8 Korean Tranexamic Acid Serums Compared: TXA, Supporting Actives and Cost per ml

The best Korean tranexamic acid serum is not automatically the bottle with the largest TXA number. A fair comparison has to look at the complete formula: whether niacinamide, arbutin, vitamin C, retinal or glutathione share the treatment step, how the serum is packaged and textured, how much each milliliter costs, and whether the product can replace rather than duplicate another brightening serum.

All eight products below were active in the ProtoClinical Shopify catalog with positive inventory when this comparison was audited. Every product has tranexamic acid confirmed by current brand information or a current official ingredient list. Concentrations are shown only when a brand discloses them; an undisclosed number is left undisclosed rather than estimated from ingredient order. Prices and inventory are current store data, while destination-specific shipping remains a checkout decision.

Korean tranexamic acid serums compared by formula and value

The strongest buying distinction is formula architecture. Anua adds arbutin and a vitamin C derivative to a 4% TXA and 10% niacinamide base. PURITO combines 6% TXA and 10% niacinamide with retinal, which changes how cautiously the serum should be placed around other active products. Haruharu uses 4% TXA and 4% niacinamide with two vitamin C forms and an airless-pump gel format. CENTELLIAN24 takes a glutathione-led ampoule route and discloses TXA as 10,000 ppm rather than a percentage. The comparison therefore cannot be reduced to a single concentration leaderboard.

Price per ml uses the live ProtoClinical price divided by the confirmed 30 ml size, rounded to the nearest cent. Inventory is a live catalog count, not a promise that the item will still be available when the page is later published. No express-only shipping marker appeared in the audited product tags/metafields; destination eligibility and final shipping cost still resolve at checkout.

TXA plus niacinamide is common, but the full formula still differs

Seven of these eight products pair TXA with niacinamide, but that does not make them interchangeable. Cos De BAHA is the cleanest ratio-led comparison: 5% TXA and 5% niacinamide in one lightweight serum, with green tea and aloe as supporting ingredients. Celimax lowers the TXA disclosure to 3% and niacinamide to 5%, then adds Melazero V2, bisabolol and sodium hyaluronate. Dr.Belmeur uses 2% TXA and 5% niacinamide with vitamin B12 and troxerutin. Those are three different finished formulas even before texture, price and packaging enter the decision.

Anua, Abib and PURITO move in the opposite direction: their niacinamide disclosure is 10%. Anua combines it with 4% TXA plus arbutin; Abib combines 10% niacinamide with 3% TXA and 5% glutathione; PURITO combines 10% niacinamide with 6% TXA and retinal. The useful question is therefore not “Which has niacinamide?” but “What other job is the formula taking over?” If a routine already has a 10% niacinamide serum, an arbutin serum and a retinoid, choosing the most crowded TXA formula can increase overlap instead of simplifying the routine.

Alpha arbutin and Vitamin C change the supporting route

Anua is the clearest arbutin crossover in this group. The brand discloses 2% arbutin and the current ingredient list also includes alpha-arbutin, while 3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid appears later in the formula. That makes Anua a dense tone-focused stack: TXA, niacinamide, arbutin and a vitamin C derivative share one bottle. This is valuable when the bottle replaces separate products. It is less attractive when those same lanes are already duplicated elsewhere.

Haruharu takes a different vitamin C route. Its official ingredient list includes both ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbyl phosphate alongside 4% TXA, 4% niacinamide and centella-related ingredients. CENTELLIAN24 also lists ascorbic acid, but its product story is more glutathione-led and its brand page discloses TXA as 10,000 ppm. None of those formulas should be treated as proof that adding vitamin C to TXA automatically makes the product stronger. The useful distinction is supporting route, not a universal efficacy ladder.

Anua product pageAbib product pageCos De BAHA product pageCENTELLIAN24 product page

Concentrations cannot be compared when brands define them differently

Percentage labels are useful facts, but they are not a self-contained ranking system. PURITO discloses 6% TXA, Cos De BAHA 5%, Anua and Haruharu 4%, Celimax and Abib 3%, and Dr.Belmeur 2%. CENTELLIAN24 instead discloses 10,000 ppm of TXA. Those labels tell you what the brands state about ingredient quantity. They do not tell you, by themselves, which complete serum will produce the largest visible change for a particular person.

Vehicle, supporting ingredients, directions, stability, irritation, adherence and the actual cause of uneven-looking tone all sit outside the headline number. PURITO is the clearest example of why a concentration leaderboard can mislead: it has the largest stated TXA percentage in this set, but it also includes retinal. That may be useful for someone intentionally choosing a retinal-containing active step, yet it creates a different tolerance and routine-management problem from a simpler 5% TXA plus 5% niacinamide serum.

CENTELLIAN24 is another reason not to normalize every disclosure into a neat chart. The brand publishes 10,000 ppm. This article preserves that native disclosure rather than converting it into a percentage and then pretending the converted number has the same evidentiary meaning as a product name built around “TXA 6.” Data discipline is more useful than forced comparability.

