Where does this balm go in my routine?

As the final layer of the evening routine, over your usual moisturizer. Anything thinner than a balm 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 Adenosine and not three changes at once.

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

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

Does this balm contain fragrance?

Yes. The ingredient list names Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol and Fragrance. 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 balm is not the one.

What else is on the list besides Adenosine?

Sodium DNA, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 and Bacillus Ferment. The order they are printed in on this balm's panel is the order on the box, so you can see where Adenosine sits relative to them. Further down the same panel: Tocopherol, Hydrolyzed Collagen and Soluble Proteoglycan.

KAHI

Eye Balm CV 9g

Name: KAHI Eye Balm CV 9g
Brand: KAHI
SKU: 10067390269
Price: 110.0 USD
Availability: InStock

KAHI Eye Balm CV is a 9g balm whose ingredient list carries Adenosine alongside Sodium DNA and Acetyl Hexapeptide-8.

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$110.00

9 g

$122.22 per 10 g

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 Adenosine in a balmRoutines that want Adenosine and Sodium DNA in one stepFilling the balm step with a Korean-market formulaAnyone who wants the Adenosine balm sold on Korean shelves

One-time purchase

$110.00

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$99.00

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How it works

The Eye Balm CV is a 9g balm, used as the final layer of the evening routine, over your usual moisturizer. The active it is built around is Adenosine, named twenty-seventh on its own ingredient list. The same list carries Sodium DNA, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 and Bacillus Ferment, so the active is not the only thing on it worth naming. How much of the Adenosine stays on the skin, and for how long, is decided by the balm format rather than by the list alone. This is the Original Korean Formula, the balm KAHI sells in Korea, Adenosine and all.

Key benefits

Adenosine, the active this balm is built around
Sodium DNA on the same list, an active
Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 on the same list, a peptide
Bacillus Ferment on the same list, a ferment
Hydrolyzed Collagen and Soluble Proteoglycan further down the same list
Kappaphycus Alvarezii Extract and Oil Soluble Licorice (Glycyrrhiza) Extract further down the same list

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

Last

Fragrance on the list

1 of 3

43 of 46 explained

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.
Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate emulsifier: Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate is a water-in-oil emulsifier used in balms and rich creams, and a good pigment disperser.
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil emollient: Sweet almond oil, one of the oldest cosmetic oils. It is high in oleic acid, which makes it richer and slower to absorb than the linoleic oils.
Pyrus Malus Seed Oil emollient: Apple seed oil, pressed from the pips. It is a light oil high in linoleic acid.
Triethylhexanoin emollient: Triethylhexanoin is a light ester emollient that softens skin and disperses pigment. It absorbs cleanly and is often used to thin a heavy oil phase.
Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter emollient: Cupuacu butter, from a tree related to cacao. It is a soft butter high in oleic and stearic acid that melts near skin temperature and leaves a rich cushioned feel.
Octyldodecanol emollient: Octyldodecanol is a branched fatty alcohol used as an emollient and as a solvent for pigments and mineral powders. It thickens slightly and leaves a soft finish.
Microcrystalline Wax occlusive: Microcrystalline Wax is a fine-crystalled petroleum wax. It gives balms and sticks body and flexibility and holds oil from separating out.
Oil Soluble Licorice(Glycyrrhiza) Extract plant extract: The oil soluble fraction of licorice root, carried in an oil rather than water. It brings the fat soluble part of the root, including glabridin, that a water extract leaves behind.
Hippophae Rhamnoides Oil emollient: Sea buckthorn oil, deep orange from its carotenoid content, which is often why a formula carrying it has a colour nobody added. It is high in the unusual fatty acid palmitoleic acid.
Eclipta Prostrata Extract plant extract: Eclipta Prostrata is false daisy, long used in Ayurvedic and East Asian practice. Its extract is used as a conditioning plant extract, most often in scalp and hair formulas.
Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract plant extract: Melia Azadirachta is neem. Its leaf and flower extracts are long-standing Ayurvedic ingredients, and Korean formulas use them in products aimed at the look of congested, blemish-prone skin.

