Follow us on our new Insta page »
Pyunkang Yul Calming Low pH Foaming Cleanser

Calming Low pH Foaming Cleanser

A self-foaming facial cleanser that is specially formulated for sensitive skin.
Uploaded by: enterusernamehere on

Skim through

Ingredient name what-it-does irr., com. ID-Rating
Water solvent
Dipropylene Glycol solvent
Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate surfactant/​cleansing
Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate surfactant/​cleansing
Coco-Glucoside surfactant/​cleansing
Polyglyceryl-10 Myristate
Camellia Japonica Flower Extract emollient
Centella Asiatica Extract soothing, antioxidant, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Sodium Hyaluronate skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 goodie
Lonicera Japonica (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract soothing, antimicrobial/​antibacterial goodie
Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Extract antimicrobial/​antibacterial, perfuming
Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract surfactant/​cleansing
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride emollient
Cetyl Ethylhexanoate emollient
Ethylhexyl Palmitate emollient 0, 2-4
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate
Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer skin-identical ingredient, antioxidant, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Madecassoside antioxidant, soothing goodie
Madecassic Acid goodie
Asiaticoside antioxidant, perfuming goodie
Asiatic Acid goodie
Butylene Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, solvent 0, 1
Citric Acid buffering
Caprylyl Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, emollient
Hydroxyacetophenone antioxidant
Pentylene Glycol solvent, moisturizer/​humectant
Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract soothing goodie
Polyquaternium-67
Propanediol solvent, moisturizer/​humectant
Ethylhexylglycerin preservative
Disodium EDTA chelating
1,2-Hexanediol solvent

Pyunkang Yul Calming Low pH Foaming Cleanser
Ingredients explained

Also-called: Aqua | What-it-does: solvent

Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product. 

It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water. 

What-it-does: solvent

A clear, colorless liquid that works as a solvent and viscosity decreasing ingredient. It also has great skin-moisturizing abilities. 

What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing

A cleansing agent that's described by multiple manufacturers as a very mild, non-irritating surfactant but with great foam properties. It's recommended for gentle cleansers suitable for sensitive or baby skin.

What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing

A vegetable origin (coconut/palm kernel oil, glucose) cleansing agent that gives moderate to high stable foam. It's also biodegradable and mild to the skin.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: emollient

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Gotu Kola, Tiger Grass | What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant, moisturizer/humectant

Centella Asiatica - or sometimes also called Gotu Kola or Cica - has been used in folk medicine for hundreds of years. It’s traditionally used to improve small wounds, burns and scratches and it’s also a well known anti-inflammatory agent for eczema.

Recently science has taken an interest in Gotu Kola as well and it turns out it really has many active compounds with several benefits. Just for hard-core geeks, the main biologically active compounds are pentacyclic triterpenoid saponins called asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic and madecassic acid (also called centellosides).

What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

It’s the - sodium form - cousin of the famous NMFhyaluronic acid (HA). If HA does not tell you anything we have a super detailed, geeky explanation about it here.  The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) found in the skin that acts as a sponge helping the skin to hold onto water, being plump and elastic. HA is famous for its crazy water holding capacity as it can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water.

As far as skincare goes, sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid are pretty much the same and the two names are used interchangeably. As cosmetic chemist kindofstephen writes on reddit  "sodium hyaluronate disassociates into hyaluronic acid molecule and a sodium atom in solution". 

Also-called: Japanese Honeysuckle Flower Extract | What-it-does: soothing, antimicrobial/antibacterial

Lonicera Japonica, or Japanese Honeysuckle as normal people call it, is a white-flowered honeysuckle known for being a traditional Chinese medicine. Modern research confirms that the plant has a super complex chemical composition with more than 140 compounds identified with possible anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidative and hepatoprotective activities.

As for Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract in skin care, it can have two main roles. The first one is being an anti-inflammatory and soothing ingredient, probably due to chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol thought to be the main bioactive component of the flower.

Also-called: Tea Tree Leaf Extract | What-it-does: antimicrobial/antibacterial, perfuming

When it comes to Tea Tree, the essential oil is the one that steals the show with its well-documented antimicrobial and anti-acne effects. The extract is not very well defined, and it probably contains the active components of the oil in much-reduced concentrations. Manufacturers still mention soothing, antimicrobial, purifying and antiseptic properties for the tea tree extract. 

