What the box has to tell you, by law
The rules live in the Cosmetics Act (화장품법) and its enforcement rule, administered by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (식약처). Cosmetic packaging generally carries an ingredient list, subject to applicable labelling rules and exceptions, in legible Korean, at 5 point or larger, and:
- In descending order of content — but anything used at 1% or less, plus fragrance and colourants, may be listed in any order after that. So the top of the list is a real ranking and the tail is not.
- Fragrance may be collapsed into the single word for fragrance, 향료 — unless it contains one of the allergens the regulator lists, in which case that allergen has to be named individually. A long tail of chemical names after 향료 is the label doing its job, not a harsher product.
- A trade-secret ingredient may appear as other ingredients (기타 성분) only with the regulator's approval.
Colour cosmetics get one allowance: where shades differ, all colourants across the range may be listed together after a ± mark, so not every listed pigment is necessarily present in your shade.
What “functional cosmetic” means
This is a legal product category, rather than a general claim that a cosmetic works better. A functional cosmetic (기능성화장품) is a statutory category covering eleven specific functions:
| # | The function, as the rule states it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Preventing melanin deposition, so suppressing freckles and dark spots — skin whitening |
| 2 | Lightening melanin already deposited — skin whitening |
| 3 | Giving skin elasticity so as to relieve or improve wrinkles |
| 4 | Helping the skin tan evenly in strong sun |
| 5 | Blocking or scattering ultraviolet light to protect skin |
| 6 | Changing hair colour, including bleaching (not temporary colour) |
| 7 | Removing body hair (not physically) |
| 8 | Helping relieve hair-loss symptoms (not coating hair to look thicker) |
| 9 | Helping calm acne-prone skin — cleansers only |
| 10 | Restoring skin-barrier function so as to improve itching |
| 11 | Fading the red lines of stretch marks |
The product must follow the applicable review or reporting process; and labelling that could make a cosmetic be mistaken for a medicine, or make a non-functional product look functional, is banned. The proof is on the box: a registered product must print the word 기능성화장품 or the regulator's symbol. Ask the manufacturer to clarify any claimed functional status that is not clear from the label.
You can check a specific product: the register of reviewed products and of reported ones, both Korean-only, searchable by product or company name.
The actives Korea recognises, and at what concentration
Certain products meeting specified ingredient and formulation conditions can use a reporting route. Other functional cosmetics require an individual review. The list is the regulator's own review standard, last amended 16 December 2025, and it is short.
Examples of specified skin-brightening ingredients (미백):
| Korean | English | Concentration |
|---|---|---|
| 닥나무추출물 | Broussonetia extract | 2% |
| 알부틴 | Arbutin | 2–5% |
| 에칠아스코빌에텔 | Ethyl ascorbyl ether | 1–2% |
| 유용성감초추출물 | Oil-soluble liquorice extract | 0.05% |
| 아스코빌글루코사이드 | Ascorbyl glucoside | 2% |
| 마그네슘아스코빌포스페이트 | Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate | 3% |
| 나이아신아마이드 | Niacinamide | 2–5% |
| 알파-비사보롤 | Alpha-bisabolol | 0.5% |
| 아스코빌테트라이소팔미테이트 | Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate | 2% |
Examples of specified wrinkle-improvement ingredients (주름개선):
| Korean | English | Concentration |
|---|---|---|
| 레티놀 | Retinol | 2,500 IU/g |
| 레티닐팔미테이트 | Retinyl palmitate | 10,000 IU/g |
| 아데노신 | Adenosine | 0.04% |
| 폴리에톡실레이티드레틴아마이드 | Polyethoxylated retinamide | 0.05–0.2% |
These concentrations describe specified regulatory conditions, rather than a recipe for choosing or combining products. Other formulas may use a different review route. Check the finished product’s claim and directions.
Sunscreens work the same way: 29 permitted UV filters with ceilings — zinc oxide (징크옥사이드) and titanium dioxide (티타늄디옥사이드) at 25%, homosalate at 10%, octinoxate at 7.5%.
