Where does this cream go in my routine?

As the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. Anything thinner than a cream 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 Glutathione and not three changes at once.

Is this the Korean-market cream or a US version?

The Korean-market one, Glutathione and all. We match this cream to its Korean barcode before it reaches the shelf, which is the check that tells you which market release you are holding.

Does this cream contain fragrance?

Yes. The ingredient list names Fragrance. It sits on the panel printed on this page, so you can read the position for yourself before you buy. If fragrance components are something you avoid, this cream is not the one.

What else is on the list besides Glutathione?

Niacinamide, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 and Ceramide NP. The order they are printed in on this cream's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Glutathione sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Pearl Extract, Beta-Glucan and Eclipta Prostrata Extract.

Celimax

Glutathione Tone Up Cream 35ml

Name: Celimax Glutathione Tone Up Cream 35ml
Brand: Celimax
SKU: 4190756726
Price: 22.5 USD
Availability: InStock

Glutathione Tone Up Cream brightens with Glutathione, Niacinamide and Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, a tinted, tone-adjusting cream built for a complexion that looks dull, blotchy or unevenly pigmented.

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$22.50

35 ml

$64.29 per 100 ml

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

Suited to: Dry skinCompromised barrierDehydrated skinSensitive skin

Helps with: Shoppers looking for Glutathione in a creamRoutines that want Glutathione and Niacinamide in one stepFilling the cream step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Glutathione cream sold on Korean shelves

In stock. Arrives in 3 to 7 business days

You’re $100.00 away from free US shipping.

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How it works

The Glutathione Tone Up Cream is a 35ml cream, used as the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. The antioxidant it is built around is Glutathione, named twenty-sixth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Niacinamide, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 and Ceramide NP, so the antioxidant is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Glutathione stays on the skin, and for how long, is decided by the cream format rather than by the list alone. This is the Original Korean Formula, the cream Celimax sells in Korea, Glutathione and all.

Key benefits

Glutathione, the antioxidant this cream is built around
Niacinamide on the same list, an active
Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 on the same list, a peptide
Ceramide NP on the same list, a barrier lipid
Beta-Glucan and Eclipta Prostrata Extract further down the same list
Laminaria Japonica Extract and Centella Asiatica Extract further down the same list

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

#25

Fragrance on the list

1 of 5

53 of 54 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.
Methylpropanediol humectant: Methylpropanediol is a small glycol used to hydrate and to help water-soluble actives penetrate the outer layer of skin more evenly. It leaves almost no tack, which suits watery textures.
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.
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.
Dimethicone silicone: Dimethicone is the most used cosmetic silicone. It forms a breathable film that smooths the surface, slows water leaving skin, and gives the slip that makes a primer or cream feel silky. It is inert and does not penetrate.
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.
Cyclopentasiloxane silicone: Cyclopentasiloxane is a volatile silicone: it spreads a formula thin and smooth then evaporates, leaving no residue. It is the silicone behind a dry, powdery primer finish.
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.
Polyglycerin-3 humectant: Polyglycerin-3 is a short chain of glycerin units used as a gentler, less sticky humectant. It also helps oils and water stay blended.
Eclipta Prostrata Leaf Extract plant extract: Eclipta Prostrata is false daisy, long used in Ayurvedic and East Asian practice. Its extract is used as a conditioning plant extract, most often in scalp and hair formulas.
Laminaria Japonica Extract plant extract: Laminaria Japonica is kombu kelp. Its extract carries alginates, minerals and iodine, and it is used as a hydrating, mineral-rich ingredient.
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.

