Where does this serum go in my routine?

After toner and before moisturizer, morning and evening. Anything thinner than a serum 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 Retinol and not three changes at once.

What else is on the list besides Retinol?

Niacinamide, Adenosine and Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate. The order they are printed in on this serum's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Retinol sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Sodium DNA, BHT and Tocopherol.

IOPE

Retinol Serum In Gel Mask 30g*7ea

Name: IOPE Retinol Serum In Gel Mask 30g*7ea
Brand: IOPE
SKU: 11470848185
Price: 75.0 USD
Availability: InStock

Niacinamide is fifth, while hydroxypinacolone retinoate and retinol sit forty-fifth and forty-sixth of fifty-five: the gel matrix of carob gum, cellulose gum and carrageenan does more here than the retinoid.

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$75.00

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

Suited to: Congested skinUneven textureDehydrated skinSensitive skin

Helps with: Shoppers looking for Retinol in a serumRoutines that want Retinol and Niacinamide in one stepFilling the serum step with a Korean-market formula

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$75.00

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Key benefits

Retinol, the active this serum is built around
Niacinamide, Adenosine, Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate and Sodium DNA on the same list, actives
BHT and Tocopherol further down the same list
Collagen Extract and Chondrus Crispus Extract further down the same list
Retinol named forty-sixth on the manufacturer list printed on this page

Key actives

5Niacinamideactive

Niacinamide is vitamin B3, and it is the most studied active in Korean formulation. The panel names it fifth on this serum's list, beside Retinol.

All products with Niacinamide

25Adenosineactive

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 twenty-fifth on this serum's list, beside Retinol.

All products with Adenosine

45Hydroxypinacolone Retinoateactive

Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate is a retinoid ester that binds skin's retinoid receptors directly, with no conversion step. Brands use it where they want retinoid-style results with less of the flaking retinol brings. It is named forty-fifth on this serum's list, alongside Retinol.

All products with Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate

46Retinolactive

Retinol is the alcohol form of vitamin A and the strongest retinoid available without a prescription. Skin converts it in two steps to retinoic acid, and it is used at night, at low percentages, for the look of fine lines and rough texture. The name on the box points at it, and it is named forty-sixth on this serum's own ingredient list.

All products with Retinol

51Sodium 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. It is named fifty-first on this serum's list, alongside Retinol.

All products with PDRN

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

5Niacinamide25Adenosine45Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate51Sodium DNA

5Niacinamide
25Adenosine
45Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate
51Sodium DNA

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 3

53 of 55 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.
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.
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.
Cetyl Ethylhexanoate emollient: Cetyl Ethylhexanoate is a synthetic ester used as a dry-feeling emollient. It spreads easily, leaves a silky rather than oily finish, and helps disperse pigments and UV filters evenly.
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.
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.
Chondrus Crispus Extract plant extract: Chondrus Crispus is Irish moss, a red seaweed. It is loaded with carrageenan, so it hydrates and thickens at once, and it leaves a cushioned, slippery film.
Ceratonia Siliqua (Carob) Gum thickener: Carob Gum is a seed polysaccharide from the carob tree. It thickens a formula and gives a soft, cushioned body.
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.
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.
Cellulose Gum thickener: Cellulose Gum is plant cellulose modified to dissolve in water. It thickens, holds particles in suspension and gives a smooth, slippery body.
Ethylhexyl Olivate emollient: An ester built from olive oil fatty acids. It gives the softening feel of a plant oil with a lighter, less greasy finish.

