Where does this lotion go in my routine?

As the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. Anything thinner than a lotion 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 lotion or a US version?

The Korean-market one, Arbutin and all. We match this lotion to its Korean barcode before it reaches the shelf, which is the check that tells you which market release you are holding.

Does this lotion 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 lotion is not the one.

What else is on the list besides Arbutin?

Adenosine, Tocopherol and Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract. The order they are printed in on this lotion's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Arbutin sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Cinnamomum Cassia Bark Extract, Origanum Vulgare Leaf Extract and Chamaecyparis Obtusa Leaf Extract.

isoi

Bulgarian Rose Intensive Treatment Lotion 90ml

Name: isoi Bulgarian Rose Intensive Treatment Lotion 90ml
Brand: isoi
SKU: 268918614
Price: 95.0 USD
Availability: InStock

isoi Bulgarian Rose Intensive Treatment Lotion is a 90ml lotion whose ingredient list carries Arbutin alongside Adenosine and Tocopherol.

No reviews yet

$95.00

90 ml

$105.56 per 100 ml

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

Suited to: Dehydrated skinSensitive skinDull, uneven tone

Helps with: Shoppers looking for Arbutin in a lotionRoutines that want Arbutin and Adenosine in one stepFilling the lotion step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Arbutin lotion sold on Korean shelves

One-time purchase

$95.00

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$85.50

In stock. Arrives in 3 to 7 business days

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How it works

The Bulgarian Rose Intensive Treatment Lotion is a 90ml lotion, used as the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. The active it is built around is Arbutin, named sixth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Adenosine, Tocopherol and Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, 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 lotion format rather than by the list alone. This is the Original Korean Formula, the lotion isoi sells in Korea, Arbutin and all.

Key benefits

Arbutin, the active this lotion is built around
Adenosine on the same list, an active
Tocopherol on the same list, an antioxidant
Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract and Cinnamomum Cassia Bark Extract on the same list, plant extracts
Origanum Vulgare Leaf Extract and Chamaecyparis Obtusa Leaf Extract further down the same list
Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract and Portulaca Oleracea Extract further down the same list

How to use

After cleansing, sweep a small amount over the face with clean hands or a cotton pad, morning and night, before serum or essence.

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41 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil emollient: Meadowfoam Seed Oil is over 95 percent long-chain fatty acids, which makes it exceptionally stable against going rancid. It is an emollient that leaves a soft, sealed feel.
Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate emollient: A thick, cushioned ester that gives lip and balm formulas their gloss and their cling. It is heavy enough to stay where it is put.
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.
Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil emollient: Jojoba Oil is a liquid wax rather than a true oil, and its structure is close to human sebum, which is why it absorbs so readily. It is an emollient that leaves a soft, non-greasy finish.
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.

29 more explained

Arachidyl Alcohol fatty alcohol: Arachidyl Alcohol is a long-chain fatty alcohol used as a thickener and emollient, usually alongside behenyl alcohol.
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.
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.
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.
Lactobacillus/Soybean Ferment Extract ferment: This is soybean fermented by lactobacillus. The fermentation breaks soy proteins into smaller pieces, which is what makes the extract easier for a formula to carry.
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.
Cinnamomum Cassia Bark Extract plant extract: Cassia cinnamon bark extract, a traditional herbal ingredient carrying cinnamaldehyde and tannins. It is used in warming, antioxidant-rich blends.
Origanum Vulgare Leaf Extract plant extract: Oregano leaf extract, rich in the phenols carvacrol and thymol. It is used as an antioxidant plant extract and brings its own herbal scent with it.
Chamaecyparis Obtusa Leaf Extract plant extract: Chamaecyparis Obtusa is hinoki cypress. Its leaf extract carries aromatic plant compounds and is used in Korean formulas aimed at oily, congested skin.
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.
Portulaca Oleracea Extract plant extract: Portulaca Oleracea is purslane. Its extract is unusually high in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants for a plant, and Korean formulas use it for the look of reddened, reactive skin.
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.
Malpighia Glabra (Acerola) Fruit Extract plant extract: Acerola cherry extract, from the species also written Malpighia emarginata. The fruit is unusually high in vitamin C, and the extract is used as an antioxidant botanical.
Corchorus Olitorius Leaf Extract plant extract: Jute mallow leaf extract. The leaf is notably mucilaginous, so the extract holds water and gives a slippery feel.
Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Extract plant extract: Broccoli extract, carrying sulforaphane and vitamin C. It is used as a plant antioxidant.
Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract plant extract: Rosemary Leaf Extract carries rosmarinic and carnosic acids, both effective antioxidants. It is often there to keep the oils in a formula from going rancid.
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.
Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract plant extract: Olive leaf extract, carrying oleuropein. It is used as a plant antioxidant, and it is a different ingredient from the pressed fruit oil.
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.
Calendula Officinalis (Pot Marigold) Flower Extract plant extract: Marigold flower extract, one of the oldest plant ingredients used for the look of reddened, easily bothered skin. It carries carotenoids and flavonoids.
Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower/Leaf Extract plant extract: German chamomile, taken from flower and leaf together. It carries bisabolol and the blue azulenes and is used for the look of reactive, reddened skin.
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.
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.
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.

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

Worth knowing

Patch test this lotion 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 Bulgarian Rose Intensive Treatment Lotion 90ml$95.00
The treatment step of this routineisoi Bulgarian Rose Blemish Care Spot 25ml$45.00
Seal the routine in as the last stepisoi ATO Calming Cream 130ml$50.00

Total for 3 items$190.00

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isoi, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula lotion from isoi, 90ml formulated with Arbutin and Adenosine, 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