Where does this sheet mask go in my routine?

After toner, in place of your serum step, in the evening. Toner goes on before it, and the rest of the routine goes on after you take the sheet mask off. If you are adding it to a routine you already like, give it a week on its own first, so what you see is the Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and not three changes at once.

What else is on the list besides Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate?

Allantoin, Caffeine and Phytosphingosine. The order they are printed in on this sheet mask's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Ceramide NP, Beta-Glucan and Biosaccharide Gum-1.

Anua

Birch Moisture Mask 25ml X 10ea

Name: Anua Birch Moisture Mask 25ml X 10ea
Brand: Anua
SKU: 6873140259
Price: 42.5 USD
Availability: InStock

Birch sap sits sixth in this Anua sheet mask ahead of Beta-Glucan and a run of seven hyaluronic acid forms, from Sodium Hyaluronate to Hyaluronic Acid Crosspolymer. Ten 25 ml sheets, a hydrating step a few times a week. Korean-market formula.

Reviewed by Nurcan Saglam, licensed dermo-cosmetic expert (Paris)

No reviews yet

$42.50

Korean-market formula
Ships from California or direct from Korea
Korean barcode and batch code intact

Suited to: Dry skinCompromised barrierDehydrated skin

Helps with: Shoppers looking for Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate in a sheet maskRoutines that want Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and Allantoin in one stepFilling the sheet mask step with a Korean-market formula

One-time purchase

$42.50

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$38.25

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How it works

The Birch Moisture Mask is a sheet mask, used after toner, in place of your serum step, in the evening. The active it is built around is Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, named sixteenth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Allantoin, Caffeine and Phytosphingosine, so the active is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate stays on the skin, and for how long, is decided by the sheet mask format rather than by the list alone. Anua sells this Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate sheet mask in Korea, and this is that version.

Key benefits

Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, the active this sheet mask is built around
Allantoin and Caffeine on the same list, actives
Phytosphingosine and Ceramide NP on the same list, barrier lipids
Beta-Glucan and Biosaccharide Gum-1 further down the same list
Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter and Arginine further down the same list
Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate named sixteenth on the manufacturer list printed on this page

How to use

Use this product AM and/or PM, as the its place in a routine. Pat or smooth it on rather than rubbing, and give it a moment to settle before layering the next step.

1 of 4

33 of 34 explained

Water solvent: Water is the base almost every serum, toner and cream is built on. It dissolves the water-loving ingredients and sets how light the finished texture feels. On an INCI list it is usually first, which only means it is the largest single ingredient by weight.
Dipropylene Glycol humectant: Dipropylene Glycol is a glycol used as a solvent and a light humectant. Its main job is keeping the rest of the formula dissolved and the texture fluid rather than adding hydration of its own.
Butylene Glycol humectant: Butylene Glycol is a small glycol that does two jobs at once: it holds water in the top layer of skin and it dissolves plant extracts and actives that plain water cannot. It also thins a formula, which is why watery Korean essences lean on it.
Glycerin humectant: Glycerin is the most used humectant in skincare. It draws water into the outer layer of skin and holds it there, and it is one of the very few ingredients whose hydrating effect is settled science rather than marketing. Higher amounts feel tacky, which is why it is usually blended.
Diglycerin humectant: Diglycerin is two glycerin units joined together. It holds water like glycerin but feels less tacky, so it is used where a formula needs hydration without drag.
Betula Platyphylla Japonica Juice plant extract: Betula Platyphylla Japonica Juice is Asian white birch sap, tapped in spring. It is over 98 percent water with trace minerals and sugars, and Korean formulas use it in place of plain water as a hydrating base.
Beta-Glucan polysaccharide: Beta-Glucan is a polysaccharide from oats or yeast. It holds a large amount of water, forms a soothing film, and is one of the ingredients formulators reach for in products aimed at reactive skin.
Sodium Hyaluronate humectant: Sodium Hyaluronate is the salt of hyaluronic acid, and it is what most products labelled hyaluronic actually contain. The salt dissolves more readily and the molecule is smaller, so it sits in the outer layer of skin rather than only on top of it.
Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate humectant: Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate carries a positive charge, and skin carries a slight negative one, so it is attracted to the surface and stays through rinsing. It is the hyaluronic used where a formula gets washed off.
Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate humectant: Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate is hyaluronic acid modified to be part oil-loving, so it clings to skin instead of rinsing away. Formulators call it the one that stays put.
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid humectant: Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is hyaluronic acid cut into much shorter fragments. The smaller the fragment, the further into the outer layer it can settle, which is why serums stack several sizes together instead of using one.
Hyaluronic Acid humectant: Hyaluronic Acid is a sugar chain the body already makes, and one gram of it can hold several litres of water. In a formula it is a humectant that pulls water to the surface of skin and holds it in a film, which is what makes skin look plumper while it is there.

