What is the VT Pro Cica Reedle Shot 100 for?

It is a niacinamide-led ampoule for tone and texture, with a complete TECA complex, madecassoside, asiaticoside, madecassic acid and asiatic acid, positioned together in the back third of the list for calming support. It is designed as a step zero first layer before serum in VT's Reedle Shot format.

Is this mainly a centella product or a niacinamide one?

Niacinamide leads at position four, well ahead of centella extract itself at twenty, so the formula is primarily built for tone and texture. The full TECA complex further down adds real calming support, but it is a supporting layer rather than the structural base.

No. Propolis extract, a bee-derived ingredient, is on the list, positioned at the very end alongside tea tree leaf extract.

How does Pro Cica differ from the regular Reedle Shot 100?

The Pro Cica version is built around the complete TECA complex and ceramide NP for calming and barrier support, layered under the same niacinamide-led base the Reedle Shot line uses generally. The specific centella emphasis is what the Pro Cica name in the range refers to.

How does this compare to buying VT Cosmetics from a US retailer?

This is the unit built for the Korean market, with its Korean barcode 8803463003685 and its batch code intact on the box.

VT Cosmetics

Pro Cica Reedle Shot 100

Name: VT Cosmetics Pro Cica Reedle Shot 100
Brand: VT Cosmetics
SKU: 8803463003685
Price: 37.99 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

Niacinamide leads the actives at position four, ahead of Centella Asiatica Extract itself which does not appear until twenty, though the full TECA complex, madecassoside, asiaticoside, madecassic acid and asiatic acid, closes out the list from thirty-three.

Reviewed by Nurcan Saglam, licensed dermo-cosmetic expert (Paris)

No reviews yet

$37.99

50ml

$75.98 per 100 ml

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

Suited to: SensitiveNormalCombination

Helps with: Rough or uneven surface textureSensitivity alongside a tone-focused routineA first step zero layer before serum

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Key benefits

Niacinamide leads at position four, well ahead of the centella botanical itself
All four TECA compounds, madecassoside, asiaticoside, madecassic acid and asiatic acid, appear together at thirty-three through thirty-seven, a complete complex rather than a partial one
Ceramide NP at thirty-two adds a barrier lipid to a formula otherwise built for tone and calming
Tea tree leaf extract and propolis close the list for a second clarifying and soothing layer
Sodium hyaluronate and adenosine sit mid list for hydration and smoothing
No fragrance, no parfum, no essential oil on the list

Key actives

4NiacinamideFourth on the list, the formula's lead active

Positioned ahead of every botanical extract including centella itself, niacinamide is doing the primary tone-and-texture work in this ampoule.

All products with Niacinamide

32Ceramide NPThirty-second on the list, a barrier lipid ahead of the TECA complex

Adds structural barrier support to a formula otherwise focused on tone and calming, rounding out the ampoule's back half.

All products with Ceramide NP

36Madecassoside, Asiaticoside, Madecassic Acid, Asiatic AcidThe complete TECA complex, positioned together at thirty-three through thirty-seven

These four purified centella compounds together, rather than one or two alone, are what a complete centella formulation looks like. Having all four named is more thorough than most centella products on the market.

39Propolis ExtractCloses the list as a second soothing botanical

Works alongside tea tree leaf extract at the very end of the list, adding a further calming and clarifying note to the formula's back third.

All products with Propolis Extract

Inside the formula

Ingredients declared

No fragrance

on the list

4Niacinamide32Ceramide NP36Madecassoside, Asiaticoside,39Propolis Extract

4Niacinamide
32Ceramide NP
36Madecassoside, Asiaticoside,
39Propolis Extract

Where each key active sits on the declared ingredient list, by entry number. Position is proportion: the further forward, the larger its share.

1 of 4

VT Cosmetics Pro Cica Reedle Shot 100

39 of 39 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ethylhexyl Palmitate emollient: Ethylhexyl Palmitate is a palm-derived ester used as a light emollient and a solvent for pigment. It gives a smooth, non-greasy slip.
Sodium Polyacrylate thickener: Sodium Polyacrylate is a polymer that absorbs many times its weight in water. It thickens a formula and holds water in a gel against the skin.
Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer thickener: This is a pre-neutralised polymer thickener that gels on contact with water and stabilises an emulsion without heat.
Polyisobutene film former: Polyisobutene is a synthetic polymer that forms a flexible, water-resistant film. It gives gloss and holds a formula in place, which is why it appears in lip products and long-wear textures.
Silica absorbent: Silica is finely milled mineral, essentially very pure sand. It absorbs oil, stops powders clumping and soft-focuses the look of pores and fine lines.

