Where does this foam cleanser go in my routine?

As your first step, morning and evening, on a face already wet with lukewarm water. Nothing goes under it: this foam cleanser is the step everything else in the routine lands on top of. 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, Niacinamide and Adenosine. The order they are printed in on this foam cleanser's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Sodium DNA sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Glutathione, Ceramide NP and Hydrolyzed Collagen.

Anua

PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleansing Foam

Name: Anua PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleansing Foam
Brand: Anua
Price: 15.99 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

Anua PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleansing Foam is a foam cleanser with Sodium DNA, used as your first step, morning and evening, on a face already wet with lukewarm water.

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

No reviews yet

$15.99

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

Suited to: Congested skinUneven textureDry skinCompromised barrier

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

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Key benefits

Sodium DNA, the active this foam cleanser is built around
Allantoin, Niacinamide and Adenosine on the same list, actives
Glutathione on the same list, an antioxidant
Ceramide NP and Hydrolyzed Collagen further down the same list
Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract and Coptis Japonica Root Extract further down the same list
Sodium DNA named twenty-third on the manufacturer list printed on this page

Key actives

23Sodium 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-third on this foam cleanser's own ingredient list.

All products with PDRN

32Allantoinactive

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. It is named thirty-second on this foam cleanser's list, alongside Sodium DNA.

All products with Allantoin

36Niacinamideactive

Niacinamide is vitamin B3, and it is the most studied active in Korean formulation. It is named thirty-sixth on this foam cleanser's list, alongside Sodium DNA.

All products with Niacinamide

38Glutathioneantioxidant

Glutathione is a small peptide the body uses as one of its main antioxidants. In skincare it is used as an antioxidant and for the look of dullness; it is unstable in water, so formulas that carry it are usually built around protecting it. It is named thirty-eighth on this foam cleanser's list, alongside Sodium DNA.

All products with Glutathione

43Adenosineactive

Adenosine is a nucleoside that Korea's own cosmetic authority recognises as a wrinkle-care functional ingredient, which is why it appears on so many Korean lists at a low level. It is used for the look of fine lines and is stable and well tolerated. The panel names it forty-third on this foam cleanser's list, beside Sodium DNA.

All products with Adenosine

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

23Sodium DNA32Allantoin36Niacinamide43Adenosine

23Sodium DNA
32Allantoin
36Niacinamide
43Adenosine

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 Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleansing Foam

48 of 51 explained

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.
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.
Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate surfactant: An amino-acid surfactant built from coconut fatty acids and glycine. Amino-acid surfactants clean at a pH close to the pH of skin itself, which is why low-pH Korean cleansers are built on them.
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.
Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate surfactant: Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate is an amino-acid-derived cleansing surfactant. It lifts oil and makeup at a pH close to skin's own, which is why it replaced sulfates in gentle cleansers.
Lauryl Betaine surfactant: Lauryl Betaine is a secondary surfactant that boosts foam and thickens a cleanser while reducing how stripping the main surfactant feels.
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.
Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate thickener: Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate is a modified starch used to thicken and to take the sticky edge off a formula, leaving a powdery finish.
Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate surfactant: Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate is a mild coconut-derived surfactant known for a rich, creamy lather that rinses without tightness.
Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate surfactant: Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate is a coconut-and-glycine surfactant used in low-pH cleansers. It foams well and rinses without the squeaky tightness a soap leaves.
Citric Acid pH adjuster: Citric Acid is used in tiny amounts to bring a formula to the pH its actives need, not as an exfoliant at that level. It is an AHA, so at much higher concentrations it can also exfoliate.
Sodium Lauroyl Methylaminopropionate surfactant: An amino-acid-derived cleanser that foams well at skin-friendly pH. It is one of the mild surfactants Korean low-pH cleansers are built on.

