Where does this gel cream go in my routine?

As the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. Anything thinner than a gel 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 Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract and not three changes at once.

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

The Korean-market one, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract and all. We match this gel cream 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 Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract?

Allantoin, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and Centella Asiatica Extract. The order they are printed in on this gel cream's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract and Punica Granatum Fruit Extract.

Isntree

Aloe Soothing Gel (Moisture Type)

Name: Isntree Aloe Soothing Gel (Moisture Type)
Brand: Isntree
Price: 8.99 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

Aloe barbadensis leaf juice is first on this gel's list, ahead of water, with centella asiatica fifth, green tea sixth and licorice root seventh, then five hyaluronate forms below.

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

No reviews yet

$8.99

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 Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract in a gel creamRoutines that want Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract and Allantoin in one stepFilling the gel cream step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract gel cream sold on Korean shelves

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How it works

The Aloe Soothing Gel (Moisture Type) is a gel cream, used as the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. The plant extract it is built around is Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, named first on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Allantoin, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate and Centella Asiatica Extract, so the plant extract is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract stays on the skin, and for how long, is decided by the gel cream format rather than by the list alone. This is the Original Korean Formula, the gel cream Isntree sells in Korea, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract and all.

Key benefits

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, the plant extract this gel cream is built around
Allantoin and Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate on the same list, actives
Centella Asiatica Extract and Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract on the same list, plant extracts
Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract and Punica Granatum Fruit Extract further down the same list
Ficus Carica (Fig) Fruit Extract and Morus Alba Fruit Extract further down the same list
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract named first on the manufacturer list printed on this page

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

1 of 5

Isntree Aloe Soothing Gel (Moisture Type)

34 of 35 explained

Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice 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.
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.
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.
Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola) 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.
Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract plant extract: Camellia Sinensis is the tea plant. Green tea leaf extract carries catechins, among the most studied plant antioxidants, and is used for the look of redness and oily shine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Extract plant extract: Pomegranate fruit extract, carrying ellagic acid and punicalagins. It is used as a plant antioxidant.
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.

22 more explained

Morus Alba Fruit Extract plant extract: White mulberry fruit extract. It carries anthocyanins and fruit acids and is used as a conditioning antioxidant extract, while the root bark of the same plant is used for tone.
Luffa Cylindrica Fruit Extract plant extract: Luffa fruit extract, from the gourd the bath sponge is made of. The young fruit carries mucilage and sugars, so the extract holds water and feels slippery.
Ginkgo Biloba Nut Extract plant extract: Ginkgo nut extract, the eunhaeng eaten in Korea. It carries flavonoids and is used as a conditioning antioxidant extract.
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.
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.
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 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.
Raspberry Ketone fragrance component: Raspberry Ketone is the compound that gives raspberries their smell. On a list it is an aromatic ingredient rather than a functional one.
Polyglutamic Acid humectant: Polyglutamic Acid comes from fermented soy and holds several times more water than hyaluronic acid for its weight. It forms a light film on the surface, so it is often layered with hyaluronic rather than replacing it.
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.
Allantoin active: Allantoin is a comfrey-derived compound used to condition skin and soften the outer layer so it feels smoother. It is one of the standard additions to a formula built for easily irritated skin.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

How to use

Use the Aloe Soothing Gel (Moisture Type) as the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum.
A generous fingertip for the whole face. It spreads further than a cream, so start with less than you think.
Serum first, this second. In the morning it is the layer sunscreen goes over, so give it a minute to settle first.
Twice a day, every day. Do not layer it under a heavier cream to get more out of it; two lids in one routine only slow the first one down.

Worth knowing

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

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Isntree, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula gel cream from Isntree, formulated with Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract and Allantoin, 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