Type: Ingredient entity — regulatory & claim record
Topic: Polyethoxylated Retinamide (폴리에톡실레이티드레틴아마이드) — cosmetic ingredient
Evidence basis: MFDS Notification No. 2025-88 (Regulations on Review of Functional Cosmetics, Appendix 4); MFDS Notification No. 2025-89 (Standards and Test Methods for Functional Cosmetics, Appendix 3); MFDS Notification No. 2026-56 (Regulations on Precautions for Use of Cosmetics and Labelling of Allergy-Inducing Ingredients, Appendix 1); KCIA Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary (code 3901)
Last Verified: 2026-09-23
This page does not make treatment, disease prevention, or efficacy claims. See the Evidence Boundaries section.
Polyethoxylated retinamide is one of four ingredients listed in Appendix 4, item 3 of Korea’s Regulations on Review of Functional Cosmetics — the list of anti-wrinkle ingredients for which a product may omit certain submission data. The other three entries in that item are retinol, retinyl palmitate and adenosine. Polyethoxylated retinamide is the fourth and final entry.
The notification records it at 0.05–0.2%, restricts it to five dosage forms, and fixes the permitted efficacy wording to a single sentence. A separate raw-material monograph in Notification No. 2025-89 sets its identity and specification: an average molecular weight of 831, a degree of polymerisation of n = 10.7 (average), and an assay of not less than 95.0%. It is a polyethylene glycol adduct — a polymer — which is why no single PubChem CID or CAS number resolves for it.
A third notification applies at the upper end of its permitted range. Products containing 0.2% or more must carry a use-precaution statement on the package. This page records all three regulatory positions with their coordinates, and sets out which descriptions the notifications do and do not support.
Ingredient Snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Ingredient Name | Polyethoxylated Retinamide |
| Korean Name | 폴리에톡실레이티드레틴아마이드 |
| INCI Name | Unknown — not confirmed. The name above is the notification’s English designation (Notification No. 2025-89, Appendix 3 monograph), not a verified INCI entry. EU CosIng lookup did not return a usable result (the control query also failed, indicating an endpoint problem rather than absence). |
| Synonyms | N-ω-메칠폴리에틸렌글라이콜릴 레틴아마이드 / N-ω-methylpolyethyleneglycolyl retinamide (chemical name, Appendix 3 monograph); Medimin A (trade name, LG H&H — market usage, not a regulatory designation) |
| CAS No. | Unknown — none found. PubChem PUG REST returned PUGREST.NotFound for both the notification name and the chemical name (2026-09-23). The KCIA entry also leaves the CAS field empty. For a PEG adduct of variable polymerisation this is the expected state, not a data gap. |
| Ingredient Type | Cosmetic |
| Cosmetic Role | 주름개선(기능성화장품) — anti-wrinkle, functional cosmetic (KCIA blending purpose, code 3901) |
| Supplement Function | Unknown — no health functional food listing identified |
| Molecular formula | (C23+2nH35+4nO2+nN)n — average molecular weight 831, n = 10.7 (average) |
| Status | To Review |
Regulatory Records
| Record Type | Jurisdiction | Issuing Body | Record Number | Scope | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Functional cosmetic — listed ingredient | Republic of Korea | Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) | 고시 제2025-88호 (2025-12-16) | Appendix 4, item 3, entry 4. Content 0.05–0.2%. Dosage forms limited to lotion, solution, cream, solid and sheet mask. Efficacy wording fixed as 「피부의 주름개선에 도움을 준다」. | Unknown | MFDS full-text notification |
| Functional cosmetic — raw material monograph | Republic of Korea | MFDS | 고시 제2025-89호 (2025-12-16) | Appendix 3 raw-material monograph. Assay ≥95.0%; UV absorption maximum at 350±2 nm; melting point 6–10 °C; pH 4.6–6.6; specific gravity 1.027–1.127; heavy metals ≤10 ppm; arsenic ≤2 ppm; HPLC assay. No finished-preparation monograph exists for this ingredient. | Unknown | MFDS full-text notification |
| Labelling obligation | Republic of Korea | MFDS | 고시 제2026-56호 (2026-08-05) | Appendix 1, item 2(b), entry 13. Products containing 0.2% or more must carry the precaution statement: mild erythema, skin dryness, burning sensation, itching and papules have been reported in human application studies. | Unknown | Korean Law Information Center (admRulSeq 2100000283642) — full text retrieved in both PDF and HWPX and cross-checked |
| Cosmetic safety standard | Republic of Korea | MFDS | 고시 제2026-19호 (2026-03-18) | Not listed. A full-text search of Appendix 1 (prohibited ingredients) and Appendix 2 (restricted ingredients) returned zero matches for this ingredient (2026-09-23, whitespace-normalised). | Unknown | MFDS full-text notification — negative finding |
Note on the two 0.2% figures. The upper bound of the permitted content range in Notification No. 2025-88 and the threshold that triggers the labelling obligation in Notification No. 2026-56 are the same number. Both coordinates are recorded above. The notifications do not state a reason for this, and this page does not infer one.