36 more explained

Sodium Chloride thickener: Sodium Chloride is salt. In a cleanser it thickens the liquid; in a mask or essence it balances the mineral content of the water phase. It has no active role.
Potassium Cocoate surfactant: Potassium Cocoate is coconut oil turned into soap. It cleanses strongly and sits at a high pH, which is what gives a traditional soap-style cleanser its squeaky finish.
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.
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.
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.
Polyquaternium-67 film former: Polyquaternium-67 is a positively charged polymer that clings to skin and hair, leaving a conditioning film that survives rinsing.
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.
Coptis Japonica Root Extract plant extract: Coptis Japonica is a traditional East Asian medicinal root, bright yellow from its berberine content. In skincare its extract is used for the look of congested, oily skin.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hydrolyzed Collagen protein: Hydrolyzed Collagen is collagen broken into fragments small enough to dissolve in water. It cannot become collagen in skin; what it does is hold water at the surface and leave a smooth, conditioned film.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Niacinamide active: Niacinamide is vitamin B3, and it is the most studied active in Korean formulation. It is used at roughly 2 to 5 percent for the look of uneven tone and visible pores, and it is water soluble, stable and comfortable beside almost every other active, which is why it turns up in so many lists.
Hydrogenated Lecithin emulsifier: Hydrogenated Lecithin is lecithin with its unsaturated bonds filled in, which makes it far more stable. It emulsifies and is the standard shell for the liposomes that carry actives into the outer layer of skin.
Glutathione antioxidant: Glutathione is a small peptide the body uses as one of its main antioxidants. In skincare it is used as an antioxidant and for the look of dullness; it is unstable in water, so formulas that carry it are usually built around protecting it.
Glyceryl Oleate emulsifier: Glycerin joined to oleic acid. It emulsifies, softens skin, and is often what makes a cleansing oil rinse away instead of leaving a film.
Lauryl Glucoside surfactant: A sugar surfactant made from glucose and a fatty alcohol. Glucosides carry no charge, which is what makes them mild, and they give a soft low foam.
Myristyl Glucoside surfactant: A sugar surfactant with a slightly longer fatty chain than lauryl glucoside, so it feels a little richer. It carries no charge and is mild.
Polyglyceryl-6 Laurate emulsifier: Six glycerin units joined to lauric acid. Polyglyceryl esters are the mild, PEG-free way to hold oil and water together.
Adenosine active: Adenosine is a nucleoside that Korea's own cosmetic authority recognises as a wrinkle-care functional ingredient, which is why it appears on so many Korean lists at a low level. It is used for the look of fine lines and is stable and well tolerated.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sodium Citrate pH adjuster: Sodium Citrate is the salt of citric acid, used as a buffer: it holds a formula at a steady pH rather than pushing it in one direction. It is also a mild chelator.
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.
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.

How it works

The PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleansing Foam is a foam cleanser, used as your first step, morning and evening, on a face already wet with lukewarm water. The active it is built around is Sodium DNA, named twenty-third on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Allantoin, Niacinamide and Adenosine, 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 foam cleanser format rather than by the list alone. Anua sells this Sodium DNA foam cleanser in Korea, and this is that version.

How to use

Use the PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleansing Foam as your first step, morning and evening, on a face already wet with lukewarm water.
A short pump or a pea of product is enough. Work it into a lather in wet hands for about twenty seconds before it touches the face.
Rinse with lukewarm water and go straight on to your toner while skin is still damp, because a humectant layer has more to hold on to on a damp face.
Twice a day is the ceiling. Do not follow it with a second cleanse in the morning, when there is no sunscreen or makeup left on the face to remove.

Worth knowing

Patch test this foam cleanser on a small area and wait a day before using it more widely, especially with Sodium DNA on the list.
Introduce this foam cleanser 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 Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Cleansing Foam

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Anua, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula foam cleanser 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
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

1 more professional perspective

Niacinamide helps reduce the appearance of pores in a few ways. By strengthening the skin barrier and improving elasticity, pores appear less noticeable and more even.
Ashlyn YankeAesthetician, Cleveland Clinic