Also-called: Sage Leaf Extract | What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: emollient

A super common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth. It comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. It’s a nice ingredient that just feels good on the skin, is super well tolerated by every skin type and easy to formulate with. No wonder it’s popular. 

What-it-does: emollient

An odorless and colorless emollient ester (cetyl alcohol + ethylhexanoic acid) that gives a velvety and silky feel to the skin. It has great spreadability and a non-oily feel. It's a popular ingredient in makeup removers.

What-it-does: emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2-4

A super common, medium-spreading emollient ester that gives richness to the formula and a mild feel during rubout. It can be a replacement for mineral oil and is often combined with other emollients to achieve different sensorial properties.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is a low molecular weight, chemically chopped up version of the naturally big molecule and current IT-moisturizer, Hyaluronic Acid (HA). The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) found in the skin that acts as a sponge helping the skin to retain water, making it plump and elastic. As HA is a polymer, the subunits can be repeated many times (as a high-molecular-weight version), or just a few times (as a low-molecular-weight version).

We wrote in detail at HA about how different molecular weight versions do different things both as a component of the skin and as a skincare ingredient, so click here and read about all the details. Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid can also come in different molecular-weight versions with different properties:

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

It's a special "cross-linked" from of IT-moisturizer, hyaluronic acid (HA). Cross-linked means that "normal" HA pieces (1-2 million Da molecular weight) are chemically bound togeather to create a big, "infinite" mesh.

The special HA mesh has a remarkable water-binding capacity, 5 times more than the already crazy water-binding capacity of "normal" HA. This water filled crosslinked HA gel forms a smooth film on the skin and continuously delivers the bound water, so it gives long-term moisturizing benefits.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate is a variation of current IT moisturizer, Hyaluronic acid, where some water-loving -OH groups are replaced by amphipathic (partly water-loving and partly water-hating) acetyl groups. The modified molecule is claimed to have even better moisture retention ability than normal HA and better affinity to the skin surface. 

The better affinity comes from the acetyl groups that act as tiny "anchors" to attach the HA molecule to the skin. Staying on top of the skin better and longer means longer-lasting surface hydration and improved elasticity. It is also less sticky and more cosmetically elegant than normal HA, so no wonder the nickname of this molecule is super hyaluronic acid. 

Madecassoside - goodie
What-it-does: antioxidant, soothing

One of the main biologically active components of the famous medicinal plant, Centella Asiatica, aka Gotu Kola. It has well established wound healing, skin-soothing and antioxidant activities.

There is also a study by La Roche Posay (belongs to L'Oreal) that examined the anti-aging effects of 5% Vitamin C combined with 0.1% Madecassoside. They mention that " Madecassoside is known to induce collagen expression and ⁄ or to modulate inflammatory mediators thus might  prevent and correct some signs of aging." The surprisingly long, 6-month study observed "significant improvement of the clinical score for deep and superficial wrinkles, suppleness, firmness, roughness, and skin hydration", but Vitamin C in itself is already an anti-aging superstar, so it is hard to know how much Madecassoside did. 

One of the biologically active components of Gotu Kola that is thought to contribute to the plant extract's well-documented skin regenerating, wound healing, and moisturizing properties

If you are into Gotu Kola we have some more info at Centella Asiatica Extract and its other biologically active components MadecassosideAsiaticoside and Asiatic Acid.

Asiaticoside - goodie
What-it-does: antioxidant, perfuming

One of the main biologically active components of the famous medicinal plant, Centella Asiatica, aka Gotu Kola. It has well established wound healing and antioxidant activities.  

In-vitro (made in the lab) studies also show that Asiaticoside stimulates GAGs (glycosaminoglycans - polysaccharides that are part of the liquidy stuff between our skin cells) production as well as collagen I synthesis.  Read more at Gotu Kola >>

Asiatic Acid - goodie

One of the biologically active components of Gotu Kola. It's a bit less prominent than its sister component, Asiaticoside, but in-vitro (made in the lab) studies show that Asiatic Acid also stimulates GAGs (glycosaminoglycans - polysaccharides that are part of the liquidy stuff between our skin cells) production as well as collagen I synthesis.

