COSRX Oil Free Ultra moisturizing Lotion incidecoder

I’m a fan of COSRX products. They are like The Ordinary K-Beauty counterpart. Minimal ingredient list? Check. Minimal packaging? Check. Affordable pricing? Check.

This is not my first purchase of a COSRX product. I have previously used their snail essence, BHA, and AHA power liquid. I have a MASSIVE love for their products, the brand’s philosophy, and ingredients.

So when I started experiencing dryness and irritated skin due to over-exfoliation, I looked at COSRX for a solution. Couple of minutes of scrolling through their website, I saw the Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion, which was specifically made to complement their AHA and BHA power liquid. The lotion is formulated with Birch Sap, an extract known to hydrate and calm irritated and sensitive skin.

Ingredients

The K-Beauty industry is full of naturally derived ingredients that are not commonly used in Western skincare. Ingredients such as red ginseng, propolis, honey, etc., fill the skincare lines of K-Beauty brands.

For this lotion, the defining ingredient is Birch Sap, which makes up 70% of the formulation in place of water. The Birch juice is a water-like substance, which you can drink directly off the tree. It hosts a cocktail of nutrients such as:

• Amino acids, vitamins, proteins – skin barrier protection
• Vitamin B3 or Niacinamide – reduce inflammation, antioxidant
• Vitamin C – brightening, evening skin tone, and texture, preventing harmful UV radicals from penetrating the skin

Ingredients

Betula Platyphylla Japonica Juice, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin (hydrating), Dimethicone, Betaine (skin protection + hydrating), Cetearyl Alcohol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Cetearyl Olivate (moisturizing + barrier-repairing), Sorbitan Olivate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Allantoin (soothing + wound-healing), Panthenol (hydrating), Xanthan Gum, Sodium Lactate (moisturizing), Sodium Hyaluronate (hydrating), Ethyl Hexanediol, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil (anti-inflammatory)

I’ve highlighted interesting ingredients to note. The list is quite minimal and contains a lot of hydrating, barrier-repairing, and anti-inflammatory properties. This makes sense as the lotion is marketed as a complementary product to COSRX AHA and BHA power liquid. If you are experiencing irritation and skin sensitivity due to exfoliating products, this lotion is specially designed for you. It is meant to provide moisture and soothing properties without leaving a greasy feeling, which makes it perfect for oily/combination/acne-prone skin.

Texture

The lotion is of a gel texture, not too watery and opaque in color. Although it is quite thick for my liking, the lotion absorbs well into the skin. It does leave an occlusive feeling but not too heavy. This is extremely important to me as I have oily skin and live in a high humidity country.

How to use

On their website, COSRX recommends using the lotion after exfoliating and before your moisturizer and sunscreen. In this case, the lotion acts as a supplementary hydrating and treatment step. If you live in dry, cold weather, this could work well.

But if your skin is of oily/combination type and you live in hot, humid weather, I find that this lotion is enough as a moisturizer. Putting it as a layer underneath a moisturizing product may leave you with a greasy feeling.

Is COSRX Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion oil-free?

It is not completely free. There are Lemon Peel Oil and Tea Tree Leaf Oil in the formulation. But it may be that these oils are essentially not fatty acids that can clog your skin and are also present in minute amounts. Lemon Peel Oil is mostly used as a fragrance in skincare and tea tree oil for treating inflammation due to its anti-septic, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

Review

I was very excited to treat my skin with this lotion after over-exfoliating it for weeks. I could sense that my face was getting flaky and I started having acne bumps at different areas. My skin barrier was definitely compromised.

After a week of applying this as the last step in my skincare routine (I mainly used it as a moisturizer due to its thick texture as I have oily skin), I had no increase in acne formation, but the current ones did not show any improvements.

Acne takes time to heal and as long as they did not flare up, I would still use the product and monitor my skin’s response. But what made me sang a different tune with this lotion was that the sebaceous filaments on my cheeks and nose became more obvious.

Sebaceous filaments are not blackheads. But people tend to confuse them together. Sebaceous filaments actually help to guide your skin’s sebum to the surface to fight against environmental aggressors and dehydration. But when your skin overproduces sebum, the sebum hardens and your pore gets stretched out, making it visible.

There is no treatment that can completely get rid of them, unlike blackheads. Even if you squeeze them out, the pore will get filled up again in 30 days and you risk scarring your skin. The best method is to minimize their appearance.

I have been dealing with sebaceous filaments for a long time. Over the years, when I use products that are quite heavy on my skin, my pores become more visible, which irritates me a lot. It is not a nice feeling to be staring into your toilet mirror and have these black pores stare back into your face.

When this happened after using the Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion, I stopped applying it just to see if there was any difference and to really confirm which product was the culprit. I was not surprised when a week later, I realized my pores were not as obvious as before.

I did this twice and every time after applying the lotion, my pores became bigger. So I decided to completely shelve it and stick to my The Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid serum for hydration.

I guess having oily skin and living in hot humid weather really affect the potency of the lotion. Although it is not as greasy as other moisturizers I have tried, it still contributed to visible open pores, which is a sign of more oil clogging.

I have been only using gel / water-based moisturizers but thought that this lotion could work differently due to the “oil-free” marketing. I like that it absorbs into my skin much better than most lotions I have tried but turned out it still did not fit my skin as I hoped.

If you have normal/dry/sensitive skin and experiencing irritated skin, this lotion could work really well for you. Birch sap does not only hydrate but it has great soothing and calming properties. The lotion’s texture also makes it a good product for sealing in moisture.

If you have oily/combination skin, I would recommend that you get it only if you live in very dry/winter weather.

Take note that this product contains Lemon Peel Oil which is a fragrance and Tea Tree Leaf Oil. So if you are sensitive to oils or fragrance, you may want to look for alternatives.

Have you tried the COSRX Oil-Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion? Let me know in the comments below!