Texture determines whether a brightening serum is easy to keep using

A serum that repeatedly pills under sunscreen or feels too dense for the rest of a routine has low practical value even when its ingredient list looks impressive. Haruharu explicitly describes a bouncy gel texture that absorbs quickly and is not sticky, while Anua describes a watery, lightweight, non-greasy and non-sticky texture. Dr.Belmeur describes a denser pink serum that still absorbs quickly with a soft non-sticky finish. The other products should be judged only by texture information their current brand or store records actually support, not by invented first-person sensory testing.

For a layered morning routine, Anua and Haruharu have the clearest documented lightweight texture case. For a buyer who prefers a denser feel, Dr.Belmeur is the explicit alternative. PURITO needs a different kind of attention: the directions tell users to shake the serum several times to distribute the capsules. That is an operational instruction, not a texture flaw, but it makes the product less “set and forget” than a simple fluid serum.

Fragrance and formula complexity matter for easily stressed skin

Fragrance status is one of the easiest places to overstate product safety. Anua explicitly lists the serum as fragrance-free. Haruharu describes its current TXA serum as unscented/fragrance-free. Cos De BAHA and CENTELLIAN24 do not list parfum in the audited ingredient information. Celimax also does not list parfum, but its formula includes spearmint extract, so “no parfum listed” is more precise than turning that into a universal fragrance-free claim. Dr.Belmeur and Abib are left as “not confirmed” here because the audited primary pages did not establish the status cleanly enough.

Fragrance-free does not mean irritation-proof. Anua combines several tone-focused actives and includes betaine salicylate in the current INCI. PURITO includes retinal. Haruharu combines TXA, niacinamide and vitamin C forms. A shopper with an easily stressed routine should compare the entire active load, not just look for the absence of fragrance. A simpler product that can be used consistently can be the better operational choice even when another bottle has more highlighted ingredients.

One lead brightening serum is often easier to evaluate than three

Most people do not need separate TXA, niacinamide, alpha-arbutin and vitamin C serums in the same routine. Several products here already combine two or more of those lanes. Anua is the clearest replacement product for a crowded tone routine. Abib can replace separate niacinamide, TXA and glutathione steps. Haruharu combines TXA, niacinamide and vitamin C forms. PURITO combines TXA, niacinamide and retinal. Buying one of these and continuing every overlapping bottle usually makes the routine harder to interpret.

A practical test is to name the job of each serum in one sentence. If two products have the same sentence, one is probably redundant during the evaluation period. Keep cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen stable, introduce the selected serum according to its directions, and change one variable at a time. This does not guarantee a result; it simply produces a cleaner buying and troubleshooting process.

Cost per ml separates expensive bottles from expensive routines

Because all eight products are 30 ml, the unit-cost ranking is unusually clean. Cos De BAHA is the lowest at roughly $0.44/ml, followed by Dr.Belmeur at $0.52/ml. Anua and CENTELLIAN24 sit around $0.66/ml. Celimax and Abib are around $0.74/ml. Haruharu and PURITO are roughly $1.05/ml. These numbers are current-price arithmetic, not quality scores.

Value changes when a product replaces other purchases. A $0.66/ml formula can be less expensive at the routine level than a $0.44/ml serum if the cheaper bottle gets stacked beside two more products with the same job. Conversely, a complex formula is poor value when the user already owns and tolerates the same active lanes. The correct unit of comparison is both the bottle and the routine it creates.

Sunscreen remains part of the routine rather than a serum feature

None of these serums replaces sunscreen. A product can contain TXA, niacinamide, arbutin, vitamin C, glutathione or retinal and still leave daytime protection as a separate job. The cleanest morning structure is cleanser as needed, one chosen treatment serum, moisturizer if needed, then sunscreen. If the serum causes pilling, reduce redundant layers before blaming sunscreen itself.

PURITO specifically tells users to use sunscreen while using its retinal-containing TXA serum. Anua also directs daytime users toward SPF 30 or higher. Those directions reinforce the same operational point without turning sunscreen into a supporting active inside the serum comparison.

Start by choosing the formula that removes the most duplication from your current routine. Choose Cos De BAHA when low unit cost and a simple 5%/5% TXA-niacinamide pair are the priority. Choose Anua when one dense tone-focused formula can replace separate niacinamide, arbutin and vitamin C steps. Choose Haruharu when a documented gel texture and airless pump matter. Choose PURITO only when a retinal-containing treatment is intentional. Choose Dr.Belmeur for a lower-cost 2% TXA route, Celimax for a simpler 3% TXA/5% niacinamide formula, Abib for a glutathione-heavy multi-active stack, and CENTELLIAN24 when the glutathione-ampoule route is the main preference. These are buyer-fit conclusions, not claims that one formula is clinically superior.