What does the SOME BY MI cream texture feel like on skin?

It applies as a rich texture that settles in within a minute or two rather than sitting on the surface. Because it is the Korean-market formula rather than a US-shelf reformulation, the finish matches what the same product feels like on shelf in Korea, not a version adjusted for a different market's regulations.

Where does this cream fit in a Korean skincare routine?

It sits at the last step of a moisturizing routine, applied after serum or essence to seal everything in. Korean routines are built as layers rather than a single all-in-one step, so using it out of order, for example before a lighter product that needs to absorb first, is the most common reason a product underperforms its expectations.

Is this the authentic Korean-market version, and how is it different from what US retailers sell?

Yes: SOME BY MI formulates this line for the Korean market first, and this is that exact formula shipped from Korean-market stock rather than a separately registered US version. Some Korean brands sell a reformulated line through US retailers with different actives or filter systems to clear US regulations, and this is not that product.

Who should reach for this cream first?

Anyone already using SOME BY MI's other products will notice the same formulation logic here, and it is a reasonable first pick for someone building out a Korean routine around this step for the first time. Skin that reacts to heavy fragrance loads should still read the full ingredient panel on the product page before committing to daily use.

How should this be stored and how long does it last once opened?

Keep it out of direct sun and away from bathroom heat and humidity, the way any Korean-formulated skincare should be stored, and use a clean hand or spatula rather than repeatedly dipping wet fingers into the container. A sealed, unopened unit keeps for the shelf life printed on its own Korean-market batch code, which is intact on every unit we ship.

SOME BY MI

Retinol Bakuchiol Dual Cream 50ml

Name: SOME BY MI Retinol Bakuchiol Dual Cream 50ml
Brand: SOME BY MI
SKU: 12615849796
Price: 42.5 USD
Availability: InStock

SOME BY MI Retinol Bakuchiol Dual Cream 50ml is a cream that names Retinol on its own ingredient panel, sourced as the Korean-market formula.

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$42.50

50 ml

$85.00 per 100 ml

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

Suited to: dry skincombination skinsensitive or reactive skinnormal skin

Helps with: dryness and dehydrationa compromised skin barrierdullnessredness and reactivity

One-time purchase

$42.50

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$38.25

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How it works

Retinol is named on the ingredient panel on this cream. Retinol is the alcohol form of vitamin A and the strongest retinoid available without a prescription. Skin converts it in two steps to retinoic acid, and it is used at night, at low percentages, for the look of fine lines and rough texture. It can leave skin flaking while it acclimatises. On this panel it sits alongside Niacinamide, Adenosine and Tocopherol. Niacinamide is vitamin B3, and it is the most studied active in Korean formulation. It is used at roughly 2 to 5 percent for the look of uneven tone and visible pores, and it is water soluble, stable and comfortable beside almost every other active, which is why it turns up in so many lists.

Key benefits

Retinol named on this product's own ingredient panel
Niacinamide on the same panel, the formula's active
Adenosine on the same panel, the formula's active
50 ml to a unit
Korean GS1 barcode matched against a Korea sourcing supplier's record for this item

How to use

Smooth over the face and neck as the last step of a routine, once toner, essence, and serum have fully absorbed.

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51 of 53 explained

Water/Aqua 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.
Dipropylene Glycol humectant: Dipropylene Glycol is a glycol used as a solvent and a light humectant. Its main job is keeping the rest of the formula dissolved and the texture fluid rather than adding hydration of its own.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Niacinamide active: Niacinamide is vitamin B3, and it is the most studied active in Korean formulation. It is used at roughly 2 to 5 percent for the look of uneven tone and visible pores, and it is water soluble, stable and comfortable beside almost every other active, which is why it turns up in so many lists.
Caprylyl Methicone silicone: Caprylyl Methicone is a silicone with a fatty tail, so it mixes with plant oils as well as with silicones. It gives a dry slip and helps disperse powders.
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.
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.
Polyglyceryl-10 Behenate/Eicosadioate emulsifier: A polyglycerin ester built from long chain fatty acids, used as a non-ionic emulsifier. It holds oil and water together and gives a formula a firm, waxy body.

