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 Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and not three changes at once.

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

The Korean-market one, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate 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.

Does this essence contain fragrance?

Yes. The ingredient list names Limonene and Linalool. They sit 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 essence is not the one.

What else is on the list besides Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate?

Ceramide NP, Centella Asiatica Extract and Adansonia Digitata (Baobab) Fruit Extract. The order they are printed in on this essence's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Flower Extract, Leontopodium Alpinum Callus Culture Extract and Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract.

Dr.Althea

Skin Relief Essence 30ml

Name: Dr.Althea Skin Relief Essence 30ml
Brand: Dr.Althea
SKU: 5505438980
Price: 32.5 USD
Availability: InStock

Centella asiatica extract is the first entry, ahead of water, with baobab fruit, safflower flower and edelweiss callus culture behind it and Ceramide NP further down. A 30 ml essence, Korean-market formula.

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$32.50

30 ml

$108.33 per 100 ml

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 Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate in an essenceRoutines that want Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and Ceramide NP in one stepFilling the essence step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate essence sold on Korean shelves

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$32.50

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How it works

The Skin Relief Essence is a 30ml essence, used after toner and before serum, morning and evening, on damp skin. The active it is built around is Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, named sixteenth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Ceramide NP, Centella Asiatica Extract and Adansonia Digitata (Baobab) Fruit Extract, so the active is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate 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 Dr.Althea sells in Korea, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and all.

Key benefits

Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, the active this essence is built around
Ceramide NP on the same list, a barrier lipid
Centella Asiatica Extract, Adansonia Digitata (Baobab) Fruit Extract and Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Flower Extract on the same list, plant extracts
Leontopodium Alpinum Callus Culture Extract and Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract further down the same list
Anastatica Hierochuntica Extract and Spirulina Maxima Extract further down the same list
Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate named sixteenth on the manufacturer list printed on this page

How to use

Pat a small amount into skin with warm hands after toner, allowing full absorption before the next layer.

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39 of 43 explained

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.
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.
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.
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.
Benzyl Glycol preservative booster: Benzyl Glycol is a solvent that also makes a formula less hospitable to microbes, so it appears in preservative blends built without parabens.
Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer thickener: This is a synthetic thickener that gels quickly and holds an emulsion stable across a wide pH range. It gives a light, non-tacky body.
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.
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 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 Laurate emulsifier: Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate is a sugar-derived emulsifier and solubiliser, mild enough to be a standard choice in Korean essences. It dissolves small amounts of oil into water without any tightening feel.
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.

27 more explained

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.
Adansonia Digitata Fruit Extract plant extract: Baobab fruit extract. The dry pulp is high in vitamin C, pectin and organic acids, and the extract is used as a conditioning antioxidant botanical.
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.
Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate active: Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate is a water-soluble salt derived from licorice root. It is the licorice fraction Korean formulas use for the look of redness, and it is far more stable in water than the whole extract.
Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Flower Extract plant extract: Safflower Flower Extract is a traditional East Asian dye and skincare plant. It is used as a conditioning antioxidant extract and can tint a formula.
Leontopodium Alpinum Callus Culture Extract plant extract: Edelweiss cells grown as a callus culture, then extracted. The alpine plant carries leontopodic acid and other polyphenols, and culture gives a consistent supply without harvesting it.
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.
Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer film former: This is a polymer that forms a moisture-holding film on the surface, usually supplied with glycerin and propylene glycol as a hydrating complex.
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.
Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract plant extract: Gardenia Fruit Extract is the traditional East Asian yellow dye plant. In skincare it is used as an antioxidant extract, and it can tint a formula.
Dextrin thickener: Dextrin is a starch fragment used to thicken and to give a formula a light, powdery finish. It is also a common carrier for powdered extracts.
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.
Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil fragrance component: Bergamot Fruit Oil is a citrus essential oil and the top note of eau de cologne. It scents a formula; citrus oils are the aromatic class most likely to bother reactive skin.
Anastatica Hierochuntica Extract plant extract: Anastatica Hierochuntica is the resurrection plant, which survives complete drying out. Its extract is used as a hydrating, protective plant ingredient.
Hydrolyzed Glycosaminoglycans humectant: Hydrolyzed Glycosaminoglycans are short fragments of the sugar chains that sit between cells in skin, hyaluronic acid among them. They act as humectants and give a cushioned feel.
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.
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.
Spirulina Maxima Extract plant extract: Spirulina extract, from a blue-green algae. It carries proteins, amino acids and phycocyanin, and it tints a formula blue-green.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ceramide 3 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.
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.
Limonene fragrance component: Limonene is the citrus-peel aromatic. It appears here because EU labelling requires 26 fragrance components to be named individually rather than hidden inside "fragrance", and it is one of them.
Linalool fragrance component: Linalool is a floral aromatic found in lavender, bergamot and coriander. It is one of the 26 fragrance components EU labelling requires to be declared by name.

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 Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate on the list.
This list names Limonene and Linalool, so skip it if fragrance components are something you avoid.

Complete the routine

This itemDr.Althea Skin Relief Essence 30ml$32.50
Seal the routine in as the last stepDr.Althea 147 Barrier Cream 50ml$52.50
Prep after cleansing, before the treatment stepDr.Althea Anastatica Skin Conditioning Pad 65ea/170ml$47.50

Total for 3 items$132.50

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Dr.Althea Skin Relief Essence 30ml

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Dr.Althea, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula essence from Dr.Althea, 30ml formulated with Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and Ceramide NP, 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