SPF and PA, from the regulation rather than the bottle
SPF is the UVB number, tested on ten or more people at 2.0 mg/cm², read 16–24 hours later. Then the rule that changes how you read a bottle: the printed SPF may be any whole number from the measured mean down to 20% below it, and anything measuring 50 or above must be printed as "SPF50+". So "SPF30" can be a product that measured 37, and Korea prints no figure above 50+.
PA is the UVA grade, a Korean and Japanese convention derived from a separate measurement:
| Measured (PFA) | Printed | The regulation's own word |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to under 4 | PA+ | 낮음 — low |
| 4 to under 8 | PA++ | 보통 — moderate |
| 8 to under 16 | PA+++ | 높음 — high |
| 16 and above | PA++++ | 매우 높음 — very high |
Water resistance is a third, separate test — twenty minutes in water, twenty out, twice, doubled for the "very" grade — and a product may only print water-resistant (내수성) or very water-resistant (지속내수성) if it keeps half its protection. No other wording, no number.
The 2 mg/cm² test dose is the caveat on all of it: a specified application amount that may be greater than a thin casual application, so the printed number describes the product tested that way, not a thin morning layer.
What the fashionable ingredients are, and are not
You will see these hundreds of times in Myeongdong (명동, central Seoul's main shopping street, and its cosmetics district) and Olive Young (올리브영, Korea's dominant health-and-beauty chain). Every one is legal and named on labels. Their roles differ, and some also appear in the tables above. Check the finished product’s registered claim rather than inferring approval from an ingredient name alone.
| On the label | English | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 히알루론산 / 소듐하이알루로네이트 | Hyaluronic acid / sodium hyaluronate | It is a humectant, an ingredient that helps retain water. |
| 나이아신아마이드 | Niacinamide | Niacinamide is a form of vitamin B3 used in cosmetic formulas, including some regulated skin-brightening products. |
| 병풀추출물 / 센텔라아시아티카 / 시카 | Centella asiatica, "cica" | Cica commonly refers to Centella asiatica, a plant used in cosmetic extracts. |
| 마데카소사이드 / 아시아티코사이드 | Madecassoside, asiaticoside | These are compounds isolated from Centella asiatica. |
| 달팽이점액여과물 | Snail secretion filtrate | This is filtered material from snail secretions. |
| 프로폴리스추출물 | Propolis extract | Propolis is a resinous material collected by bees. Check it carefully if you have a relevant allergy. |
| 어성초추출물 | Houttuynia cordata extract | This is an extract from the plant Houttuynia cordata. |
| 쑥추출물 | Artemisia (mugwort) extract | This is an extract from mugwort, a plant used in some cosmetic formulas. |
| 폴리디옥시리보뉴클레오타이드 / PDRN | Polydeoxyribonucleotide | This is an ingredient made from DNA fragments. A topical cosmetic should not be assumed to have the effects of an injected treatment. |
| 레티놀 / 레티날 / 레티닐팔미테이트 | Retinol / retinal / retinyl palmitate | These are related vitamin A ingredients. Their permitted claims and directions depend on the finished product; they are not interchangeable. |
| 아데노신 | Adenosine | Adenosine is used in some regulated wrinkle-improvement formulas. |
| 세라마이드 / 판테놀 / 알란토인 | Ceramide, panthenol, allantoin | These ingredients are used in moisturising and skin-conditioning formulas. |
| 티트리오일 / 살리실릭애씨드 | Tea tree oil, salicylic acid | These ingredients occur in some products marketed for blemish-prone skin. Check the specific product’s directions and warnings. |
For a name none of these cover, the cosmetics ingredient dictionary holds 21,980 standardised names, searchable in Korean and English. It standardises names only; it says nothing about what an ingredient is for.
Two more rules worth carrying
Anything a label asserts must be provable on demand. The regulator can demand substantiation for any factual claim within 15 days and order the advertising stopped until it arrives.
Animal testing is banned for cosmetics sold in Korea, with narrow exemptions where a safety standard is being set for a preservative, colourant or UV filter, or an export market's law requires it.