31 more explained

Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil emollient: Moringa Seed Oil is high in oleic acid and behenic acid and very stable. It is a conditioning emollient with a light, non-sticky finish.
Caesalpinia Spinosa Fruit Extract plant extract: Tara fruit extract, from a Peruvian pod. The pod is high in tannins and in the galactomannan sugar sold as tara gum, so the extract also adds a little body.
Bacillus Ferment ferment: Bacillus Ferment is a bacterial ferment that yields enzymes and water-holding polysaccharides. Korean formulas use it as a conditioning ferment.
Candida/Garcinia Cambogia Ferment ferment: Garcinia cambogia fruit fermented with candida yeast. The fruit is a source of hydroxycitric acid, and fermentation supplies it alongside yeast metabolites.
Kappaphycus Alvarezii Extract polysaccharide: Extract of the red seaweed most carrageenan is made from. It carries sulphated galactans that hold water and thicken, so it acts as a marine polysaccharide.
Oryza Sativa Germ Oil emollient: Oil pressed from the germ of the rice grain. It is light, high in vitamin E and phytosterols, and softer in feel than rice bran oil.
Schisandra Chinensis Fruit Extract plant extract: Omija, the five-flavour berry of Korean tea and herbal practice. Its extract carries lignans and fruit acids and is used as an antioxidant conditioning extract.
Hydrolyzed Collagen protein: Hydrolyzed Collagen is collagen broken into fragments small enough to dissolve in water. It cannot become collagen in skin; what it does is hold water at the surface and leave a smooth, conditioned film.
Lithospermum Erythrorhizon Root Extract plant extract: Purple gromwell root, long used in Korean and Chinese herbal practice. The root is deep red-purple, so it colours a formula, and it is used for the look of reactive skin.
Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract plant extract: Turmeric Root Extract carries curcuminoids, well studied plant antioxidants. It is used for the look of dullness and uneven tone, and it tints a formula faintly yellow.
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.
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.
Purified 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 peptide: Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 is a six-amino-acid peptide used for the look of expression lines, particularly around the eyes. It is the peptide sold under the name Argireline and is water soluble and stable.
Soluble Proteoglycan protein: A proteoglycan is a protein with sugar chains attached, the same architecture as the water-holding molecules in cartilage and skin. Made soluble, it is used as a humectant and conditioning protein.
Sodium Dna active: Sodium DNA is the salt of DNA, in Korean skincare almost always salmon derived, and it is the ingredient behind the PDRN category. It is used as a humectant and for the look of tired skin; the fragments themselves are what the name PDRN refers to.
Fragrance fragrance: Fragrance, or Parfum, is a single declaration standing for a whole scent blend, which can be dozens of materials. Regulators allow it as a trade secret, so a list showing only this word does not say what the scent is made of. It is the most common trigger named by people with reactive skin.
Benzyl Benzoate fragrance component: Benzyl Benzoate is a faintly balsamic aromatic that also acts as a fixative, holding a fragrance on skin longer. It is one of the 26 declarable fragrance components.
Hexyl Cinnamal fragrance component: Hexyl Cinnamal is a jasmine-like aromatic. It is one of the 26 fragrance components EU labelling requires to be named individually.
Benzyl Salicylate fragrance component: Benzyl Salicylate is a faint floral aromatic that also holds a fragrance on skin longer. It is one of the 26 fragrance components EU labelling requires to be named.
Hydroxycitronellal fragrance component: Hydroxycitronellal is a soft lily-of-the-valley aromatic. It is one of the 26 declarable fragrance components.
Citronellol fragrance component: Citronellol is a rose-geranium aromatic and one of the 26 fragrance components EU labelling names individually.
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.
Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone fragrance component: A soft violet and woody aromatic. It is one of the 26 fragrance components EU labelling requires to be named.
Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract plant extract: Gardenia Fruit Extract is the traditional East Asian yellow dye plant. In skincare it is used as an antioxidant extract, and it can tint a formula.

How to use

Pat gently around the orbital bone with a clean fingertip, using the ring finger for the lightest possible pressure on this thinner skin.

Worth knowing

Patch test this balm on a small area and wait a day before using it more widely, especially with Adenosine on the list.
This list names Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate and Citronellol, so skip it if fragrance components are something you avoid.

Complete the routine

This itemKAHI Eye Balm CV 9g$110.00
Seal the routine in as the last stepKAHI Eye Balm 9g$50.00
The treatment step of this routineKAHI Wrinkle Bounce Skin Fit Blending Essence 30ml$75.00

Total for 3 items$235.00

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KAHI Eye Balm CV 9g

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KAHI, Korean-market original

The Original Korean Formula balm from KAHI, 9g formulated with Adenosine and Sodium DNA, 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