SKIN1004

SKIN1004 is a Korean skincare brand built on one plant: centella asiatica from Madagascar. Its lines are named for what it pairs the plant with — Centella, Centella Teca, Hyalu-Cica, Hyalu-Teca, Probio-Cica, Tea-Trica, Tone Brightening and Poremizing.

Its published claims are narrow and specific. On sourcing, the brand says it uses only Centella Asiatica harvested under GACP — Good Agricultural and Collection Practices — calling the Madagascar Centella Ampoule a high-quality Madagascan centella extract. The Madagascar Centella Ampoule Foam is formulated to what it calls an ideal pH of 5, on coconut-derived surfactants with an ultra-fine baking soda powder. The Toning Toner uses gluconolactone, a PHA, as its exfoliant rather than an AHA or BHA. The Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum UV is SPF50 broad spectrum and publishes its filter percentages: avobenzone 2.7%, homosalate 13.6%, octisalate 4.5%, octocrylene 9%.

Three are worth unpacking: what GACP covers, what a cleanser at pH 5 buys you, and what that filter list means.

Start with GACP. It is an agricultural handling standard — how a plant is grown, gathered, dried and stored — so it speaks to the consistency of the raw material going in. For how much active a formula carries, the compounds are what to read: centella's four are asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid, and seeing them named individually is the useful signal — which the soothing serum below does.

A cleanser at pH 5 is the least glamorous claim here and the most useful. Skin sits at roughly 4.7 to 5.5, and soap-based cleansers run far more alkaline — that is the tight, squeaky feeling. A cleanser near skin's own range avoids most of that swing. The cleansing oil below is where a routine like this starts: it lifts sunscreen and makeup, then rinses away without leaving skin tight.

The filter list is the most checkable of the three. Avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene are organic filters: they absorb UV and tend to vanish, where mineral filters leave a pale cast. The sunscreen below is built on the same four.

Think of centella as the soothing and barrier layer of a routine. That is the job it does best, and it earns its place in the steps that sit on skin longest — the soothing serum and the cica cream below. Pair it with an exfoliant or a brightening step for resurfacing and pigmentation, and let the cleansing oil and sunscreen handle the rest.

We don't carry SKIN1004 itself. For each of these jobs, though, we send an alternative we rate highly.

For SKIN1004's Madagascar Centella Ampoule Foam: work it into a foam on wet palms, massage gently over the face, rinse with lukewarm water. Madagascar Centella Ampoule: spread an even amount, then pat to help it absorb. Madagascar Centella Toning Toner: apply to a cotton pad or into the palm, and pat in. Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum UV: last step of basic skincare, applied evenly anywhere exposed — face, neck, arms, legs. The picks above run in the same order: cleanse, serum, cream, sunscreen last.