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 Arbutin and not three changes at once.

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

The Korean-market one, Arbutin 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.

Does this cream contain fragrance?

Yes. The ingredient list names Citronellol, Eugenol, Farnesol and Geraniol. 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 cream is not the one.

What else is on the list besides Arbutin?

Glutathione, Phytosphingosine and Ceramide NP. The order they are printed in on this cream's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Arbutin sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract and Houttuynia Cordata Extract.

isoi

Blemish Care Up Cream 55ml

Name: isoi Blemish Care Up Cream 55ml
Brand: isoi
SKU: 265394075
Price: 65.0 USD
Availability: InStock

isoi Blemish Care Up Cream is a 55ml cream whose ingredient list carries Arbutin alongside Glutathione and Phytosphingosine.

No reviews yet

$65.00

55 ml

$118.18 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 Arbutin in a creamRoutines that want Arbutin and Glutathione in one stepFilling the cream step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Arbutin cream sold on Korean shelves

One-time purchase

$65.00

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$58.50

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How it works

The Blemish Care Up Cream is a 55ml cream, used as the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. The active it is built around is Arbutin, named fifth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Glutathione, Phytosphingosine and Ceramide NP, so the active is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Arbutin 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 isoi sells in Korea, Arbutin and all.

Key benefits

Arbutin, the active this cream is built around
Glutathione on the same list, an antioxidant
Phytosphingosine and Ceramide NP on the same list, barrier lipids
Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract on the same list, a plant extract
Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract and Houttuynia Cordata Extract further down the same list
Sophora Flavescens Root Extract and Centella Asiatica Extract further down the same list

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

1 of 3

43 of 47 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.
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.
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.
Arbutin active: Arbutin is the naturally occurring form of the same compound, from bearberry and related plants, used for the look of uneven tone. The alpha isomer is the more stable of the two.
Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil emollient: Macadamia Seed Oil is unusually high in palmitoleic acid, a fatty acid that human sebum also contains, which is why it absorbs faster than most nut oils. It is a cushioning emollient for dry skin.
Arachidyl Alcohol fatty alcohol: Arachidyl Alcohol is a long-chain fatty alcohol used as a thickener and emollient, usually alongside behenyl alcohol.
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.
Behenyl Alcohol fatty alcohol: Behenyl Alcohol is a long-chain fatty alcohol used to thicken and stabilise a cream. It gives a richer, more velvety body than cetyl alcohol.
Arachidyl Glucoside emulsifier: Arachidyl Glucoside is a sugar-derived co-emulsifier, usually supplied with arachidyl and behenyl alcohols as a plant-based cream base.
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.
Rosa Damascena Flower Oil fragrance component: Rosa Damascena Flower Oil is rose essential oil, one of the most expensive materials in perfumery. It scents a formula, and like every essential oil it is a class reactive skin often does not tolerate.

31 more explained

Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract plant extract: Roseroot extract, from an arctic and alpine plant. It carries salidroside and is used as an antioxidant conditioning extract.
Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract plant extract: Sea Buckthorn Fruit Extract is high in vitamin C and carotenoids, which give it a strong orange colour. It is used as an antioxidant extract.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Triethyl Citrate solvent: Triethyl Citrate is a citric acid ester used as a light solvent and plasticiser. It keeps films flexible and helps hold fragrance in place.
Houttuynia Cordata Extract plant extract: Houttuynia Cordata is heartleaf, and it is one of the two or three anchor plants of Korean calming skincare. Its extract carries quercitrin and other flavonoids and is used for the look of redness and blemish-prone skin.
Sophora Flavescens Root Extract plant extract: Kushen root extract, a bitter traditional herbal ingredient carrying alkaloids and flavonoids. Korean formulas use it in scalp and blemish-focused products.
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.
Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract plant extract: Willow Bark Extract carries salicin, the plant compound salicylic acid is related to. The two are not interchangeable: willow bark is a mild clarifying extract, not a BHA exfoliant at the levels used in cosmetics.
Castanea Crenata Shell Extract plant extract: Chestnut Shell Extract carries tannins and is used as an antioxidant plant extract, most often in formulas aimed at visible pores.
Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Extract plant extract: Tea Tree Leaf Extract is the water-based extract rather than the essential oil, so it is far milder and much less aromatic. It is used in formulas for blemish-prone skin.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract plant extract: Scutellaria Baicalensis is Chinese skullcap. Its root extract carries baicalin, a well studied plant antioxidant, and it is used for the look of redness.
Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract plant extract: Paeonia Suffruticosa is tree peony, a long-standing East Asian medicinal plant. Its root extract carries paeoniflorin and is used for the look of reddened skin.
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.
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.
Citronellol fragrance component: Citronellol is a rose-geranium aromatic and one of the 26 fragrance components EU labelling names individually.
Geraniol fragrance component: Geraniol is a rose-scented aromatic found in geranium and citronella oils. It is one of the 26 declarable fragrance components.
Eugenol fragrance component: Eugenol is the aromatic molecule clove oil is mostly made of, also present in basil and cinnamon. It is one of the fragrance components EU labelling requires to be named separately.

How to use

Apply as the last step of your routine, morning and night, smoothing over the face and neck until absorbed.

Worth knowing

Patch test this cream on a small area and wait a day before using it more widely, especially with Arbutin on the list.
This list names Citronellol, Eugenol and Farnesol, so skip it if fragrance components are something you avoid.

Complete the routine

This itemisoi Blemish Care Up Cream 55ml$65.00
The treatment step of this routineisoi Bulgarian Rose Blemish Care Spot 25ml$45.00
Seal the routine in as the last stepisoi Bulgarian Rose Intensive Treatment Lotion 90ml$95.00

Total for 3 items$205.00

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isoi Blemish Care Up Cream 55ml

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isoi, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula cream from isoi, 55ml formulated with Arbutin and Glutathione, 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