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 Allantoin and not three changes at once.

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

The Korean-market one, Allantoin 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 Linalool. It sits 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 Allantoin?

Tocopherol, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract and Centella Asiatica Extract. The order they are printed in on this lotion's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Allantoin sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Inonotus Obliquus (Mushroom) Extract and Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract.

isoi

Excellent Lotion 70ml

Name: isoi Excellent Lotion 70ml
Brand: isoi
SKU: 154843648
Price: 42.5 USD
Availability: InStock

isoi Excellent Lotion is a 70ml lotion with Allantoin, used as the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum.

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$42.50

70 ml

$60.71 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 Allantoin in a lotionRoutines that want Allantoin and Tocopherol in one stepFilling the lotion step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Allantoin lotion sold on Korean shelves

One-time purchase

$42.50

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$38.25

In stock. Arrives in 3 to 7 business days

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How it works

The Excellent Lotion is a 70ml lotion, used as the last skincare step, morning and evening, over serum. The active it is built around is Allantoin, named eighteenth on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Tocopherol, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract and Centella Asiatica Extract, so the active is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Allantoin 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, Allantoin and all.

Key benefits

Allantoin, the active this lotion is built around
Tocopherol on the same list, an antioxidant
Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract and Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract on the same list, plant extracts
Inonotus Obliquus (Mushroom) Extract and Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract further down the same list
Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract and Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract further down the same list
Allantoin named eighteenth on the manufacturer list printed on this page

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

1 of 2

33 of 34 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

21 more explained

Arachidyl Glucoside emulsifier: Arachidyl Glucoside is a sugar-derived co-emulsifier, usually supplied with arachidyl and behenyl alcohols as a plant-based cream base.
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.
Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter emollient: Cocoa butter, pressed from the cacao bean. It is firm at room temperature, high in stearic and oleic acid, and used as a rich occlusive emollient.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Inonotus Obliquus (Chaga Mushroom) Extract plant extract: Chaga mushroom extract, from the fungus that grows on birch. It carries beta glucan polysaccharides and melanin pigments, so it holds water and can darken a formula.
Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil fragrance component: Lavender Oil is an essential oil carrying linalool and linalyl acetate. It scents a formula, and linalool is one of the fragrance components EU labelling requires to be named separately.
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.
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.
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.
Linalool fragrance component: Linalool is a floral aromatic found in lavender, bergamot and coriander. It is one of the 26 fragrance components EU labelling requires to be declared by name.

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.

Worth knowing

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

Complete the routine

This itemisoi Excellent Lotion 70ml$42.50
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$182.50

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isoi Excellent Lotion 70ml

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isoi, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula lotion from isoi, 70ml formulated with Allantoin and Tocopherol, 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