Is this for face or body?

Both, and the size is why. At 450ml you can use it generously on arms and legs as well as the face, which is how a dry skin routine gets kept up. Oilier skin often uses it on the body and something lighter on the face, which is a sensible split.

Where does it go in my routine?

Last on the face, after anything thinner, morning and night. On the body, straight after a shower while the skin is still damp, since a cream on damp skin holds far more water than one applied twenty minutes later on a dry arm.

Rich enough to be a genuine sealing step for dry skin, without being a heavy occlusive balm. Most people find it comfortable on the face at night and manageable in the morning under sunscreen. In summer, combination skin usually prefers something lighter for the face and keeps this for the body.

How should I handle a tub this size?

Clean dry fingers or a spatula, and the lid on properly. A wide tub picks up whatever is on your hands and water dipped back in shortens its life. If you use it in the shower room, keep a small spatula next to it rather than reaching in with wet hands.

Is this the Korean-market formula?

Yes. This is the Original Korean Formula 450ml tub, the same one sold on Korean shelves. Paying on arrival.

COSRX

Skin Barrier Moisturizing Cream 450ml

Name: COSRX Skin Barrier Moisturizing Cream 450ml
Brand: COSRX
SKU: 12215610743
Price: 42.5 USD
Availability: InStock

A 450ml tub of barrier moisturizing cream, sized for body as well as face, for dry skin that gets through a small jar in a fortnight.

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

No reviews yet

$42.50

450 ml

$9.44 per 100 ml

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

Suited to: Dry skinNormal skinSensitive skin

Helps with: Dry skin on the bodyA tight feeling faceCold weather and central heating

One-time purchase

$42.50

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$38.25

In stock. Arrives in 3 to 7 business days

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How it works

The size is the point here as much as the formula: at 450ml this is a tub you can use generously on arms, legs and face without rationing, which is how a dry skin routine actually gets followed. It is the sealing step, so it goes on last and holds the water underneath in rather than adding a new watery layer. A barrier cream is built simply on purpose, because the skin that needs one does not want a long list of new ingredients to react to. That is the difference from a small jar of a rich facial cream, which is the same job at four times the price per use and never gets used on the body. What you can judge is whether the skin still feels comfortable four hours later.

Key benefits

Butylene Glycol sits near the top on this product's own ingredient list, a multifunctional glycol that carries moisture and helps preserve the formula.
A barrier-supporting provitamin that eases surface roughness, and Panthenol is right there in this product's ingredient list, in the first half.
On this formula's own list, Squalane shows up in the first half. It is a lightweight, non-comedogenic emollient that mimics skin's own lipids.

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

1 of 4

49 of 49 explained

Aqua/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.
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.
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.
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride emollient: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride is the light fraction of coconut oil, with the heavy parts removed. It is the workhorse emollient of modern formulas: it softens skin, dissolves oil-soluble actives and absorbs without the greasy weight of a whole plant oil.
Cetyl Alcohol fatty alcohol: Cetyl Alcohol is a waxy fatty alcohol from coconut or palm, unrelated to drying ethanol. It thickens creams, stabilises the emulsion and leaves skin feeling softer.
Ceteareth-20 emulsifier: An ethoxylated fatty alcohol that holds oil and water together in a cream. The number records how much ethylene oxide was added, which sets how water-loving it is.
Behentrimonium Methosulfate emulsifier: A mild cationic conditioning agent built from rapeseed fatty acid. It sits on the surface with a positive charge, which is why it detangles and smooths, and it also helps hold an emulsion together.
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.
Petrolatum occlusive: Petrolatum is a purified blend of mineral hydrocarbons. It is the most effective occlusive known, cutting water loss from skin by well over ninety percent, and it is inert and does not feed microbes.
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.
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.
Potassium Phosphate pH adjuster: Potassium Phosphate is a buffer salt used to hold a formula at the pH its actives need.

