Peeled off the “100% Clean” sticker to find the ingredient list printed in font size 4. Cute trick.
There’s a fragrance blend hiding in here that’s doing way more heavy lifting than the peptides — and it’s not the kind of heavy lifting your skin asked for.
It’s a milky, thin fluid that costs $78 for 1 oz. The marketing says “barrier-repairing” and “skin-renewing,” which honestly could describe hand soap.
Peptide Complex
Claims to plump, but the percentage is buried so deep it’s basically a cameo appearance.
Niacinamide 5%
The only real workhorse here — actually calms redness and refines pores.
Fragrance (Parfum)
Listed mid-way down. That’s not “clean,” that’s a cover-up for raw ingredients that smell like a lab accident.
Photo: Alexandra Tran / Unsplash
Water, glycerin, and niacinamide are the first three — fine. Then it gets weird: sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate as preservatives (okay, mild), but also limonene and linalool, which are fragrance allergens that do absolutely nothing for your skin.
- Niacinamide: Smooths texture, shrinks pores, actually effective
- Hyaluronic Acid: Sits on top, feels nice, doesn’t penetrate deep
- Sodium Benzoate: Safe preservative, but can sting on broken skin
- Limonene: Citrus-derived fragrance — sensitizing and pointless here
Photo: Poko Skincare / Unsplash
Texture is basically water with a slip. Absorbs in 8 seconds flat, leaves zero residue — honestly, that’s the best part. No pilling under makeup.
By week two, my redness was marginally calmer. But I also got a tiny breakout on my chin that I’m 90% sure is the fragrance irritating my barrier. The irony is loud.
Photo: simon / Unsplash
My pores look slightly tighter. My redness is maybe 15% better. But the fragrance means I can’t use it daily, and that’s a dealbreaker for a serum claiming to “renew” anything.
Photo: Renaldo Matamoro / Unsplash
It’s a decent niacinamide serum wearing a green dress. If you’re truly clean, ditch the fragrance and the price tag.