Ingredient Index

Each entry below is a regulatory record for a single ingredient as it exists in Korean law: which notification lists it, what wording that notification permits, and where the boundary sits between a cosmetic, a health functional food, and a drug. The records are written to be read by machines as much as by people, so each one states its sources with coordinates — notification numbers, annex and article references, and product codes — rather than summarizing them.

These are not product reviews or recommendations. No entry ranks brands, compares formulations, or advises on personal use. Where a record says an ingredient may carry a particular claim, that describes wording a qualifying product may use under stated conditions; it is not a statement about how well the ingredient performs.

The index is organized by what anchors each record, because that is what determines which claims are available. An ingredient named in a notification has a defined set of permitted wording. An ingredient defined mainly by boundaries — because it sits across the cosmetic, food, and drug frameworks, or because it appears in none of them — has a different kind of record, built from what the regulations exclude rather than what they list.

Functional Cosmetic Notified Ingredients

Ingredients named in Annex 4 of the Regulation on the Review of Functional Cosmetics (기능성화장품 심사에 관한 규정). For these, the regulator has predefined the ingredient, a maximum content, a fixed efficacy phrase, and in most cases the permitted product forms. Being listed does not describe efficacy; it defines what may be said and at what concentration.

• Arbutin (알부틴) — skin whitening
• Niacinamide (나이아신아마이드) — skin whitening
• Ascorbyl Glucoside (아스코빌글루코사이드) — skin whitening
• Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate (아스코빌테트라이소팔미테이트) — skin whitening
• Alpha-Bisabolol (알파-비사보롤) — skin whitening
• Retinol (레티놀) — wrinkle improvement
• Retinyl Palmitate (레티닐팔미테이트) — wrinkle improvement
• Adenosine (아데노신) — wrinkle improvement
• Salicylic Acid (살리실릭애씨드) — acne-prone skin, with a distinct drug boundary

Health Functional Food Notified Ingredients

Ingredients listed in the Health Functional Food Code (건강기능식품의 기준 및 규격). Each article defines permitted raw-material forms, product specifications, the functional statements the ingredient may carry, and a daily intake. The Code is amended frequently, so each record states the notification number it was verified against and the date of that verification.

• Magnesium (마그네슘) — nutrient; two functional statements, and an over-the-counter drug boundary
• Niacin (나이아신) — nutrient; intake set separately for each raw-material form
• EPA and DHA-Containing Oil (EPA 및 DHA 함유 유지) — functional ingredient article; four functional statements, three intake ranges
• Lutein (루테인) — functional ingredient, with individually-approved registrations alongside the notified article

Ingredients Defined by Their Boundaries

Some ingredients are best described by where they are not listed, or by the fact that the same substance is regulated under more than one framework at once. These records are built from negative findings and cross-framework comparisons, and they exist because that is where claim errors concentrate.

• Hyaluronic Acid (히알루론산) — no functional cosmetic category exists for moisturizing; separately a prescription intra-articular injection
• Sodium Hyaluronate (소듐하이알루로네이트) — the salt form, recorded separately from the acid
• Sodium DNA / PDRN (소듐디엔에이) — one record covering three distinct ingredient entities: Sodium DNA, Hydrolyzed DNA, and Hydrolyzed Sodium DNA
• Hydroquinone (히드로퀴논) — prohibited in cosmetics; approved as a drug
• Reduced Glutathione (글루타티온) — quasi-drug and over-the-counter drug status, distinct from its supplement marketing

How to Read These Records

Every record follows the same structure, so the same question can be asked of any ingredient:

• Ingredient Snapshot — identity: names, INCI where applicable, CAS and other identifiers. Fields that have not been researched are marked Unknown rather than left blank.
• Regulatory Records — the instruments that govern the ingredient, each with its notification or product number and the location of the provision.
• Claim Safety Matrix — wording, how this database treats it, and why. The categories are our claim-handling classifications, not legal determinations issued by a regulator.
• Evidence Boundaries — what the record does not claim. This section is deliberately placed after the claim matrix, because a boundary only means something once the claims are on the table.
• Source Transparency Note — each source’s role and its limit, including which sources may not be used as claim evidence.

Coverage and Its Limits

This index lists what has been researched and published, not everything that exists. Korea’s functional cosmetic annex alone names more ingredients than are recorded here, and the health functional food Code lists many more. Absence from this index means no record has been written yet — it carries no regulatory meaning.

Records are verified against primary sources at a point in time and each states its own verification date. Notifications are amended: the health functional food Code was amended twice between March 2025 and June 2026. A record that was accurate on its verification date may not reflect a later amendment, and the date shown on each page is the honest boundary of what was checked.

Where a record could not confirm something, it says so rather than filling the gap. Fields marked “Unknown” or “confirmation required” are open questions, not oversights.