27 more explained

Glycereth-26 humectant: Glycereth-26 is a modified glycerin that hydrates with far less stickiness than glycerin itself. It is a common way to load water into a formula that has to stay light.
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.
Caprylyl Glycol preservative booster: Caprylyl Glycol is a glycol that conditions skin and, more importantly, strengthens a preservative system so less of the traditional preservative is needed. It appears in most modern formulas built without parabens.
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.
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.
Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside surfactant: Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside is a sugar-derived cleansing surfactant. It foams modestly and is mild enough for low-pH cleansers built for reactive skin.
Sorbitan Oleate emulsifier: Sorbitan Oleate is an emulsifier for water-in-oil formulas. It keeps a rich cream or a cleansing oil from separating.
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.
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.
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.
Beta-Sitosterol 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.
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.
Polyquaternium-51 film former: Polyquaternium-51 is a polymer, sometimes sold as Lipidure, built on the same phosphorylcholine structure as a cell membrane. It holds water in a film on the surface and gives a distinctive soft, dry finish.
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.
Prunus Avium (Sweet Cherry) Fruit Extract plant extract: Sweet cherry fruit extract, carrying anthocyanins and fruit acids. It is used as a conditioning antioxidant extract.
Apium Graveolens (Celery) Extract plant extract: Celery extract, carrying flavonoids, minerals and plant acids. It is used as a light conditioning extract.
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.
Anastatica Hierochuntica Extract plant extract: Anastatica Hierochuntica is the resurrection plant, which survives complete drying out. Its extract is used as a hydrating, protective plant ingredient.
DNA active: DNA declared on its own is the same ingredient family as sodium DNA and hydrolyzed DNA, the one Korean formulas market as PDRN. At the size used in a formula it works as a humectant and a smoothing film.
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.
Madecassoside active: Madecassoside is the centella triterpene most associated with the look of redness, and the one brands lead with in cica products. It is water soluble and stable, so it appears in essences as readily as in creams.
Asiaticoside active: Asiaticoside is one of the four active triterpenes isolated from centella and the most studied of them. Korean formulas name it separately when they want to show which fraction of the plant they standardised.
Beta-Glucan polysaccharide: Beta-Glucan is a polysaccharide from oats or yeast. It holds a large amount of water, forms a soothing film, and is one of the ingredients formulators reach for in products aimed at reactive skin.
Madecassic Acid active: Madecassic Acid is the fourth centella triterpene. A list that names all four is telling you the extract was standardised rather than simply pressed, which is the difference between a cica claim and a cica formula.
Asiatic Acid active: Asiatic Acid is the third of centella's four triterpenes and the aglycone form, meaning it has no attached sugar. It is oil soluble, so it turns up in cica creams and balms more than in watery layers.
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.
Propolis Extract plant extract: Propolis is the resin bees collect from tree buds and use to seal the hive. It is rich in flavonoids, carries a warm amber colour and scent, and is used for the look of dull, stressed skin. It is a bee product, so it is worth knowing about if you react to those.

How it works

The Cica in this name points to centella, but the ingredient list tells a more layered story: niacinamide sits fourth, well ahead of Centella Asiatica Extract itself at twenty, so tone and texture lead the formula rather than the calming botanical. What the back of the list carries, though, is unusually complete: ceramide NP at thirty-two, then all four TECA compounds, madecassoside, asiaticoside, madecassic acid and asiatic acid, running from thirty-three through thirty-seven, alongside tea tree leaf extract and propolis. That is the full purified centella complex, not a partial one, positioned as a finishing layer under a niacinamide-led ampoule.

How to use

AM and PM, after cleansing, as a step zero layer before your serum.
A small amount pressed into damp skin, letting the lightweight gel-serum absorb before the next layer.
Wait until it stops feeling tacky before your serum, since applying too early can cause pilling.
Follow with your regular serum and moisturizer routine.

Worth knowing

Propolis is a bee-derived ingredient, so this is not a vegan formula.
Centella Asiatica Extract itself sits at position twenty; if you are buying specifically for a high whole-leaf centella concentration, the Madagascar-Centella-branded products in our catalog lead with it higher on their lists.
DNA, listed plainly at position thirty-one, is a common Korean-formulation hydration ingredient rather than an unusual inclusion, but it is worth knowing if you screen ingredient sourcing closely.

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