41 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.
Polyacrylate-13 thickener: Polyacrylate-13 is a pre-neutralised thickener that gels instantly and holds an emulsion together, so a formula can be built without heat.
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.
Glyceryl Stearate emulsifier: Glyceryl Stearate is glycerin joined to stearic acid, and one of the most used emulsifiers in skincare. It holds oil and water together and thickens the result, and it softens skin at the same time.
Sorbitan Sesquioleate emulsifier: Sorbitan Sesquioleate is a water-in-oil emulsifier and pigment disperser. Cleansing oils use it so water can be worked into the oil at the rinse.
Sodium Acrylates Copolymer thickener: An acrylate polymer that thickens water and can hold many times its own weight in it. It gives a gel body without any oil.
Carrageenan thickener: Carrageenan is a red-seaweed polysaccharide that thickens and forms a moisture-holding film. It gives a formula a slippery, cushioned body.
Polyglyceryl-4 Oleate emulsifier: Polyglyceryl-4 Oleate is a plant-derived emulsifier used in cleansing oils so they rinse cleanly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dimethyl Isosorbide solvent: Dimethyl Isosorbide is a solvent used to dissolve actives that water and oil both reject, and to carry them evenly through the outer layer of skin. It appears in vitamin C and retinoid formulas for exactly that reason.
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer thickener: This is the thickener behind most gel-cream textures. It builds a soft, bouncy gel that collapses to a light fluid as it is rubbed in.
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.
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil emollient: Soybean Oil is a linoleic-rich plant oil used as an emollient. It also carries soy phytosterols and vitamin E.
Potassium Chloride mineral: Potassium Chloride is a mineral salt used to bring a formula closer to the salt balance of skin, most often as part of a sea-water or mineral-water blend.
Sodium Phytate chelator: Sodium Phytate is a rice-derived chelator used in place of EDTA. It ties up trace metals so the formula stays stable and its colour and scent hold.
Hydrogenated Poly(C6-14 Olefin) emollient: Hydrogenated Poly(C6-14 Olefin) is a synthetic hydrocarbon emollient. It gives a smooth, silicone-like glide and is completely stable, so it does not go rancid.
Iris Florentina Root Extract plant extract: Iris Florentina Root Extract, or orris root, is a long-standing perfumery and skincare ingredient. It is used as a conditioning extract with a soft, powdery scent.
Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate emulsifier: Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate is an amino-acid-derived emulsifier. It holds oil and water together and is mild enough for formulas built for reactive skin.
Cucumis Melo (Melon) Fruit Extract plant extract: Melon Fruit Extract carries fruit sugars and a natural antioxidant enzyme system. It is used as a light hydrating extract.
Ethylhexyl Palmitate emollient: Ethylhexyl Palmitate is a palm-derived ester used as a light emollient and a solvent for pigment. It gives a smooth, non-greasy slip.
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.
Sorbitan Isostearate emulsifier: Sorbitan Isostearate is a mild emulsifier that holds water into oil, the direction a cleansing balm or an oil-based cream needs.
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.
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.
Collagen Extract protein: Collagen Extract is a collagen-bearing extract, usually from fish skin or scales. In a formula it works as a humectant and a smoothing film rather than as a source of new collagen.
Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate active: Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate is a retinoid ester that binds skin's retinoid receptors directly, with no conversion step. Brands use it where they want retinoid-style results with less of the flaking retinol brings.
Retinol active: Retinol is the alcohol form of vitamin A and the strongest retinoid available without a prescription. Skin converts it in two steps to retinoic acid, and it is used at night, at low percentages, for the look of fine lines and rough texture. It can leave skin flaking while it acclimatises.
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.
Ectoin humectant: Ectoin is a small molecule that microbes in salt flats and hot springs make to survive extreme conditions. In skincare it holds water tightly around itself, which is why it appears in formulas aimed at reactive, easily dehydrated skin.
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.
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.
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.
BHT antioxidant: BHT is a synthetic antioxidant used in traces to stop the oils in a formula going rancid. It protects the product, not the skin.
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.
Acacia Senegal Gum film former: Gum arabic, tapped from the acacia tree. It thickens, forms a tightening film as it dries, and holds pigments in place.

How it works

The Retinol Serum In Gel Mask is a serum, used after toner and before moisturizer, morning and evening. The active it is built around is Retinol, named forty-sixth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Niacinamide, Adenosine and Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate, so the active is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Retinol stays on the skin, and for how long, is decided by the serum format rather than by the list alone. IOPE sells this Retinol serum in Korea, and this is that version.

How to use

Apply an even layer or unfold the sheet over cleansed skin, leave on for the stated time, then remove or rinse and continue with the rest of the routine.

Worth knowing

Patch test this serum on a small area and wait a day before using it more widely, especially with Retinol on the list.
Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate is on this list, so keep this serum to the evening and build the nights up slowly rather than starting nightly.

Complete the routine

This itemIOPE Retinol Serum In Gel Mask 30g*7ea$75.00
Seal the routine in as the last stepIOPE SUPER VITAL EMULSION 150ml$87.50
The treatment step of this routineIOPE RETINOL RETI-JECTION SERUM 30ml$100.00

Total for 3 items$262.50

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IOPE Retinol Serum In Gel Mask 30g*7ea

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IOPE, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula serum from IOPE, formulated with Retinol 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 the key actives in this formula, quoted from the medical sources linked beside each.

Vitamin A has a molecular structure that's tiny enough to get into the lower layers of your skin, where it finds and boosts collagen and elastin, which is a protein that strengthens your skin's flexibility.
Wilma Bergfeld, MDDermatologist, Cleveland Clinic
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

1 more professional perspective

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