Anua Skincare Review: 5 Anua Products and Which One Fits Your Skin

I reviewed the Anua azelaic acid serum a while back and called it “fine, it’s fine.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Which is funny, because it turned out to be one of only two Anua products still in my routine. I’ve tried all five in this post, and the other one that stuck is the Heartleaf toner. That’s not because I disliked the rest (I really didn’t). I’m always trying new things, so as a reviewer I have to be picky about what stays on the shelf and what I move on from, and these two earned their spot.

So this is the full rundown: how each of the five actually behaves on my combination skin, and whether it plays nicely with rosacea and seb derm (my two favourite party tricks). They all come from the same brand, but I wouldn’t hand them all to the same person.

How I’m judging these

How each one feels and layers comes from my own face. The rosacea and seb derm bits come from reading every ingredient list to the bottom, because that’s where the esters and plant oils like to hide. If you want to check a bottle you already own, paste the list into my skin ingredient checker, which has tabs for fungal acne and seb derm, rosacea, pore clogging and anti-aging.

Anua Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil

Buy the cleansing oil▾See where to buy it

• LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off
• STYLEVANA US, code INF10NEVE for up to 25% off
• Cult Beauty
• StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in
• Sephora UK

After the toner, this is the Anua product I see talked about most. Anua made it as the first step of a double cleanse, so it melts down makeup and sunscreen before you go in with a water-based cleanser.

The texture is silky with loads of slip, so I could massage it around my face without feeling like I was dragging the skin. Add water and it turns milky, and once it was rinsed off I didn’t get that oily film that makes me wonder whether I’ve actually washed my face at all. There is a scent though. Fragrance is sixth on the list, so if you’re after a completely fragrance-free cleansing oil, this isn’t it.

What I wouldn’t buy it for is the whole pulling-out-sebaceous-filaments thing that took off on TikTok. It’s a lovely first cleanse and that’s about it – your pores aren’t going to write you a thank-you letter because you massaged it into your nose for seven minutes.

Anua calls it non-comedogenic, and lots of people online call it their favourite cleansing oil. Others with oily, acne-prone skin say it gave them closed comedones or blackheads after a few weeks of steady use. So I wouldn’t read non-comedogenic as a promise for every face.

For seb derm, this is the one in the lineup I’d be most careful with. The base is ethylhexyl palmitate, a C16 ester. Right behind it sit sorbeth-30 tetraoleate and sorbitan sesquioleate, two oleate esters that fungal acne checkers flag hard, with butyl avocadate close by. Further down there’s sunflower, macadamia, olive, jojoba, grape seed and moringa oil, and some checkers flag every one of those too. If oils have never bothered your skin, carry on. If they have, patch test first, and follow it with a second cleanser either way. My face washes for seborrheic dermatitis post has gentler options with every ingredient checked.

Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner

Buy the Heartleaf toner▾See where to buy it

• LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off
• STYLEVANA US, code INF10NEVE for up to 25% off
• Cult Beauty
• StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in

If Anua has a signature product, it’s this, and it’s also the one I reach for constantly, especially during a flare when my skin wants hydration and nothing remotely active. You’ll find it as one of the two toners in my short routine for sensitive skin, and it made my list of Korean skincare products that helped my rosacea too.

Watery, yes, but it doesn’t feel like I’ve just splashed tap water on my face. There’s enough body to feel hydrating and it still disappears fast. Most days it’s one layer. When my skin feels dehydrated I build up a few thin layers instead.

I’ve used more intensely hydrating toners, but this one slots under almost anything and doesn’t leave a film for the next step to fight with. I wouldn’t expect the toner itself to pill, and if I’m using several products after it, I keep the layer thin rather than drenching my face.

Heartleaf is the first ingredient at 77% of the bottle, hence the name, and there’s no fragrance. There are no plant oils or esters on the label either. For seb derm and rosacea at the same time, that’s about as easy as a toner gets. Soothing doesn’t mean your redness vanishes after one go, though. For me the appeal is the hydration without making the rest of my routine feel heavier.

Anua Niacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Serum

Buy the Anua niacinamide serum▾See where to buy it

• LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off
• STYLEVANA US, code INF10NEVE for up to 25% off
• Cult Beauty
• YesStyle (50ml Kpop Demon Hunters set), code NEVEEN15 built in
• StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in
• Sephora UK

This is the Anua serum for when brown marks are the main problem. It’s 10% niacinamide and 4% tranexamic acid, with 2% arbutin alongside, plus hyaluronic acid and a ceramide for hydration.