41 more explained

Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer thickener: This is a pre-neutralised polymer thickener that gels on contact with water and stabilises an emulsion without heat.
Sodium Polyacrylate thickener: Sodium Polyacrylate is a polymer that absorbs many times its weight in water. It thickens a formula and holds water in a gel against the skin.
Ethylhexyl Stearate emollient: Ethylhexyl Stearate is an ester emollient with a slightly richer feel than the palmitate. It softens skin and helps a formula spread evenly.
Isohexadecane emollient: Isohexadecane is a branched hydrocarbon emollient that spreads easily and leaves a dry finish. It is often paired with a thickener to build a gel-cream.
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.
Dimethiconol silicone: Dimethiconol is a high-molecular-weight silicone that leaves a longer-lasting smooth film than dimethicone. It is used for lasting slip and shine.
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.
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.
Polysorbate 80 emulsifier: Polysorbate 80 is an emulsifier and solubiliser used to keep oils, fragrance and oil-soluble actives dissolved in water.
Centella Asiatica Extract plant extract: Centella Asiatica is the plant behind the whole cica category, sold as gotu kola or Madagascar centella. Its extract is the anchor of Korean formulas built for easily reddened skin, and its work is done by four triterpenes: asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid.
Ficus Carica (Fig) Fruit Extract plant extract: Fig Fruit Extract carries fruit sugars, mild acids and a protein-digesting enzyme. It is used as a hydrating extract with a light smoothing effect.
Fragrance fragrance: Fragrance, or Parfum, is a single declaration standing for a whole scent blend, which can be dozens of materials. Regulators allow it as a trade secret, so a list showing only this word does not say what the scent is made of. It is the most common trigger named by people with reactive 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.
Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract plant extract: Licorice Root Extract carries glabridin and liquiritin. It is one of the classic plant ingredients used for the look of uneven tone and redness, and it appears in almost every brightening formula that avoids synthetic actives.
Lactobacillus/Rice Ferment ferment: Rice fermented with lactobacillus, the same bacteria behind kimchi and makgeolli. Fermentation breaks the rice starch into smaller sugars and amino acids that hold water.
Sorbitan Oleate emulsifier: Sorbitan Oleate is an emulsifier for water-in-oil formulas. It keeps a rich cream or a cleansing oil from separating.
Triethoxycaprylylsilane silicone: Triethoxycaprylylsilane is a coating applied to mineral powders so they disperse evenly and resist water rather than clumping.
Trideceth-6 emulsifier: Trideceth-6 is a solubiliser used to dissolve fragrance and oil-soluble ingredients into a watery formula so it stays clear.
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.
Fructooligosaccharides humectant: Fructooligosaccharides are short fructose chains used as humectants and as food for the skin's own resident microbes.
Hydrogenated Polyisobutene emollient: Hydrogenated Polyisobutene is a stabilised synthetic hydrocarbon used in place of mineral oil. It is an emollient that leaves a smooth, cushioned film.
Squalane emollient: Squalane is the stable, saturated version of squalene, a lipid human skin already makes. It is a light emollient that absorbs quickly, does not oxidise, and is one of the few oils widely considered safe for blemish-prone skin. Most cosmetic squalane is now from sugarcane or olive rather than shark.
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.
Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil emollient: Argan Oil is pressed from the argan kernel and is rich in oleic and linoleic acids plus vitamin E. It is a medium-weight emollient that absorbs reasonably fast.
Isononyl Isononanoate emollient: Isononyl Isononanoate is a branched ester used as a dry emollient. It spreads far for its weight and leaves almost no residue, which is why it appears in formulas that have to feel weightless.
Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate emulsifier: Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate is a mild sugar-derived emulsifier that holds oil into water and thickens slightly.
Amaranthus Caudatus Seed Extract plant extract: Amaranth seed extract, carrying squalene, sterols and peptides. It is used as a conditioning extract.
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.
Cetearyl Alcohol fatty alcohol: Cetearyl Alcohol is a waxy solid, not the drying kind of alcohol. It is a blend of cetyl and stearyl alcohols used to thicken a cream and keep oil and water from separating, and it softens skin as it does so.
Panax Ginseng Root Extract plant extract: Ginseng Root Extract is the signature ingredient of Korean traditional skincare, carrying ginsenosides. It is used for the look of tired, dull skin, and brands often ferment it to break the ginsenosides into smaller forms.
Polyglyceryl-2 Dipolyhydroxystearate emulsifier: A water-in-oil emulsifier used in sticks and high-oil formulas, where it keeps the water phase in fine droplets so the texture stays smooth.
Stearic Acid fatty acid: Stearic Acid is a saturated fatty acid from plant fats, and one of the three lipid classes skin's own barrier is built from. In a formula it thickens, stabilises the emulsion and can be turned into a soap-style cleanser by adding a base.
Ulmus Davidiana Root Extract plant extract: Ulmus Davidiana is Japanese elm, whose inner bark yields a naturally slippery mucilage. Korean formulas use the root extract for that cushioned feel and for the look of reactive skin.
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.
Inulin Lauryl Carbamate emulsifier: A chicory-sugar polymer with a fatty chain attached. It stabilises an emulsion by forming a film at the oil and water boundary rather than acting as a classic surfactant.
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.
Pearl Powder protein: Pearl Extract is ground pearl treated so its calcium carbonate and protein fractions disperse. It is used as a mineral-and-protein conditioning ingredient with a faint light-scattering effect.
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.
Polysorbate 20 emulsifier: Polysorbate 20 is a solubiliser: it dissolves small amounts of oil or fragrance into a watery formula so nothing separates or floats.
Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate emulsifier: An amino-acid-derived emulsifier, made from glutamic acid and stearic acid. It holds oil and water together in mild, plant-based cream bases.
Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 peptide: Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 is the five-amino-acid peptide originally sold as Matrixyl. It is used for the look of fine lines and is one of the longest-standing cosmetic peptides.

How to use

Finish your morning routine, sunscreen included, before this goes on.
Take a small amount and spread it thin, working outward from the centre of the face.
Blend it down onto the neck and the ears so there is no line where it stops.
Do not use it in place of sunscreen, since a tone up step is not a sun product.

Worth knowing

Patch test this cream on a small area and wait a day before using it more widely, especially with Glutathione on the list.
This list names Fragrance, so skip it if fragrance components are something you avoid.

Complete the routine

This itemCelimax Glutathione Tone Up Cream 35ml$22.50
Cleanse first, so the next step meets bare skincelimax Derma Nature Fresh Blackhead Jojoba Cleansing Oil 150ml$27.50
An as-needed step, in place of the prep layercelimax JI WOO GAE Heartleaf BHA Peeling Pad 50P$22.50

Total for 3 items$72.50

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celimax Glutathione Tone Up Cream 35ml

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Celimax, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula cream from Celimax, 35ml formulated with Glutathione and Niacinamide, 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.

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