Ginseng

Ginseng's main actives are saponins called ginsenosides. Steaming fresh roots at 90 to 98°C and drying them turns white ginseng into red ginseng, which reshapes ginsenosides into compounds such as Rg3 and Rk1 and adds new ones formed by browning reactions [4]. Korean records date steamed ginseng back to 1123, and the preparation was standardised in 1908 [4].

Getting ginsenosides into skin is the catch. A 2025 to 2026 review says the parent compounds have low membrane permeability and work more like 'prodrugs'; compound K, a more active form, is made mainly by gut bacteria, and skin microbes convert ginsenosides far less [3]. That's why some skincare uses enzyme-treated or fermented ginseng to pre-convert them.

Two small topical trials support it. In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 23 people, an enzyme-modified ginseng cream reduced roughness and overall sun-damage scores, with no reported side effects [1]. In a second double-blind trial, Korean women aged 35 to 59 used a 0.05% ginseng leaf extract lotion or placebo for eight weeks; deep crow's-feet furrows became shallower, though only 17 of 24 finished, and the authors work for a Korean ingredient company, with government funding [2].

Many headline 'red ginseng skin' studies are about supplements. Oral red ginseng was studied in open, uncontrolled trials for melasma and for eczema, funded by Korean ginseng bodies [6][7], and one study titled as a skin study was actually done on lab cells [8]. None of these tells you what a cream will do.

The same review notes ginseng's skin evidence 'still lacks high-quality clinical validation' [3]. Its cultural pedigree is stronger: Amorepacific launched ABC Ginseng Cream in 1966 and Sulwhasoo in 1997 [5].