GatgoounCOSRX vs Anua vs Round Lab: what each Korean brand is known for
Published Oct 14, 2026 · Gatgooun
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If you have searched Amazon for Korean skincare, you have met these three names: COSRX, Anua and Round Lab. On Amazon US, all three had listings whose seller line showed the brand's name when we checked, all three have one product that made them famous, and their bottles sit next to each other in every K-beauty roundup.
They are not the same kind of brand, though. Here is what each one says about itself on its own official site, the signature product behind the name, and how to tell them apart. Product details come from the Amazon pages we opened on October 14, 2026. We don't list prices and we don't promise results.
COSRX: the snail mucin brand
COSRX's official About page explains the name: Cosmetics plus Rx. The company says it was formally founded on December 16, 2013, by Jun Sang Hun, and that its slogan is Expecting Tomorrow. The brand describes itself as a skincare brand built around individual skin concerns, and its US site sorts products by ingredient, from snail mucin and peptides to ceramides and hyaluronic acid.
In the US, COSRX is the snail mucin brand. COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence is a 100 ml bottle listed as sold by COSRX, and snail secretion filtrate makes up 96.3% of the formula. The texture is light and a little stretchy, and it goes on after cleansing and toning. The brand's other everyday staple is the Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser, a clear gel face wash in a 150 ml tube. The listing names tea tree oil and BHA and describes the formula as pH balanced.
Anua: the heartleaf brand
Anua's US site calls the brand gentle yet effective Korean skincare and says it puts ingredients that are kind to skin first. The site sorts its range by ingredient, and the list starts with PDRN, azelaic acid and heartleaf, followed by niacinamide, retinol, rice, peach and ceramide.
Heartleaf is where it all started. Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner is a watery toner in a 250 ml bottle, sold by Anua. According to Anua's own product page, 77% of the formula is heartleaf (Houttuynia cordata) extract, alongside hyaluronic acid and extracts of centella asiatica, purslane and chamomile. There is also a pad version, the Heartleaf 77 Toner Pads, if you prefer a jar of soaked pads.
Anua is also one of the brands global shoppers research most. In its July 2026 report, Hwahae, the Korean ingredient and review service, said that during Amazon Prime Day in late June, average daily product views of Anua on its global site rose about 2.6 times. Hwahae linked this to Anua's PDRN serum. In October, an Anua PDRN cream made Hwahae's top 10 creams.
Round Lab: the Dokdo brand
Round Lab's Our Story page says the brand is inspired by ingredients from the Korean Peninsula, where the sea, the wind and the mountains meet. Its best-known ingredient is deep sea water from the East Sea. The brand says this water comes from about 13,000 ft deep, around the islands of Ulleungdo and Dokdo. The Taebaek Mountains, which the brand calls the 400-mile backbone of the Korean Peninsula, are its other inspiration.
Round Lab 1025 Dokdo Toner carries that story in its name. It is a light, water-type toner in a 200 ml bottle, listed as sold by ROUNDLAB OFFICIAL, and the listing names deep sea water in the formula and calls it not sticky or greasy. The matching 1025 Dokdo Cleanser is a 150 ml tube described as a low-pH cleanser with deep sea water that makes a soft, rich lather.
So which one is for you?
Think of them by signature ingredient. COSRX is the brand you go to for snail mucin and simple, single-ingredient basics. Anua is the heartleaf brand that has widened into newer ingredients such as PDRN. Round Lab is built on a sense of place, with Dokdo deep sea water at the center of its best-known line.
You don't need to pick a side. The three signature products sit in different steps, so they work together in one routine: a cleanser such as the COSRX gel or the Round Lab Dokdo cleanser, then a toner such as Anua's heartleaf or Round Lab's Dokdo toner, then the COSRX essence, followed by your usual serum and cream. Add one new product at a time and read each ingredient list first, especially if your skin reacts easily. In the morning, finish with sunscreen.
