Where does this toner go in my routine?

Straight after cleansing, morning and evening, while the face is still damp. Anything thinner than a toner goes on before it, and anything richer goes on after. 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 Sodium DNA and not three changes at once.

What else is on the list besides Sodium DNA?

Allantoin, Copper Tripeptide-1 and Tocopherol. The order they are printed in on this toner's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Sodium DNA sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Saccharum Officinarum (Sugarcane) Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract and Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract.

Anua

PDRN 100 Hyaluronic Acid Booster Toner

Name: Anua PDRN 100 Hyaluronic Acid Booster Toner
Brand: Anua
Price: 17.99 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

Sodium DNA, the PDRN, sits twenty-ninth here, so read this as a humectant toner first: butylene glycol, glycerin, pentylene glycol and sugarcane extract carry the top of the list.

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

No reviews yet

$17.99

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

Suited to: Dehydrated skinSensitive skinSkin that has lost bounceDull, uneven tone

Helps with: Shoppers looking for Sodium DNA in a tonerRoutines that want Sodium DNA and Allantoin in one stepFilling the toner step with a Korean-market formula

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Key benefits

Sodium DNA, the active this toner is built around
Allantoin on the same list, an active
Copper Tripeptide-1 on the same list, a peptide
Tocopherol on the same list, an antioxidant
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract and Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract further down the same list
Cynanchum Atratum Extract and Coccinia Indica Fruit Extract further down the same list

Key actives

6Saccharum Officinarum (Sugarcane) Extractplant extract

Sugarcane Extract carries natural glycolic acid and sugars. In cosmetics it is used as a humectant; the acid content is far too low to work as an exfoliant. It is named sixth on this toner's list, alongside Sodium DNA.

All products with Saccharum Officinarum (Sugarcane) Extract

28Allantoinactive

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. The panel names it twenty-eighth on this toner's list, beside Sodium DNA.

All products with Allantoin

29Sodium DNAactive

Sodium DNA is the salt of DNA, in Korean skincare almost always salmon derived, and it is the ingredient behind the PDRN category. It is used as a humectant and for the look of tired skin; the fragments themselves are what the name PDRN refers to. The name on the box points at it, and it is named twenty-ninth on this toner's own ingredient list.

All products with PDRN

33Tocopherolantioxidant

Tocopherol is vitamin E. It is an oil-soluble antioxidant that protects the oils in a formula from going rancid and works on skin as an emollient, and it is regularly paired with vitamin C because each keeps the other going for longer. The panel names it thirty-third on this toner's list, beside Sodium DNA.

All products with Tocopherol

38Copper Tripeptide-1peptide

Copper Tripeptide-1 is three amino acids bound to a copper ion, and the classic firming peptide in cosmetic chemistry. It is blue in solution, which is often why a serum carrying it is tinted, and it is used for the look of firmness and fine lines. The panel names it thirty-eighth on this toner's list, beside Sodium DNA.

All products with Copper Tripeptide-1

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

6Saccharum Officinarum28Allantoin33Tocopherol38Copper Tripeptide-1

6Saccharum Officinarum
28Allantoin
33Tocopherol
38Copper Tripeptide-1

Where each key active sits on the declared ingredient list, by entry number. Position is proportion: the further forward, the larger its share.

1 of 4

Anua PDRN 100 Hyaluronic Acid Booster Toner

39 of 41 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.
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.
Pentylene Glycol humectant: Pentylene Glycol hydrates and, like the other longer-chain glycols, makes a formula less hospitable to microbes so the preservative system can be lighter. It also improves how evenly a product spreads.
Propanediol humectant: Propanediol is a plant-derived glycol used in place of propylene glycol. It hydrates, carries actives into solution, and gives a lighter, less sticky slip than glycerin at the same strength.
Saccharum Officinarum (Sugarcane) Extract plant extract: Sugarcane Extract carries natural glycolic acid and sugars. In cosmetics it is used as a humectant; the acid content is far too low to work as an exfoliant.
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.
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract plant extract: Soybean Seed Extract carries isoflavones, plant sterols and soy proteins. It is used as a conditioning antioxidant extract.
Malachite Extract mineral: Malachite is a green copper carbonate mineral. Its extract is used in a formula as a source of trace copper.
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.
Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract plant extract: Melia Azadirachta is neem. Its leaf and flower extracts are long-standing Ayurvedic ingredients, and Korean formulas use them in products aimed at the look of congested, blemish-prone skin.
Cynanchum Atratum Extract plant extract: Cynanchum Atratum is a root used in Korean traditional practice. Its extract is used as a conditioning plant extract in formulas for reactive skin.