On paper it’s lightweight and watery, and it does come out very watery. Once it’s on, though, it feels much more substantial and can stay quite tacky. A few layers left me looking shiny and feeling a bit sticky. It isn’t greasy, but I wouldn’t call the finish weightless.

It can pill, too. Some reviews say it pills like mad under other products and others never have a problem, so I think how you apply it makes a big difference. I used a small amount and gave it time to settle before anything went on top. Stack loads of hydrating layers under it and rush sunscreen over the lot, and that’s when a perfectly decent serum turns into a tiny skincare eraser.

Ten percent niacinamide deserves a bit of respect as well. The general feedback online is mixed, with some people with dry, sensitive skin reporting irritation even though they’re fine with lower-strength niacinamide. If your skin is sensitive, start slowly.

Annoyingly, it’s also the hardest one in this post for seb derm. Macadamia, olive, jojoba, grape seed and camellia seed oil are all on the label (I went through it line by line in my Korean skincare for hyperpigmentation post). If seb derm and fungal acne aren’t a thing for you, ignore all of that, because on brightening ingredients alone it’s the strongest-looking label of the five.

Anua Azelaic Acid 10 Hyaluron Redness Soothing Serum

Buy the Anua azelaic serum▾See where to buy it

• LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off
• STYLEVANA US, code INF10NEVE for up to 25% off
• Cult Beauty
• YesStyle (50ml Kpop Demon Hunters set), code NEVEEN15 built in
• StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in
• Sephora UK

I’ve written a whole Anua azelaic acid serum review already, so this is the short version. Inside there’s 10% azelaic acid with panthenol, beta-glucan, centella, niacinamide, squalane and ceramide NP, and Anua sells it for redness and acne-prone skin.

TikTok told me it was basically water. It isn’t. It sits somewhere between watery and gel, with a little more body than I expected, and it gets slightly tacky if I layer too much over it. Not oily at all. A small amount sits fine under SPF and makeup, which matters because I use it every morning after cleansing, before moisturiser. In the evenings I alternate it with tretinoin, one night each and never both together. It doesn’t irritate my skin, and with type 1 rosacea, azelaic acid is a permanent fixture in my routine anyway.

Anua’s own directions are sensible. Start with one or two drops, once or twice a week, and build up towards twice a day if your skin’s happy with it. Please dont start at five drops twice a day just because the bottle says you can get there eventually.

Of the three serums, this is the easiest one for seb derm. In my dark spot post it had the fewest flags of anything, with only hydrogenated lecithin near the end of the list. And it pairs nicely with the niacinamide one when you’re choosing between them: Anua’s own guidance points azelaic acid at red or pink post-acne marks and the niacinamide + TXA at brown ones.

It didn’t win my Anua vs SKIN1004 azelaic acid head to head, but it’s still the Anua treatment serum I’d reach for first.

Anua PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Capsule 100 Serum

Buy the PDRN serum▾See where to buy it

• LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off
• STYLEVANA US, code INF10NEVE for up to 25% off
• Cult Beauty
• StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in

And then there’s the PDRN one, because it wouldn’t be K-beauty in 2026 without salmon DNA somewhere in the routine. (I’ve already gushed about the Anua PDRN capsule mist in my June K-beauty faves, and this is its serum sibling.)

This one is all about hydration: sodium DNA, a whole pile of hyaluronic acid types, glycerin, niacinamide and hydrolysed collagen. Compared with a moisturiser it’s lightweight, but not invisible once it’s on. It feels more cushiony than the Heartleaf toner and my skin looks noticeably dewier afterwards.

For me this was a less-is-more product. One or two pumps gave me the plump, hydrated look I was after. When I started piling it on because my skin felt extra dry, that’s when I noticed a bit of tack. Getting that glow without adding a facial oil is the whole appeal.

For seb derm there’s no plant oil and no fragrance, but there are two esters some checkers flag, glyceryl oleate and polyglyceryl-6 laurate, plus hydrogenated lecithin. Glyceryl oleate is eighth on the list, so it’s fairly high up. Patch test if your skin is picky about that kind of thing.

When I was using it, it went at the end of my serums, after the toner and a lighter serum but before moisturiser. I wouldn’t pair it with four other heavy hydrating serums though, because at some point your face becomes a small indoor swimming pool. If you’re 40-plus like me, the rest of what I use is in my Korean skincare for mature skin post.

Which Anua product is right for you?

I wouldn’t choose between these based on which one’s most viral. They’re doing completely different jobs.

← Swipe to see the full table on mobile

Nothing I’ve used from Anua has caused a flush yet. I have type 1 rosacea though, not type 2, so your mileage may vary, and always be careful with anything new on rosacea skin. The cleansing oil is the only one I’d flag for rosacea, and only because it has fragrance in it.

