SKINFOOD
If a wash-off mask, a sugar scrub or a toner pad brought you here: what Skinfood puts in the bottle, how much of it, and what that means for our picks.
About
Skinfood is a Korean skincare brand run by SKINFOOD Co., Ltd. from Seoul, and its premise is its own slogan: don't eat it, give it to your skin. The lines are named for the food each is built on — Black Sugar, Carrot, Rice, Egg White and Royal Honey among them, alongside Potato, Acorn and Gold Caviar.
What makes the range unusual is that Skinfood publishes how much of that food is in each product, and the figures sit far apart. The Black Sugar Perfect Essential Scrub 2X lists sucrose at 36.5 per cent, and the Black Sugar Perfect Scrub Foam at 60.2 per cent. The Egg White Pore Mask lists albumin extract at 2,500 ppm, and the Royal Honey Propolis Enrich Essence lists propolis extract at 6,316 ppm.
At the other end, the Carrot Carotene Calming Water Pad lists carrot extract at 735 ppm, and the Rice Mask Wash-Off rice bran water at 20 ppm.
The range is not only skincare. Skinfood's best-known makeup item is the Salmon Dark Circle Concealer, the product most people name outside the food-led skincare lines.
The numbers are orders of magnitude apart, and they decide what to expect.
Worth it?
Start with the sugar. At 36.5 per cent — 60.2 in the scrub foam — the food is not a garnish but the working part. Sucrose granules are the abrasive: a physical scrub works by friction, dragging them across the surface to lift loose dead cells, where an acid loosens what holds them together.
Now the small numbers. 735 ppm is under 0.08 per cent, and 20 ppm is 0.002 per cent — conversions worth doing, because they point you to the rest of the list: judge the toner pad below on its centella, madecassoside and niacinamide.
One thing no label figure covers is pressure. Scrubbing harder does not exfoliate more; it raises the chance of small tears, and twice a week is the ceiling for a granular sugar scrub. A finer abrasive is different — the gommage balm below runs on cellulose particles and is written for daily use as a first cleanse, at light pressure.
We don't carry Skinfood itself, but for each of these jobs we send an alternative we rate highly.
Recommended
Bubbling Splash Mask
BLITHE$284.2 (59)
For the wash-off mask job, a two-stage one: it goes on as a clay mask and foams when water is added. Indian glacial mud, kaolin, bentonite and Canadian colloidal clay do the absorbing, with Alaska glacial water stated at 9.8 per cent. Leave three to five minutes, add water, massage, rinse.
Poreshooter Gommage Cleansing Balm
RETURNU$274.3 (55)
For the scrub job. Cellulose gommage particles and kaolin do the buffing, with persimmon leaf, willow bark and several forms of hyaluronic acid alongside, so it polishes without stripping. Light pressure only, and gentle enough that its own directions call it a daily first cleanse. Massage over dry skin, then rinse.
Black Rice Peeling Ampoule
mixsoon$404.2 (50)
For the rice job. Rice seed water leads the list, with rice ferment filtrate, soybean and plant-derived PDRN behind it, so it refines texture while it nourishes. Nourishing rather than stripping: its own directions call it daily use, alone or inside a routine.
CICAVITA Soothing Pad
AIPPO$364.5 (171)
For the toner pad job. Centella, madecassoside, tea tree, niacinamide and beta-glucan are all confirmed in the list, making it a calming step rather than a wipe. Sweep over the face after cleansing, or press one onto a patch that needs more. Unfragranced.
PDRN Rejuvenating Glow Mask Pack (3ea)
WHAYUNSUL$9.95.0 (2)
For the mask job when you want restoring rather than exfoliating, and the PDRN pick: PDRN and nine peptides sit alongside niacinamide, adenosine, panthenol and sodium hyaluronate. The brand cites Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its brightening and wrinkle claims.
How to use
For Skinfood's Black Sugar Perfect Essential Scrub 2X: after cleansing, on damp skin, roll it gently over the face, avoiding eyes and lips, then rinse with lukewarm water. For the Carrot Carotene Calming Water Pad: after cleansing, place a pad anywhere that needs calming, leave it five to ten minutes, then wipe gently over the rest of the face and pat in what is left. The picks above follow the same shape: light pressure, lukewarm water, one exfoliating step an evening.
The box
Five full-size Korean products, matched to your skin, every month.
Questions
How much of the food is actually in the bottle?
Skinfood publishes the figure, which is unusual — 36.5 per cent sucrose in a scrub, 20 ppm rice bran water in a mask. That lets you compare one product to another.
How hard should you press, and how often?
Lightly, always. Twice a week is the ceiling for a granular scrub; a fine gommage balm is written for daily use. Extra pressure raises irritation risk, not results.
Is salmon roe extract the same as PDRN?
No. Salmon roe extract is the roe; PDRN is a specific DNA-derived compound, usually from salmon and sometimes from plants. Buy whichever you want by name.
What does a food-derived ingredient bring to a formula?
Whatever the material itself does on skin: sugar granules give friction, propolis extract and honey add richness, rice ferment softens texture. Concentration and formulation decide how much comes through.
When should you skip a scrub entirely?
On skin that is sore, broken, breaking out or over-exfoliated, and alongside an acid or a retinoid.
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