Claim Safety Matrix
All four entries below are classified Caution. None is classified Allowed. Claim classification requires human review; this record does not assert a permitted-claim determination.
| Claim Text | Claim Type | Why It Matters | Safer Alternative Wording | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Helps improve skin wrinkles” (피부의 주름개선에 도움을 준다) | Caution | The notification fixes this exact wording. It is not a free-form description — changing the phrasing moves the statement outside the regulatory basis. It also applies only within the stated content range (0.05–0.2%), the five permitted dosage forms, and the notification’s usage instructions. | “Listed as a notified functional-cosmetic ingredient for helping improve skin wrinkles, within the specified content and dosage-form range, where review conditions are met.” | 고시 제2025-88호 Appendix 4 item 3; 고시 제2025-89호 Appendix 3 |
| “More stable than retinol” / “compensates for retinol’s photostability weakness” / “higher absorption” | Caution | Appendix 4 item 3 lists four ingredients in one table but states no equivalence, conversion, substitution or ranking between them. The units are not even comparable — retinol and retinyl palmitate are given in IU/g, this ingredient and adenosine in %. Comparative superiority statements circulate widely in the Korean market; none of them rests on the notification. | “Appendix 4 item 3 lists this ingredient alongside retinol, retinyl palmitate and adenosine. The notification does not state equivalence or ranking between them.” | 고시 제2025-88호 Appendix 4 item 3, full text of all four rows (negative finding) |
| “Tretinoin-grade” / “performs at tretinoin level” | Caution (highest boundary level on this page) | The notification fixes the permitted efficacy wording to one sentence, so any statement about a different or higher level of effect falls outside it. Separately, tretinoin (retinoic acid and its salts, CAS 302-79-4) is listed in Appendix 1 of the Cosmetic Safety Standard as an ingredient that cannot be used in cosmetics — attaching its effect level to a cosmetic ingredient implies a level the regulation does not permit cosmetics to claim. | “The efficacy the notification recognises is the single phrase 「피부의 주름개선에 도움을 준다」.” | 고시 제2025-88호 Appendix 4 item 3 (efficacy wording); 고시 제2026-19호 Appendix 1 (tretinoin prohibition — context) |
| “0.2% or more products must carry the specified precaution statement” | Caution | This is a labelling obligation, not a safety assessment. What the notification records is the wording to be displayed — that certain reactions “have been reported” in human application studies. It should not be restated as “this ingredient causes side effects” or as “this ingredient is free of side effects”. | “Products containing 0.2% or more are required to display the precaution wording specified by the notification.” | 고시 제2026-56호 Appendix 1 item 2(b) entry 13 |
Evidence Boundaries: What This Page Does Not Claim
The following claims are outside the scope of this ingredient record:
Disease treatment or prevention. Nothing here supports a treatment or prevention claim. Polyethoxylated retinamide is recorded in Korea as a functional-cosmetic ingredient; functional cosmetics are not medicines, and the notification’s permitted efficacy wording is limited to helping improve skin wrinkles.
Pharmaceutical-level effect. This page does not state or imply that polyethoxylated retinamide performs at the level of any pharmaceutical substance. Tretinoin is named above only to record that it cannot be used in cosmetics — not to establish any relationship between the two substances.
A chemical-class or lineage designation. This page does not classify polyethoxylated retinamide as a “vitamin A derivative”, a “retinoid”, or a derivative of tretinoin. The monograph prints a chemical name; it does not assign a class name, and the KCIA dictionary has no classification field at all. Such a designation would require a citable classifying source, which has not been obtained.
Guaranteed or individual results. No statement here guarantees a product outcome or predicts an individual response. Content, dosage form and formulation all vary by product, and this record describes the ingredient’s regulatory position, not any finished product.
Comparative superiority. This page does not rank polyethoxylated retinamide against retinol, retinyl palmitate, adenosine, or any other ingredient. The notification that lists them together does not compare them.