The best Anua products (my favourites)

The two I kept are the Heartleaf toner for soothing and the azelaic serum for treatment. They’re the pair that work for my rosacea and my seb derm at once, and the toner is the one where I think you get the most for your money. If your skin is dry or dehydrated, add the PDRN serum on top.

The niacinamide + TXA serum I’d save for when pigmentation really is the priority. It’s a more active formula, and I wouldn’t treat it like a harmless hydrating serum. And the cleansing oil is a handy first cleanse, and a good reminder that viral claims need a pinch of salt.

Where to buy Anua in the UK

LOOKFANTASTIC carries all five, and code LFTFNEVEEN takes up to 25% off there. The details are on my LOOKFANTASTIC discount code page. I also order K-beauty from STYLEVANA with code INF10NEVE for up to 25% off, and from YesStyle, where code NEVEEN15 is built into my link. SkinSeoul stocks Anua as well, and code NEVEEN takes an extra 5% off there. Every code I have is on my discount codes page, including STYLEVANA, YesStyle, StyleKorean and SkinSeoul.

• Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil: LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off · Cult Beauty · StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in · Sephora UK
• Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner: LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off · Cult Beauty · StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in
• Niacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Serum: LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off · Cult Beauty · YesStyle (50ml set), code NEVEEN15 built in · StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in · Sephora UK
• Azelaic Acid 10 Hyaluron Redness Soothing Serum: LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off · Cult Beauty · YesStyle (50ml set), code NEVEEN15 built in · StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in · Sephora UK
• PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Capsule 100 Serum: LOOKFANTASTIC, code LFTFNEVEEN for up to 25% off · Cult Beauty · StyleKorean, code NEVEEN20 built in

FAQ

Is Anua a good skincare brand?

For me, yes. The Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner and the Azelaic Acid 10 serum are both fragrance-free and easy on sensitive skin. The rest of the range is more mixed, so check each ingredient list against your own skin rather than buying the whole brand.

What is the best Anua product?

The Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner, if you only buy one. It’s gentle on sensitive, redness-prone skin and layers under almost anything. For a treatment, the Azelaic Acid 10 Hyaluron Redness Soothing Serum is my pick.

Is the Anua niacinamide serum worth it?

If brown marks are your main worry and your skin isn’t sensitive, it has the most brightening ingredients of the five. It can feel tacky and pill if you layer too much, and it contains five plant oils, so it’s not one I’d pick for seb derm or fungal acne.

Is Anua good for rosacea?

Mostly, yes. The Heartleaf toner, the azelaic serum, the niacinamide serum and the PDRN serum are all fragrance-free. The Heartleaf cleansing oil contains fragrance, so patch test that one if fragrance sets your skin off. And the niacinamide serum is 10% niacinamide, which can sting sensitive skin, so ease into it slowly. Nothing from Anua has caused a flush for me yet, but I have type 1 rosacea, so your mileage may vary.

Is the Anua Heartleaf toner safe for seb derm?

It’s the easiest Anua product for seb derm that I’ve found. Nothing on the label is a plant oil or an ester, and it’s fragrance-free. It’s also the one I use most consistently.

Does the Anua cleansing oil remove sebaceous filaments?

It’s a good first cleanse for makeup and SPF, but I wouldn’t buy it as a pore-plug remover. It also has oleate esters high on the list plus six plant oils, and fragrance too. If your skin clogs easily or you have seb derm, patch test it first.

Should I use Anua niacinamide or azelaic acid for dark spots?

Anua’s own guidance points the Niacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Serum at brown marks and the Azelaic Acid 10 serum at red or pink post-acne marks. If you have seb derm, the azelaic serum has far fewer flags.

Is the Anua PDRN serum sticky?

A little, if you use too much. One or two pumps gives a dewy, hydrated finish without much tack.

Where can I buy Anua in the UK?

LOOKFANTASTIC stocks all five products in this post, and code LFTFNEVEEN gives up to 25% off. Cult Beauty has all five as well, and StyleKorean, YesStyle and Sephora UK carry some of them.

More Anua and K-beauty

• The Anua Azelaic Acid Serum Review – the full standalone review
• Anua vs SKIN1004 Azelaic Acid – both serums side by side
• Korean Skincare for Hyperpigmentation – both Anua serums with every ingredient checked
• Seb Derm Safe Korean Moisturizers – nine checked down to the last ingredient
• The Best Korean Sunscreen – the SPF to wear over all of this
• Skin ingredient checker – paste in any ingredient list

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