Where does this essence go in my routine?

After toner and before serum, morning and evening, on damp skin. Anything thinner than an essence 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 Snail Secretion Filtrate and not three changes at once.

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

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

What else is on the list besides Snail Secretion Filtrate?

Adenosine, Copper Tripeptide-1 and Glutathione. The order they are printed in on this essence's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Snail Secretion Filtrate sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Ceramide NP, Hydrolyzed Collagen and Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract.

DEWYTREE

ULTRA S4 Snail Essence Water 150ml

Name: DEWYTREE ULTRA S4 Snail Essence Water 150ml
Brand: DEWYTREE
SKU: 911891671
Price: 22.5 USD
Availability: InStock

DEWYTREE ULTRA S4 Snail Essence Water is a 150ml essence with Snail Secretion Filtrate, used after toner and before serum, morning and evening, on damp skin.

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$22.50

150 ml

$15.00 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 Snail Secretion Filtrate in an essenceRoutines that want Snail Secretion Filtrate and Adenosine in one stepFilling the essence step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Snail Secretion Filtrate essence sold on Korean shelves

One-time purchase

$22.50

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How it works

The ULTRA S4 Snail Essence Water is a 150ml essence, used after toner and before serum, morning and evening, on damp skin. The humectant it is built around is Snail Secretion Filtrate, named sixth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Adenosine, Copper Tripeptide-1 and Glutathione, so the humectant is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Snail Secretion Filtrate stays on the skin, and for how long, is decided by the essence format rather than by the list alone. This is the Original Korean Formula, the essence DEWYTREE sells in Korea, Snail Secretion Filtrate and all.

Key benefits

Snail Secretion Filtrate, the humectant this essence is built around
Adenosine on the same list, an active
Copper Tripeptide-1 on the same list, a peptide
Glutathione on the same list, an antioxidant
Hydrolyzed Collagen and Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract further down the same list
Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract and Pimpinella Anisum (Anise) Fruit Extract further down the same list

How to use

Use this essence AM and PM, as the step after toner and before serum. Pat or smooth it on rather than rubbing, and give it a moment to settle before layering the next step.

1 of 4

49 of 52 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.
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.
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.
Snail Secretion Filtrate (5,000 ppm) humectant: Snail Secretion Filtrate is the mucin a snail produces, filtered for cosmetic use, and it is the ingredient the Korean snail category is built on. It carries glycoproteins, hyaluronic acid and glycolic acid, and it is used for hydration and a smoother-looking surface.
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.
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.
Phenyl Trimethicone silicone: Phenyl Trimethicone is a silicone with a higher refractive index than most, so it adds visible gloss as well as slip. It is common in glow and lip textures.
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer thickener: This is a carbomer relative with fatty side chains, so it thickens and stabilises an emulsion at the same time. It gives a light gel-cream body rather than a heavy one.
Tromethamine pH adjuster: Tromethamine neutralises acidic thickeners such as carbomer so they gel, and holds a formula near skin-friendly pH. It is used at a fraction of a percent.
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.

37 more explained

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.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract plant extract: Aloe Leaf Extract is mostly water with polysaccharides, amino acids and mild plant acids. It hydrates and leaves a light, cooling film, which is why it is the default after-sun ingredient.
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.
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 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.
Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil emollient: Grape Seed Oil is a light, linoleic-acid-rich oil with a fast, dry absorption. It is one of the plant oils used where an oil is wanted without a heavy finish.
Polyglyceryl-10 Oleate emulsifier: Polyglyceryl-10 Oleate is a mild sugar-derived emulsifier and solubiliser used where a formula must stay clear.
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.
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.
Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil emollient: Jojoba Oil is a liquid wax rather than a true oil, and its structure is close to human sebum, which is why it absorbs so readily. It is an emollient that leaves a soft, non-greasy finish.
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.
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.
Rosa Damascena Flower Water plant extract: Rosa Damascena Flower Water is the water left from distilling rose petals. It is used in place of plain water as a base and carries the scent and trace compounds of the distillation.
Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract plant extract: Vanilla bean extract. It carries vanillin, the compound its scent comes from, along with polyphenols, so it contributes fragrance as well as extract.
Pimpinella Anisum (Anise) Fruit Extract plant extract: Anise seed extract. It carries the plant's aromatic compounds and is used as a conditioning extract that contributes scent.
Pyrus Communis (Pear) Fruit Extract plant extract: Pear Fruit Extract carries fruit sugars and mild fruit acids. It is used as a hydrating extract with a very light smoothing effect on the surface.
Hedera Helix (Ivy) Leaf/Stem Extract plant extract: Ivy Leaf and Stem Extract carries saponins, plant compounds that foam slightly in water. It is used in body and eye formulas for the look of puffiness.
Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract plant extract: Chamomile Flower Extract is one of the oldest ingredients in skincare, carrying bisabolol and chamazulene. It is used for the look of redness in formulas for reactive skin.
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.
Nelumbo Nucifera Flower Extract plant extract: Lotus flower extract, from the same sacred lotus as the leaf. It carries flavonoids and sugars and is used as a conditioning, hydrating extract.
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.
Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract plant extract: Cranberry fruit extract, acidic and high in proanthocyanidins. It is used as an antioxidant berry extract.
Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Extract plant extract: Raspberry fruit extract, carrying fruit acids, sugars and anthocyanins. It is used as an antioxidant-rich conditioning extract.
Cornus Officinalis Fruit Extract plant extract: Japanese cornel dogwood fruit, the sansuyu of Korean herbal medicine. Its extract carries fruit acids and iridoids and is used as a conditioning extract.
Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Extract plant extract: Pomegranate fruit extract, carrying ellagic acid and punicalagins. It is used as a plant antioxidant.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lysine amino acid: Lysine is an essential amino acid used as a conditioning humectant in an amino acid complex.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

Worth knowing

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

Complete the routine

This itemDEWYTREE ULTRA S4 Snail Essence Water 150ml$22.50
The last step of the morning, over everything elseDEWYTREE Urban Shade Anti-Pollution Tone Up Sun 40ml$25.00
Seal the routine in as the last stepDEWYTREE ULTRA S4 Snail Cream 80ml$22.50

Total for 3 items$70.00

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DEWYTREE ULTRA S4 Snail Essence Water 150ml

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DEWYTREE, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula essence from DEWYTREE, 150ml formulated with Snail Secretion Filtrate and Adenosine, 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