English translation equals that it probably contributes to the well-established moisturizing and wound healing abilities of Gotu Kola

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1

Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product.  

BG’s main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting water (humectant) into the skin.

What-it-does: buffering

Citric acid comes from citrus fruits and is an AHA. If these magic three letters don’t tell you anything, click here and read our detailed description on glycolic acid, the most famous AHA. 

So citric acid is an exfoliant, that can - just like other AHAs - gently lift off the dead skin cells of your skin and make it more smooth and fresh. 

It’s a handy multi-tasking ingredient that gives the skin a nice, soft feel. At the same time, it also boosts the effectiveness of other preservatives, such as the nowadays super commonly used phenoxyethanol

The blend of these two (caprylyl glycol + phenoxyethanol) is called Optiphen, which not only helps to keep your cosmetics free from nasty things for a long time but also gives a good feel to the finished product. It's a popular duo.

What-it-does: antioxidant

A handy multifunctional ingredient that works as a preservative booster, as well as an antioxidant and soothing agent

A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as an emulsion stabilizer, solvent and a broad spectrum antimicrobial. According to manufacturer info, it's also a moisturizer and helps to make the product feel great on the skin. It works synergistically with preservatives and helps to improve water-resistance of sunscreens. 

Also-called: White Willow Bark Extract | What-it-does: soothing, astringent

The extract coming from the bark of the White Willow, a big (25 m/80 ft.) tree that likes to live on riverbanks. It's famous for containing anti-inflammatory natural salicylates (this powder, for example, is standardized to contain 53-65%), a close chemical relative to famous exfoliant salicylic acid.

Thanks to its salicin content, willow bark is often touted as a natural alternative to salicylic acid, though it's quite questionable how effective it is as a chemical exfoliant in the tiny amounts used in cosmetics. Apart from soothing salicin, it also contains flavonoids and phenolic acids that give willow bark tonic, astringent, and antiseptic properties.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Zemea | What-it-does: solvent, moisturizer/humectant

Propanediol is a natural alternative for the often used and often bad-mouthed propylene glycol. It's produced sustainably from corn sugar and it's Ecocert approved. 

It's quite a multi-tasker: can be used to improve skin moisturization, as a solvent, to boost preservative efficacy or to influence the sensory properties of the end formula. 

What-it-does: preservative, deodorant

If you have spotted ethylhexylglycerin on the ingredient list, most probably you will see there also the current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol. They are good friends because ethylhexylglycerin can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too.

Also, it's an effective deodorant and a medium spreading emollient

What-it-does: chelating

Super common little helper ingredient that helps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time. It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.

It is typically used in tiny amounts, around 0.1% or less.

What-it-does: solvent

A really multi-functional helper ingredient that can do several things in a skincare product: it can bring a soft and pleasant feel to the formula, it can act as a humectant and emollient, it can be a solvent for some other ingredients (for example it can help to stabilize perfumes in watery products) and it can also help to disperse pigments more evenly in makeup products. And that is still not all: it can also boost the antimicrobial activity of preservatives

You may also want to take a look at...

