Two Parts Gel to One Capsule, or the Other Way Round

The jar holds 55 g (1.94 oz) of clear gel with pink capsules suspended in it, and the two are meant to be dosed separately. medicube's own ratio chart in the listing images gives oily skin a 2:1 ratio of transparent gel to PDRN capsule, normal and combination skin 1:1, and dry or sensitive skin 1:2, meaning double the capsules. The direction on the carton is blunt about why: a higher gel proportion gives a lighter formula, a higher capsule proportion gives heavier moisturisation and elasticity.

Three of the 100 most recent reviews mention working the ratio at all. Sarah Jackson, who used it alongside a medicube Age-R Booster Pro device, spelled it out: "Use as instructed depending on your skin type!" The same review adds that one or two capsules is plenty, and that covering your whole face in them the way some influencers do is a waste. Kittiya Mahisaya reported results in a week on one capsule per night. Dayana, reviewing from Spain, described the same logic in her own words: the clear part for lighter hydration, the pink part when skin is very tired or dry, as in winter.

All three of those reviewers left five stars. That is a small sample and it does not prove the chart fixes everything, but the pattern is worth noticing before you scoop. If you have combination or oily skin and you load the spatula with pink capsules because they look like the expensive bit, you have just chosen the richest version of a cream that plenty of people already find heavy.

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Niacinamide at 5%, Salmon DNA and the Silicone on the Panel

The front of the jar carries two claims: PDRN (Sodium DNA) and Niacinamide 5%. The full ingredient panel backs both. Niacinamide sits third in the list, behind water and glycerin, which is consistent with a 5% figure rather than a token sprinkle. Sodium DNA appears midway down, alongside Salmon Egg Extract. That is the salmon DNA the product name refers to.

The rest of the panel is a fairly loaded hydration and firming stack: Ceramide NP, Squalane, Glutathione, Adenosine, Copper Tripeptide-1, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, and eight separate forms of hyaluronic acid including Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer and Potassium Hyaluronate. medicube's key-ingredients graphic reduces all that to three headlines: Salmon DNA PDRN for uneven skin tone, collagen and hyaluronic acid for hydration and radiance, and niacinamide for a healthy-looking complexion. The listing also states the formula was clinical trial tested by the Global Institute of Dermatological Sciences, with the standard caveat that results vary by skin type.

One entry matters more than the marketing does. Simethicone, a silicone, is on the panel. Lisa, who left one star after a week, wanted the manufacturer to say "explicitly that the product contains a lot of silicones and leads to pore clogging." The silicone is disclosed, just buried nineteenth in a panel of 59 ingredients. If silicones are a hard no for you, that is your answer before you order.

Twelve of 100 Called the Finish Sticky

The listing graphic promises a "Lightweight non-sticky texture." Twelve of the 100 most recent reviewers disagree, which makes stickiness the single largest complaint cluster in the set, well ahead of anything else. It is also the complaint that most often coexists with a good rating: five of those 12 still gave four or five stars, which tells you it is an irritation rather than a dealbreaker for most.

Ms. M. El-awa, at four stars, put it best: "The only downside is it makes my skin sticky." The review goes on to call it a stay-at-home cream, not one for a day of hugging and kissing anyone. Bhavna Singh, at three stars, was less forgiving: "Too thick and sticky makes skin oily not good for summers."

Two reviewers described a workaround. Anita mixed the capsules and gel together before applying, which made it "easier to apply". Another buyer, a month in and already on a second pot, was more specific about quantity, recommending "small amounts" because too much makes the gel pill as it dries.

Both fixes point the same way as the ratio chart. This is a slow-setting gel that needs a thin layer and a minute to dry down. Several reviewers who love it, including Louise Wells and Vicky, note it is thick on application but sinks in fine. If you apply it at speed and expect a lotion finish, you will be tacky for a while. That is a real cost if you use it in the morning under makeup, and it is why so many of the fans say they use it at night only.

Five of the Seven One-Star Reviews Describe a Skin Reaction

This is the section that decides whether you should buy it. Of the seven one-star reviews in the 100, five describe their skin reacting; the other two are a one-line stickiness complaint and a buyer asking for a refund. Across all 100 reviews, seven buyers report redness, itching, breakouts or an allergic response.

Chama's warning is the clearest: "if you have acne-prone or oily skin, I would be very cautious before trying this product." The review describes multiple pimples appearing at once on skin that had been clear. sallyak76 went further after weeks of use, reporting swollen eyes and nose and "red sore broken skin", and could find no published levels for any of the ingredients anywhere. Nicola, who still gave it four stars, suspected the cause: "I think the niacinamide content maybe too high for my skin as it gets really red after using." At 5%, niacinamide is on the higher side of what sensitive skin tends to tolerate, and the carton's own caution line says to discontinue use if irritation occurs.

