Where does this cream go in my routine?

As the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. Anything thinner than a 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 Ceramide NP and not three changes at once.

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

The Korean-market one, Ceramide NP and all. We match this 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 Ceramide NP?

Ceramide NS, Ceramide AS and Ceramide AP. The order they are printed in on this cream's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Ceramide NP sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Ceramide EOP, Phytosphingosine and Cholesterol.

Isntree

Yam Root Vegan Barrier Cream 80ml

Name: Isntree Yam Root Vegan Barrier Cream 80ml
Brand: Isntree
SKU: 12650003129
Price: 45.0 USD
Availability: InStock

Isntree Yam Root Vegan Barrier Cream is a 80ml cream whose ingredient list carries Ceramide NP alongside Ceramide NS and Ceramide AS.

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

No reviews yet

$45.00

80 ml

$56.25 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 Ceramide NP in a creamRoutines that want Ceramide NP and Ceramide NS in one stepFilling the cream step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Ceramide NP cream sold on Korean shelves

One-time purchase

$45.00

SubscribeSave 10%

$40.50

In stock. Arrives in 3 to 7 business days

You’re $100.00 away from free US shipping.

30-day returns
Free US shipping on orders of $100 or more
Tracked delivery to your door

Verified authentic Shipping and returns

How it works

The Yam Root Vegan Barrier Cream is a 80ml cream, used as the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. The barrier lipid it is built around is Ceramide NP, named twentieth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Ceramide NS, Ceramide AS and Ceramide AP, so the barrier lipid is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Ceramide NP stays on the skin, and for how long, is decided by the cream format rather than by the list alone. This is the Original Korean Formula, the cream Isntree sells in Korea, Ceramide NP and all.

Key benefits

Ceramide NP, the barrier lipid this cream is built around
Ceramide NS, Ceramide AS, Ceramide AP and Ceramide EOP on the same list, barrier lipids
Phytosphingosine and Cholesterol further down the same list
Dioscorea Japonica Root Extract and Hibiscus Esculentus Fruit Extract further down the same list
Ceramide NP named twentieth on the manufacturer list printed on this page
Original Korean Formula, the cream sold on Korean shelves

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

1 of 4

39 of 40 explained

Dioscorea Japonica Root Extract plant extract: Dioscorea Japonica is Japanese wild yam, whose root is naturally slippery with mucilage. Its extract hydrates and leaves a cushioned feel.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Glycereth-26 humectant: Glycereth-26 is a modified glycerin that hydrates with far less stickiness than glycerin itself. It is a common way to load water into a formula that has to stay light.
Cetearyl Olivate emulsifier: Cetearyl Olivate is the water-loving half of the olive-derived emulsifier pair. With sorbitan olivate it builds emulsions whose lipid profile is close to skin's own.
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.
Sorbitan Olivate emulsifier: Sorbitan Olivate is an olive-derived emulsifier, the oil-loving half of the pair sold as Olivem. It holds oil into water and leaves a light, non-waxy feel.
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.
Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil emollient: Sunflower Seed Oil is high in linoleic acid, the fatty acid dry and blemish-prone skin is often short of. It is a light, non-fragrant emollient and one of the better tolerated plant oils.

27 more explained

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.
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.
Hibiscus Esculentus Fruit Extract plant extract: Hibiscus Esculentus is okra, whose fruit is thick with mucilage. Its extract hydrates and gives a cushioned, slippery feel.
Nelumbo Nucifera Root Extract plant extract: Lotus root extract. The root is starchy and mucilaginous, so the extract hydrates and leaves a soft, cushioned feel.
Undaria Pinnatifida Extract plant extract: Extract of the brown seaweed Korean cooking calls miyeok. It carries fucoidan and alginates, both strong water-holding polysaccharides.
Laminaria Japonica Extract plant extract: Laminaria Japonica is kombu kelp. Its extract carries alginates, minerals and iodine, and it is used as a hydrating, mineral-rich ingredient.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
Glycine Max (Soybean) Seed Extract plant extract: Soybean Seed Extract carries isoflavones, plant sterols and soy proteins. It is used as a conditioning antioxidant extract.
Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract plant extract: Coconut fruit extract, carrying sugars, amino acids and minerals from the flesh and water. It is a conditioning, water-holding extract.
Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract plant extract: Rice Extract is the anchor of the Korean rice-skincare category. It carries starches, amino acids and ferulic acid, and it is used for the look of dullness and for a soft, blurred finish.
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Seed Extract plant extract: Sweet almond seed extract, the water-soluble fraction rather than the pressed oil. It carries proteins and sugars and is used as a conditioning extract.
Avena Sativa (Oat) Meal Extract plant extract: Oatmeal extract, carrying the beta-glucan, starch and avenanthramides oats are used for. It is one of the standard additions to a formula built for easily bothered skin.
Malt Extract plant extract: Malt Extract comes from sprouted barley and carries sugars, amino acids and B vitamins. It is used as a conditioning, hydrating extract.
Simethicone silicone: A silicone that breaks surface foam. In skincare its job is usually to stop a formula foaming during manufacture rather than anything it does on skin.
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.
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.
Hydroxyethylcellulose thickener: Hydroxyethylcellulose is a cellulose thickener that builds a clear, smooth gel and holds the rest of the formula in suspension.
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.
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.
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.
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.

How to use

Use it as the final leave on step, after any toner or serum has settled.
Warm a small amount between your fingers first so a firmer cream spreads evenly.
Press it over the face and neck with flat hands rather than rubbing it in.
Do not skip it on oily areas out of habit, since a barrier step is about water loss rather than oil.

Worth knowing

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

Complete the routine

This itemIsntree Yam Root Vegan Barrier Cream 80ml$45.00
The treatment step of this routineIsntree TW-REAL BIFIDA Ampoule 50ml$37.50
Seal the routine in as the last stepIsntree C-Niacin Toning Cream 50ml$22.50

Total for 3 items$105.00

Reviews

No reviews yet. Tell us how much you love the product!

Write a review

Isntree Yam Root Vegan Barrier Cream 80ml

How it felt, how your skin took it, what you layer it with. Straight answers help the next person choose.

Read every customer review

We’re on gram!

Creators trying on authentic Korean skincare routines and products from us.

Watch on YouTube
Rating a shelf of Dr. Althea products one by one.
Jasmine Loo · YouTube
Watch on YouTube
Two hydrating serums side by side, IUNIK and Dr. Althea.
Kristin · YouTube
Watch on YouTube
A walk through the Dr. Althea serum lineup and who each one suits.
auraofmahmuda · YouTube
Watch on YouTube
A blunt first take on the Dr. Althea range.
Lexi Chang · YouTube
Watch on YouTube
A first look at the viral 345 Relief Cream before buying.
Shelley Nayak · YouTube
Watch on YouTube
A first try of the Dr. Althea serum on camera.
Hannah Ziad · YouTube

Isntree, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula cream from Isntree, 80ml formulated with Ceramide NP and Ceramide NS, 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