what‑it‑does solvent
Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more]
what‑it‑does solvent
A clear, colorless liquid that works as a solvent and viscosity decreasing ingredient. It also has great skin-moisturizing abilities.  [more]
what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing
A cleansing agent that's very mild, non-irritating but also has great foam properties. [more]
what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing
what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing
A vegetable origin (coconut/palm kernel oil, glucose) cleansing agent that gives moderate to high stable foam. It's also biodegradable and mild to the skin.
what‑it‑does emollient
what‑it‑does soothing | antioxidant | moisturizer/humectant
Centella Asiatica - or sometimes also called Gotu Kola or Cica - has been used in folk medicine for hundreds of years. It’s traditionally used to improve small wounds, burns and scratches and it’s also a well known anti-inflammatory agent for eczema. Recently science has taken an interest in Gotu Kola as well and it turns out it really has many active compounds with several benefits. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant
irritancy, com. 0, 0
It's the salt form of famous humectant and natural moisturizing factor, hyaluronic acid. It can bind huge amounts of water and it's pretty much the current IT-moisturizer. [more]
what‑it‑does soothing | antimicrobial/antibacterial
Lonicera Japonica, or Japanese Honeysuckle as normal people call it, is a white-flowered honeysuckle known for being a traditional Chinese medicine. Modern research confirms that the plant has a super complex chemical composition with more than 140 compounds identified with possible anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidative and hepatoprotective activities. [more]
what‑it‑does antimicrobial/antibacterial | perfuming
When it comes to Tea Tree, the essential oil is the one that steals the show with its well-documented antimicrobial and anti-acne effects. The extract is not very well defined, and it probably contains the active components of the oil in much-reduced concentrations. Manufacturers still mention soothing, antimicrobial, purifying and antiseptic  [more]
what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing
what‑it‑does emollient
A very common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth. Comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. [more]
what‑it‑does emollient
An odorless and colorless emollient ester that gives a velvety and silky feel to the skin. [more]
what‑it‑does emollient
irritancy, com. 0, 2-4
A super common, medium-spreading emollient ester that gives richness to the formula and a mild feel during rubout. [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is a low molecular weight, chemically chopped up version of the naturally big molecule and current IT-moisturizer, Hyaluronic Acid (HA). The TL; [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | antioxidant | moisturizer/humectant
A special, "cross-linked" from of hyaluronic acid (HA). Claimed to have five times the water-binding capacity of normal HA, also acts as an antioxidant and gives skin long-term moisture. [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant
Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate is a variation of current IT moisturizer, Hyaluronic acid, where some water-loving -OH groups are replaced by amphipathic (partly water-loving and partly water-hating) acetyl groups. [more]
what‑it‑does antioxidant | soothing
One of the main biologically active components of the famous medicinal plant, Centella Asiatica, aka Gotu Kola. It has well established wound healing, skin-soothing and antioxidant activities. There is also a study by La Roche Posay (belongs to L'Oreal) that examined the anti-aging effects of 5% Vitamin C combined with 0. [more]
One of the biologically active components of Gotu Kola that is thought to contribute to the plant extract's well-documented skin regenerating, wound healing, and moisturizing properties. If you are into Gotu Kola we have some more info at Centella Asiatica Extract and its other biologically active components  [more]
what‑it‑does antioxidant | perfuming
One of the main biologically active components of the famous medicinal plant, Centella Asiatica, aka Gotu Kola. It has well established wound healing and antioxidant activities.  In-vitro (made in the lab) studies also show that Asiaticoside stimulates GAGs (glycosaminoglycans - polysaccharides that are part of the liquidy stuff between our skin cells) production as well as coll [more]
One of the biologically active components of Gotu Kola. It's a bit less prominent than its sister component, Asiaticoside, but in-vitro (made in the lab) studies show that Asiatic Acid also stimulates GAGs (glycosaminoglycans - polysaccharides that are part of the liquidy stuff between our skin cells) production as well as collagen I synthesis. [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant | solvent
irritancy, com. 0, 1
An often used glycol that works as a solvent, humectant, penetration enhancer and also gives a good slip to the products. [more]
what‑it‑does buffering
An AHA that comes from citrus fruits. It is usually used as a helper ingredient to adjust the pH of the formula. [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant | emollient
A handy multi-tasking ingredient that gives the skin a nice, soft feel and also boosts the effectiveness of other preservatives. [more]
what‑it‑does antioxidant
A handy multifunctional ingredient that works as a preservative booster, as well as an antioxidant and soothing agent.
what‑it‑does solvent | moisturizer/humectant
A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as an emulsion stabilizer, solvent, and a broad spectrum antimicrobial. [more]
what‑it‑does soothing
White Willow Bark Extract - Famous for containing anti-inflammatory natural salicylates. It also has tonic, astringent, and antiseptic properties. [more]
what‑it‑does solvent | moisturizer/humectant
A natural corn sugar derived glycol. It can be used to improve skin moisturization, as a solvent, to boost preservative efficacy or to influence the sensory properties of the end formula. [more]
what‑it‑does preservative
It can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too. [more]
what‑it‑does chelating
Super common little helper ingredient that helps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time. It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes. [more]
what‑it‑does solvent
A multi-functional helper ingredient that acts as a humectant and emollient. It's also a solvent and can boost the effectiveness of preservatives. [more]