The counter-evidence is real, and four reviewers make the opposite case. One buyer with "really sensitive skin prone to redness" said the cream "calms and soothes". cutie pie suffered with sore red skin until switching to medicube. Another month-long user singled out that "it doesn't break me out which is really important to me." So this is not a cream that reacts with everyone. It is a cream with a high-active formula that a small but consistent minority cannot wear.

If your skin is acne-prone, oily, or has form for reacting to actives, buy CeraVe PM Facial Moisturising Lotion instead: it is a lightweight, fragrance-free night lotion built around ceramides, and we went through 100 UK reviews of it here. Everyone else can carry on, but patch test on your jawline for two nights first.

The Glow Lands in Days. The Fine Lines Are Another Matter.

medicube's own before-and-after graphic is captioned "After 3 days" and credited to ambassador review images, so treat it as marketing rather than data. On one specific claim, the reviews more or less back that timescale.

The glow shows up fast. brenda from Newcastle reported it after two nights: "My skin is glowing the following morning and pores are minimised." Deb, also two nights in, described plumping and hydration effects the very next day. Shola Francis was seeing "firmer plumper skin" a week into a first purchase from the brand. That surface radiance is the most consistently repeated positive in the whole set, and it is what the 76 five-star ratings are mostly buying.

Structural change is a different question, and the reviews split on it. Four buyers report no visible change at all after using it, and two more say the hydration landed but their fine lines did not. Andrea D, on a second jar, was precise: "I haven't noticed much of a difference in my wrinkles or fine lines", while adding that it does keep skin well hydrated. Carmo, reviewing from France, said much the same: unconvinced on wrinkle reduction, still recommending the cream for hydration.

Longer users tell a better story. One reviewer who tried "tons of different moisturizers over the years" with no effect from any said a month of this one left their skin "in really good condition, glowing". cherryheaven, six months in on the cream and the matching serum, reported visibly reduced forehead lines. That is the trade: near-instant dewiness, and a much slower and less certain return on texture and lines.

Scooping, Wastage and a Pot That Feels Empty

The jar ships with a small spatula, and three reviewers found the capsules a fight to lift out. Nicola reported the pink capsules sitting "embedded down in the product" and being hard to dose correctly, which undercuts the entire ratio system. Bhavna Singh found "the boba capsules are hard to take out". Andrea, at two stars, gave the most detailed account of the packaging problem, saying the gel gets wasted on the lid and that lifting one capsule out carefully still smudges it into the next. The verdict there was that better packaging would make it worth the cost, and that a repurchase depended on medicube fixing it.

There is a related grumble about the balance of the two components. Mrs. Suzanne Mckeen, at three stars, judged it "most gel and not many PDRN beads" and reckoned a straight PDRN serum would be better value. Andrea made the same point independently. That is two of 100 rather than a chorus, but it is a specific and checkable criticism.

The 55 g jar also feels lighter than it looks, which unsettles some buyers. M.M wrote "this is so light, the pot feels empty" before going on to give it five stars. Miss J O'Hara called it "weirdly light but really pretty looking". Neither treated it as a fault. If you are expecting the heft of a department-store cream, the frosted pink pot will read as under-filled even when it is not.

4.3 Out of 5: Who Gets the Glow and Who Gets a Breakout

We scored this 4.3 out of 5, a fraction under the listing's lifetime 4.5 badge. The 100 most recent reviews average 4.42, so recent sentiment is holding steady rather than sliding, and 76 of those 100 are five stars. The deduction is for the two things that keep recurring: 12 reviewers who cannot get on with the tacky finish, and seven who report their skin reacting to a formula carrying 5% niacinamide plus a peptide and PDRN stack.

Buy it if you have normal, combination or dry skin, you use moisturiser at night, and you want visible dewiness quickly. It reads as strong value for a 55 g Korean cream with this ingredient list, and the enthusiasm from repeat buyers is hard to miss: Ms L E Richards at 65 said she had "finally found a cream that works", and cutie pie switched from L'Oreal and will not go back. Do check today's price on Amazon before you commit, because this range is discounted often.

Skip it if you are acne-prone or oily, if silicones break you out, or if you need something that dries down in seconds for a morning routine under makeup. And if you do buy it, read the ratio chart on the listing before you open the lid. It takes ten seconds and it is the closest thing this jar has to a user manual.