Related Entities
Related Ingredients
- Retinol — Appendix 4 item 3, entry 1 (2,500 IU/g)
- Retinyl Palmitate — Appendix 4 item 3, entry 2 (10,000 IU/g)
- Adenosine — Appendix 4 item 3, entry 3 (0.04%)
- Niacinamide — Appendix 4 item 2 (skin brightening)
Related Product Types
- Anti-wrinkle functional cosmetics — lotion
- Anti-wrinkle functional cosmetics — solution
- Anti-wrinkle functional cosmetics — cream
- Anti-wrinkle functional cosmetics — solid form
- Anti-wrinkle functional cosmetics — sheet mask
Related Claims
- Notified anti-wrinkle efficacy wording (fixed phrasing)
- Content range 0.05–0.2% and five permitted dosage forms
- Precaution labelling obligation at 0.2% or above
Related Regulatory Concepts
- Functional cosmetics (기능성화장품) — Korea
- Appendix 4 — categories of functional cosmetics exempt from certain data submission
- Raw-material monograph vs finished-preparation monograph
- Use-precaution labelling on cosmetic packaging
- Prohibited cosmetic ingredients (Cosmetic Safety Standard, Appendix 1)
Source Transparency Note
This page uses the following source classification:
| Source | Role | Authority Scope | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFDS 고시 (No. 2025-88, 2025-89, 2026-19, 2026-56) | Regulatory | Listing status, content range, dosage forms, permitted efficacy wording, specification, labelling obligation | Cosmetics only. The notifications state requirements; they do not state reasons. |
| Korean Law Information Center (law.go.kr) | Regulatory — full text retrieval | Notification body and appendices, administrative rule coordinates | Current-status display can lag behind the MFDS notification board; MFDS listings were used to confirm currency. |
| KCIA Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary (code 3901) | Naming | Standardised Korean name, English designation, blending purpose | Cannot be used as the basis for a functional claim. Has no chemical-classification field. Its “notification name” field was empty for the labelling rule, so the notification text had to be retrieved directly. |
| PubChem | Chemical identity | CAS number, molecular structure | Returned no match for this ingredient — recorded here as a negative finding, not as an identity. |
| Trade and media sources | Market usage | How the ingredient is referred to commercially (e.g. the trade name Medimin A) | Not a regulatory or claim authority. Used only to record naming in circulation. |
KCIA는 naming 및 synonym 확인용으로만 사용한다. KCIA 단독으로 기능성·의료적 claim의 근거로 삼지 않는다.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is polyethoxylated retinamide a regulated ingredient in Korea?
Yes. Polyethoxylated retinamide is listed in Appendix 4, item 3 of MFDS Notification No. 2025-88 as a notified anti-wrinkle functional-cosmetic ingredient, at a content of 0.05–0.2%. A raw-material monograph for polyethoxylated retinamide also appears in Appendix 3 of Notification No. 2025-89.
What wrinkle claim is permitted for polyethoxylated retinamide in Korean cosmetics?
The notification fixes the efficacy wording to the single phrase 「피부의 주름개선에 도움을 준다」 (helps improve skin wrinkles). Products using polyethoxylated retinamide under this listing are limited to that wording, to the content range 0.05–0.2%, and to five dosage forms: lotion, solution, cream, solid form and sheet mask.
Does polyethoxylated retinamide have a CAS number?
No CAS number was found for polyethoxylated retinamide. A PubChem lookup returned no match for either the notification’s English name or the chemical name, and the KCIA entry leaves the CAS field empty. Polyethoxylated retinamide is a polyethylene glycol adduct with an average degree of polymerisation of n = 10.7, so the absence of a single identifier is consistent with its nature as a polymer rather than a discrete compound.
Is polyethoxylated retinamide a retinoid or a vitamin A derivative?
This record does not make that classification. The Appendix 3 monograph prints the chemical name N-ω-methylpolyethyleneglycolyl retinamide but does not assign polyethoxylated retinamide to a chemical class, and the KCIA dictionary has no classification field. Descriptions of this kind circulate in the market; a citable classifying source would be required before stating one here.
Can polyethoxylated retinamide claims mention disease treatment?
No. Polyethoxylated retinamide is recorded as a functional-cosmetic ingredient, and functional cosmetics are not medicines. Treatment or prevention claims fall outside the permitted efficacy wording. Statements implying that polyethoxylated retinamide performs at the level of a pharmaceutical substance — including tretinoin, which cannot be used in cosmetics at all — are also outside the regulatory basis.
Do products with polyethoxylated retinamide need a precaution label?
Products containing 0.2% or more of polyethoxylated retinamide must carry a use-precaution statement, under Appendix 1, item 2(b), entry 13 of MFDS Notification No. 2026-56. The notified wording records that mild erythema, skin dryness, burning sensation, itching and papules have been reported in human application studies. This is a labelling requirement, not a safety assessment of the ingredient.