21 more explained

Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer humectant: Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer is hyaluronic acid linked into a mesh. It holds water in a soft gel on the surface rather than sinking in, and it releases that water slowly through the day.
Potassium Hyaluronate humectant: Potassium Hyaluronate is another salt of hyaluronic acid, used for the same reason as the sodium form: it dissolves easily and holds a large amount of water in the outer layer of skin.
Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate active: Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate is a water-soluble salt derived from licorice root. It is the licorice fraction Korean formulas use for the look of redness, and it is far more stable in water than the whole extract.
Trehalose humectant: Trehalose is a sugar that some desert plants use to survive drying out. In skincare it is a humectant that holds water in the outer layer and helps a formula feel comfortable rather than tight.
Allantoin active: Allantoin is a comfrey-derived compound used to condition skin and soften the outer layer so it feels smoother. It is one of the standard additions to a formula built for easily irritated skin.
Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter emollient: Shea Butter is the fat pressed from the shea nut, rich in oleic and stearic acids and unsaponifiable plant sterols. It is a heavy emollient and partial occlusive, which is why it sits in balms and night creams rather than in essences.
Phytosphingosine barrier lipid: Phytosphingosine is the backbone every ceramide is built on, and skin uses it in its own lipid layer. In a formula it works with ceramides and cholesterol and also keeps the product stable against microbes.
Ceramide NP barrier lipid: Ceramide NP is the most used cosmetic ceramide, the same class of lipid that makes up roughly half the mortar between cells in the outer layer of skin. Added to a cream it slots into that structure, which is why ceramide formulas feel less leaky rather than merely greasy.
Glucose humectant: Glucose is a simple sugar used as a humectant and as food for the ferment ingredients in the same formula. It hydrates mildly and adds a soft slip.
Xylitol humectant: Xylitol is a sugar alcohol humectant. It holds water in the outer layer of skin and is often paired with anhydroxylitol and xylitylglucoside as a hydration trio.
Xylitylglucoside humectant: Xylitylglucoside is a sugar-derived humectant, the third member of the xylitol blend. Together the three hold water in the outer layer for longer than any of them does alone.
Anhydroxylitol humectant: Anhydroxylitol is a xylitol derivative used as a humectant. It is almost always part of the xylitol, anhydroxylitol and xylitylglucoside blend sold as a moisture-retention complex.
Arginine amino acid: Arginine is an amino acid that does two jobs here: it holds water in the outer layer of skin, and it neutralises acidic gelling agents, which is why it often stands in for a synthetic pH adjuster.
Caffeine active: Caffeine constricts small blood vessels near the surface, which is why eye products use it for the look of puffiness and shadow. It is water soluble and works only while it is on the skin.
Biosaccharide Gum-1 polysaccharide: Biosaccharide Gum-1 is a fermentation-derived sugar polymer that binds to skin and holds a moisture film in place. It gives a silky, non-tacky feel.
Carbomer thickener: Carbomer is a synthetic polymer that only gels once a base neutralises it, which is why arginine or tromethamine sits nearby on the list. It gives the clear, non-stringy gel texture a xanthan formula cannot reach.
Hydroxyacetophenone preservative booster: Hydroxyacetophenone is an antioxidant that also strengthens a preservative system, so a formula needs less traditional preservative. Korean formulas pair it with 1,2-hexanediol constantly.
Caprylyl Glycol preservative booster: Caprylyl Glycol is a glycol that conditions skin and, more importantly, strengthens a preservative system so less of the traditional preservative is needed. It appears in most modern formulas built without parabens.
Ethylhexylglycerin preservative booster: Ethylhexylglycerin softens skin and boosts a preservative system, which is why it is nearly always sitting beside phenoxyethanol or 1,2-hexanediol. It also cuts down the odour bacteria produce, so it turns up in deodorising products.
1,2-Hexanediol humectant: 1,2-Hexanediol is a glycol used for two reasons: it holds water like glycerin, and it makes a formula harder for microbes to live in, so less traditional preservative is needed. Korean formulas use it heavily for that second reason.
Sodium Phytate chelator: Sodium Phytate is a rice-derived chelator used in place of EDTA. It ties up trace metals so the formula stays stable and its colour and scent hold.

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

Worth knowing

Patch test this sheet mask on a small area and wait a day before using it more widely, especially with Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate on the list.
Introduce this sheet mask on its own for the first week, so anything your skin does is traceable to the Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate rather than to three changes at once.

Complete the routine

This itemAnua Birch Moisture Mask 25ml X 10ea$42.50
Cleanse first, so the next step meets bare skinAnua Peach Niacin Spread Cleansing Foam 150ml$30.00
Prep after cleansing, before the treatment stepAnua PDRN 100 Hyaluronic Acid Booster Toner 250ml$37.50

Total for 3 items$110.00

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Anua Birch Moisture Mask 25ml X 10ea

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Anua, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula sheet mask from Anua, formulated with Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and Allantoin, shipped from California or direct from Korea.

Verify your unit when it arrives

Korean-market stock with the original barcode and batch code intact, exactly as it left Korea.

Anua uses a holographic QR seal that only the HiddenTag app can read. Install HiddenTag from your phone’s app store and scan the seal on the box. A camera app alone will not resolve it.

Source: Anua packaging, HiddenTag scheme

On the unit itself

The Korean-market barcode, unaltered from the retail package.
The manufacturer’s batch code, exactly as the maker printed it.

정품Genuine article, Korean-market stock

What professionals say

What skin-care professionals say about skin care, quoted from the medical sources linked beside each.

Your skin barrier is basically your outer layer of the skin.
Melissa Piliang, MDDermatologist, Cleveland Clinic
Pretty much every step of a Korean skin care routine is going to have some component of hydration.
Alok Vij, MDDermatologist, Cleveland Clinic