27 more explained

Coccinia Indica Fruit Extract plant extract: Coccinia Indica is ivy gourd. Its fruit extract is used as a conditioning, hydrating plant extract in Korean formulas.
Althaea Rosea Flower Extract plant extract: Althaea Rosea is hollyhock, a mallow relative rich in mucilage. Its flower extract hydrates and leaves a cushioned, slippery feel.
Aloe Barbadensis Flower Extract plant extract: Aloe Flower Extract comes from the flower rather than the leaf gel. It is used as a conditioning plant extract.
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.
Solanum Melongena (Eggplant) Fruit Extract plant extract: Eggplant Fruit Extract carries nasunin, the antioxidant pigment in aubergine skin. It is used as an antioxidant plant extract.
Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract plant extract: Ocimum Sanctum is holy basil, or tulsi. Its leaf extract carries plant antioxidants and is used in formulas built for the look of stressed, reactive skin.
Corallina Officinalis Extract plant extract: Corallina Officinalis is coral seaweed, which holds calcium and magnesium in its structure. Its extract is used as a mineral-rich conditioning ingredient.
Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract plant extract: Turmeric Root Extract carries curcuminoids, well studied plant antioxidants. It is used for the look of dullness and uneven tone, and it tints a formula faintly yellow.
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.
Betaine humectant: Betaine is a sugar-beet-derived humectant that cells use to hold water. In a formula it hydrates and takes the edge off cleansers and acids, which is why it often appears alongside them.
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.
Panthenol humectant: Panthenol is pro-vitamin B5: skin converts it to pantothenic acid. It is a humectant that holds water and leaves skin feeling soft and less tight, and it is one of the ingredients formulators reach for when a formula also contains something harsh.
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.
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.
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.
Sodium DNA active: Sodium DNA is the salt of DNA, in Korean skincare almost always salmon derived, and it is the ingredient behind the PDRN category. It is used as a humectant and for the look of tired skin; the fragments themselves are what the name PDRN refers to.
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.
Octanediol preservative booster: A glycol that hydrates and, like the other longer-chain glycols, makes a formula less hospitable to microbes so the preservative system can be lighter.
Phosphatidylcholine emulsifier: Phosphatidylcholine is the main phospholipid in lecithin and in cell membranes. It emulsifies and forms the liposome walls a formula uses to carry an active.
Tocopherol antioxidant: Tocopherol is vitamin E. It is an oil-soluble antioxidant that protects the oils in a formula from going rancid and works on skin as an emollient, and it is regularly paired with vitamin C because each keeps the other going for longer.
C12-13 Alketh-9 emulsifier: C12-13 Alketh-9 is a solubiliser used to disperse oil-soluble ingredients evenly in a watery formula.
Dipotassium Phosphate pH adjuster: Dipotassium Phosphate is a buffer salt. Paired with its more acidic partner it holds a formula at a steady pH.
Acetyl Glutamine amino acid: Glutamine with an acetyl group added, which makes it more stable in water. It is used as a conditioning amino acid.
Copper Tripeptide-1 peptide: Copper Tripeptide-1 is three amino acids bound to a copper ion, and the classic firming peptide in cosmetic chemistry. It is blue in solution, which is often why a serum carrying it is tinted, and it is used for the look of firmness and fine lines.
Cellulose Gum thickener: Cellulose Gum is plant cellulose modified to dissolve in water. It thickens, holds particles in suspension and gives a smooth, slippery body.
Disodium EDTA chelator: EDTA is a chelator: it locks up trace metal ions from water and packaging that would otherwise turn a formula cloudy, off-colour or rancid. It does nothing to skin and appears at a fraction of a percent.
Xanthan Gum thickener: Xanthan Gum is a polysaccharide made by fermenting sugar. It thickens a watery formula into a gel and holds the whole thing in suspension so nothing separates. Too much of it and a serum turns stringy, which is why it appears in fractions of a percent.

How it works

The PDRN 100 Hyaluronic Acid Booster Toner is a toner, used straight after cleansing, morning and evening, while the face is still damp. The active it is built around is Sodium DNA, named twenty-ninth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Allantoin, Copper Tripeptide-1 and Tocopherol, so the active is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Sodium DNA stays on the skin, and for how long, is decided by the toner format rather than by the list alone. Anua sells this Sodium DNA toner in Korea, and this is that version.

How to use

Use the PDRN 100 Hyaluronic Acid Booster Toner straight after cleansing, morning and evening, while the face is still damp.
Pour a coin-sized pool into your palms and press it over the face in two passes rather than dragging it around with a cotton pad.
It goes on before serum and moisturizer, and the damp layer it leaves is what the step above it holds on to.
Twice a day, every day. Do not let it dry down completely before the next layer goes on, or you lose the reason for applying it to damp skin.

Worth knowing

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

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Anua PDRN 100 Hyaluronic Acid Booster Toner

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Anua, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula toner from Anua, formulated with Sodium DNA 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 the key actives in this formula, quoted from the medical sources linked beside each.

Allantoin can tone down the dryness of the individual cells. It increases the water content of the skin, which means it helps to hydrate and moisturize.
Wilma Bergfeld, MDDermatologist, Cleveland Clinic
In skin, different peptides can encourage different things, from collagen formation to a reduction in inflammation to helping with wound healing depending on their structure.
Whitney Hovenic, MDDouble board-certified dermatologist and Mohs surgeon, Women's Health

1 more professional perspective

It's still a very new ingredient in the field of regenerative medicine.
Catherine ChangBeverly Hills board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Harper's Bazaar