbered serum or an NAD+ cream brought you here: what the numbers mean, what topical NAD+ can and cannot do, and the steps we send.
About
Numbuzin is a Korean skincare brand run by BeNow, and it files its catalogue by number rather than by product type. It turns skin concerns into numbers: No.0 for acne-prone skin, No.1 for soothing and redness, No.2 for radiance and renewal, No.3 for pores and texture, No.5 for dark spots, No.9 for fine lines.
The figures it publishes are specific. The No.1 Pure-Full Calming Herb Toner is described as 93% hydrating and calming herbal ingredients at pH 5.5, built on centella, heartleaf and licorice. The No.3 Super Glowing Essence Toner is packed with 50 fermented ingredients, naming bifida, rice and chlorella ferments. The No.5 ampoule pairs glutathione with tranexamic acid, and the No.9 sunscreen is SPF 50 broad spectrum on homosalate, octocrylene, octisalate and avobenzone.
Three of those are worth unpacking: what the number on the bottle tells you, what fifty fermented ingredients buys you, and whether NAD+ gets into skin at all.
Recommended
Forest Relaxing Toner
Asis-Tobe$254.3 (82)
For the calming job. Heartleaf sits alongside centella and madecassoside, with birch sap at 10,000ppm — one percent — doing the hydrating. Watery and fast-absorbing, patted in rather than wiped, with a second layer if skin still feels tight. Nothing fragranced in the list.
Galactomyces Intensive Oil Serum
GEORGANIC$464.3 (16)
For the fermented oil-serum step. Galactomyces ferment filtrate sits third in the list, behind centella and water, with bifida ferment lysate, niacinamide, beta-glucan and adenosine alongside. Jojoba, olive, camellia and borage seed oils carry the nourishing side. Two or three drops, pressed in.
Mela TXA Milky Drop Ampoule
Arocell$374.5 (319)
For the brightening step: tranexamic acid at 5% and milk exosomes at 5%, with glutathione, niacinamide and a vitamin C derivative, five ceramides and eight forms of hyaluronic acid behind them. Squalane, macadamia oil and bisabolol keep it comfortable. Pat in after toner; it suits night use.
efilow Super Chaga Exosome NAD+ Glazed Mask Pack Cream
efilow$24.1
For the NAD+ step, and an unusually literal one: NAD+ and NMN are both listed at 5,000ppm, half a percent each. A nine-peptide complex, three collagen forms and three ceramides sit alongside, with niacinamide, panthenol and allantoin. A no-rinse cream-mask, applied last, morning or night.
Water Barrier Sunscreen(OTC)
P.CALM$19.984.3 (126)
For the sun step. SPF50+ PA++++ on organic filters — homosalate, octocrylene, ethylhexyl salicylate and avobenzone — so no white cast, in a water-based texture that stays light. Green tea and centella sit alongside panthenol and hyaluronic acid. Built to be reapplied, which is what matters most.
Worth it?
Start with the numbers, because they carry less than they look. A number tied to a concern is a filing system, not a strength scale: No.9 isn't stronger than No.3, it's aimed elsewhere. The pH 5.5 is the more useful figure; a percentage of herbal ingredients describes what's in the water, not how active it is. If reactivity is the problem, the calming toner below is where we'd start.
The filter list holds up cleanly. Homosalate, octocrylene, octisalate and avobenzone absorb UV and tend to disappear, which is why the finish stays clear; mineral filters scatter light and leave a pale film instead. The sunscreen below is organic too — homosalate, octocrylene, ethylhexyl salicylate and avobenzone.
Ferments are broths of amino acids, sugars and peptides, and counting fifty of them describes a list, not a dose. What matters is which one, and how high it sits: galactomyces is the ferment worth looking for on tone and texture, and the galactomyces oil serum below puts it third in its own list.
NAD+ splits in two. The molecule is real and its levels fall with age. Delivery is the unsettled half: it is large, water-soluble, and most of the usable evidence concerns its precursors. Which is what the cream below is built around — an elastic-liposome NAD+ paired with NMN, the precursor, both at 5,000ppm, over a nine-peptide complex.
We don't carry numbuzin itself. For each of these jobs, though, we send an alternative we rate highly — the five picks below.
How to use
For numbuzin's No.3 Super Glowing Essence Toner: apply with your hands and let it absorb, and for extra dry or rough areas, soak cotton pads and place them on the face as a mini sheet mask. For the No.9 NAD+ BIO Lifting-sil Essence: use it all over the face, apply again on areas of wrinkle concern — smile lines, frown lines and forehead — then gently massage in until absorbed. The picks above run in routine order: toner, the two serums, the cream, and sunscreen last in the morning.
The box
Five full-size Korean products, matched to your skin, every month.
Questions
Does a higher number mean a stronger formula?
No. A number tied to a concern points at a different goal, not a stronger product.
Is a fermented ingredient better than a non-fermented one?
Not inherently — it depends which ferment. Fermentation adds amino acids and sugars that soften a formula; galactomyces also works on tone.
What do ppm and ppb mean?
Parts per million and parts per billion. Ten thousand ppm is one percent; a thousand ppb is a trace.
Can I use two active serums on the same night?
Not while starting out. Alternate them so you can tell which one your skin responds to.
How should I read a clinically proven percentage?
Check whether a study is named and who funded it, and be wary of improvements above one hundred percent.
Full-size Korean beauty, curated for your skin, delivered every month.
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