39 more explained

Polymethylsilsesquioxane silicone: Polymethylsilsesquioxane is a silicone resin in fine sphere form. It soft-focuses the look of pores and lines and gives a smooth, powdery finish.
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer thickener: This is the thickener behind most gel-cream textures. It builds a soft, bouncy gel that collapses to a light fluid as it is rubbed in.
Polyglyceryl-2 Stearate emulsifier: Polyglyceryl-2 Stearate is a plant-derived emulsifier used to stabilise creams with a light finish.
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer thickener: This is a carbomer relative with fatty side chains, so it thickens and stabilises an emulsion at the same time. It gives a light gel-cream body rather than a heavy one.
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.
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.
Stearyl Alcohol fatty alcohol: Stearyl Alcohol is a solid fatty alcohol used to thicken and stabilise creams. Like the other fatty alcohols it is an emollient, not a solvent.
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil emollient: Soybean Oil is a linoleic-rich plant oil used as an emollient. It also carries soy phytosterols and vitamin E.
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.
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.
Sorbitan Isostearate emulsifier: Sorbitan Isostearate is a mild emulsifier that holds water into oil, the direction a cleansing balm or an oil-based cream needs.
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.
Retinol active: Retinol is the alcohol form of vitamin A and the strongest retinoid available without a prescription. Skin converts it in two steps to retinoic acid, and it is used at night, at low percentages, for the look of fine lines and rough texture. It can leave skin flaking while it acclimatises.
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.
Undecane solvent: A light plant-derived hydrocarbon that evaporates, almost always paired with tridecane. Together they give the dry, fast-disappearing feel volatile silicones used to provide.
Tridecane solvent: A plant-derived hydrocarbon used with undecane as a volatile silicone alternative. It spreads a formula thin and then leaves.
Bixa Orellana Seed Oil emollient: Annatto seed oil, deep orange from its carotenoid content. It conditions and tints a formula at once.
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.
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.
Brassica Campestris (Rapeseed) Sterols emollient: Phytosterols are plant sterols, structurally close to the cholesterol in skin's own lipid layer. They soften skin and help the oil phase of a formula hold together.
Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate emulsifier: Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate is a mild sugar-derived emulsifier that holds oil into water and thickens slightly.
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.
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.
Hydrogenated Phosphatidylcholine emulsifier: Hydrogenated Phosphatidylcholine is the stabilised form of the main lecithin phospholipid. It builds the liposome shells that hold an active together in a formula.
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.
Retinal active: Retinal is retinaldehyde, a vitamin A derivative one chemical step closer to retinoic acid than retinol is. It is yellow-orange and unstable in light, so products carrying it are usually opaque.
Squalane emollient: Squalane is the stable, saturated version of squalene, a lipid human skin already makes. It is a light emollient that absorbs quickly, does not oxidise, and is one of the few oils widely considered safe for blemish-prone skin. Most cosmetic squalane is now from sugarcane or olive rather than shark.
Bakuchiol active: Bakuchiol is a compound from the babchi seed, used as a plant-derived alternative to retinol. It is oil soluble, stable in daylight and does not carry retinol's acclimatisation period, which is why sensitive-skin formulas choose it.
Dextrin thickener: Dextrin is a starch fragment used to thicken and to give a formula a light, powdery finish. It is also a common carrier for powdered extracts.
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.
Cyanocobalamin vitamin: Cyanocobalamin is vitamin B12, and it is a deep pink-red, which is why a formula carrying it often has a colour nobody added on purpose. It is used as a conditioning vitamin.
Collagen protein: Collagen is the structural protein that makes up most of the dermis. Applied on top it is far too large to enter skin, so in a formula it works as a humectant and a smoothing film former.
Hydrogenated Polyisobutene emollient: Hydrogenated Polyisobutene is a stabilised synthetic hydrocarbon used in place of mineral oil. It is an emollient that leaves a smooth, cushioned film.
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.
Anemarrhena Asphodeloides Root Extract plant extract: Anemarrhena Asphodeloides is a root used in Korean traditional practice. Its extract is used as a conditioning plant extract.
Copper Tripeptide-1 peptide: Copper Tripeptide-1 is three amino acids bound to a copper ion, and the classic firming peptide in cosmetic chemistry. It is blue in solution, which is often why a serum carrying it is tinted, and it is used for the look of firmness and fine lines.
Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 peptide: Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 is the five-amino-acid peptide originally sold as Matrixyl. It is used for the look of fine lines and is one of the longest-standing cosmetic peptides.
Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 peptide: Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 is a fatted six-amino-acid peptide used for the look of firmness, usually as part of a multi-peptide blend.
Fragrance/Parfum 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.

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

Last

Fragrance on the list

Worth knowing

Patch test on the inner arm before a first full application if you are trying a new Korean formula for the first time, since a fragrance or botanical extract that suits most skin can still be the one thing an individual complexion does not tolerate.
Introduce any new Korean-market formula on its own for the first few uses before layering it with the rest of an existing routine, so any reaction is easy to trace to a single product.

Complete the routine

This itemSOME BY MI Retinol Bakuchiol Dual Cream 50ml$42.50
Prep after cleansing, before the treatment stepSOME BY MI AHA BHA PHA 30 Days Miracle Toner 150ml$32.50
Seal the routine in as the last stepSOME BY MI AHA-BHA-PHA 30Days Miracle Cream (Moisturizer) 60g$37.50

Total for 3 items$112.50

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SOME BY MI Retinol Bakuchiol Dual Cream 50ml

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SOME BY MI, Korean-market original

The Korean-market SOME BY MI cream formula, not the US reformulation.

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