37 more explained

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.
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.
Dipotassium Phosphate pH adjuster: Dipotassium Phosphate is a buffer salt. Paired with its more acidic partner it holds a formula at a steady pH.
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.
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.
Synthetic Wax occlusive: Synthetic Wax is a purpose-built hydrocarbon wax used to structure balms and sticks. It is odourless and does not oxidise, unlike most natural waxes.
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.
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.
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.
Sodium PCA humectant: Sodium PCA is one of the substances skin makes for itself to hold water, part of what dermatology calls the natural moisturising factor. Added to a formula it is a strong humectant that suits skin that dehydrates quickly.
Sodium Lactate humectant: Sodium Lactate is the salt of lactic acid and one of the components of skin's own natural moisturising factor. At the levels used here it is a humectant and buffer rather than an exfoliant.
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.
PCA humectant: PCA is pyrrolidone carboxylic acid, one of the components of the natural moisturising factor skin makes for itself. It holds water at the surface, and its salts do the same job.
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.
Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate emulsifier: Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate is a mild sugar-derived emulsifier that holds oil into water and thickens slightly.
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.
Serine amino acid: Serine is one of the most abundant free amino acids in the outer layer of skin, where it helps hold water. Added to a formula it is a humectant.
Alanine amino acid: Alanine is a free amino acid skin uses as part of its own moisture-holding system. In a formula it hydrates and conditions.
Glycine amino acid: Glycine is the smallest amino acid and one of the free amino acids skin holds to keep water in the outer layer. In a formula it is a humectant and a mild buffer.
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.
Glutamic Acid amino acid: Glutamic Acid is an amino acid used as a humectant and a mild pH adjuster. It is one of the components of skin's natural moisturising factor.
Lysine HCL amino acid: Lysine is an essential amino acid, here as its hydrochloride salt for solubility. Amino acids on a label hold water and condition the surface.
Threonine amino acid: Threonine is an essential amino acid used in skincare as a humectant, normally as part of an amino acid complex rather than alone.
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.
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.
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.
Cholesterol barrier lipid: Cholesterol is the third of the three lipids the outer layer of skin is built from, with ceramides and fatty acids. Formulas that carry all three are following the ratio skin itself holds.
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.
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.
Proline amino acid: Proline is an amino acid abundant in collagen and one of skin's own humectants. Added to a formula it holds water in the outer layer.
Palmitic Acid fatty acid: Palmitic Acid is a saturated fatty acid present in skin's own lipids. It thickens a formula, stabilises the emulsion and softens skin.
Ceramide NS barrier lipid: Ceramide NS is another of the ceramides skin makes for itself. It is used alongside NP and AP so a formula supplies a mixture rather than a single lipid.
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.
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.
Ceramide AP barrier lipid: Ceramide AP is a second cosmetic ceramide, distinguished by an extra hydroxyl group. Formulas that name several ceramides are copying the mix skin actually holds rather than relying on one.
Ceramide AS barrier lipid: Ceramide AS is a further member of the same lipid family. Its presence usually signals a formula built around a full ceramide profile rather than a single headline one.
Ceramide EOP barrier lipid: Ceramide EOP is the ceramide with the longest tail, and in skin it acts as the rivet holding the lipid layers together. It is the third member of the standard cosmetic ceramide trio.

How to use

On the face, apply it last, after any thinner layers, while the skin underneath is still damp.
On the body, apply it straight after a shower while the skin is still damp rather than fully dry.
Scoop with clean dry fingers or a spatula and press it in rather than rubbing it around.
Do not dip wet fingers into the tub, because water carried back in is what shortens the life of an open jar.

Worth knowing

Use clean dry fingers or a spatula, since a wide tub picks up whatever is on your hands.
Oily and combination skin may prefer it on the body and something lighter on the face.

Complete the routine

This itemCOSRX Skin Barrier Moisturizing Cream 450ml$42.50
An as-needed step, in place of the prep layerCosrx 5 PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Vital Hydrating Hydrogel Mask$4.70
The treatment step of this routineCosrx Advanced The Vitamin C 23 Serum$21.17

Total for 3 items$68.37

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COSRX Skin Barrier Moisturizing Cream 450ml

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COSRX, Korean-market original

A 450ml tub of barrier cream for face and body, stocked in the Original Korean Formula.

Verify your unit when it arrives

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

COSRX verifies units itself. Find the verification page on cosrx.com and enter the batch number and expiration date printed on your unit. Read them off the package rather than from us, which is the point.

Source: COSRX FAQ

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