The Retinol 0.5 Oil vs 1% Retinol Treatment

Shared ingredients· none here

Product facts and full ingredient lists side by side

on 2+ labelsonly on this labelnot on this labelIngredient	Recommended COSRX The Retinol 0.5 Oil $18.90 $27.00 at Cosrx ↗Save	Paula's Choice 1% Retinol Treatment $65.00 Save
Basics
Type & size	Other · size not on the record	Other · size not on the record
Brand origindiffers	Korean	American
Offers
Where to buydiffers	$27.00 · Cosrx (2 offers)	Not recorded
Formula
Key activesdiffers	squalane, retinol, panthenol, allantoin, ascorbic acid, sodium hyaluronate, hyaluronic acid	retinol, sodium hyaluronate, allantoin
Free ofdiffers	fragrance-free, sulfate-free, alcohol-free, paraben-free	Not recorded
Heads-updiffers	pregnancy caution · photosensitizing · fungal-acne trigger · high pore-rating flag	pregnancy caution · photosensitizingPore data not yet reviewed
Fit & community
Rating	No reviews yet	No reviews yet
Best for	Not recorded	Not recorded
Data quality
Label coveragediffers	Fully parsed · 42 ingredients	Partially captured — 11 of 25 label entries matched, some checks not run
Key actives · 4
hyaluronic acid Pregnancy: generally fine	yes	no
pro-vitamin b5	yes	no
squalane	yes	no
vitamin c	yes	no
Rest of the labels · 39
1,2-hexanediol	yes	no
3-o-ethyl ascorbic acid Pregnancy: generally fine	yes	no
adenosine	yes	no
avena sativa kernel extract	no	yes
beta-carotene	yes	no
bht	yes	no
carbomer	yes	no
ceramide ns	no	yes
cetearyl alcohol	yes	no
di-c12-13 alkyl malate	yes	no
dipotassium glycyrrhizate	no	yes
disodium edta	yes	no
ethylhexylglycerin	yes	no
glutathione	yes	no
glyceryl caprylate	yes	no
glyceryl polymethacrylate	yes	no
glyceryl stearate Possible fungal-acne trigger	yes	no
glycine soja sterols	no	yes
hydrogenated lecithin	yes	no
hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid Pregnancy: generally fine	yes	no
hydroxymethoxyphenyl decanone	yes	no
lauric acid Fungal-acne trigger	yes	no
lecithin	no	yes
myristic acid Fungal-acne trigger	yes	no
palmitic acid Fungal-acne trigger	yes	no
polyglyceryl-10 stearate Possible fungal-acne trigger	yes	no
polyglyceryl-3 methylglucose distearate Possible fungal-acne trigger	yes	no
propanediol	yes	no
sodium acetylated hyaluronate Pregnancy: generally fine	yes	no
sodium hyaluronate crosspolymer Pregnancy: generally fine	yes	no
sorbitan isostearate Possible fungal-acne trigger	yes	no
stearic acid Fungal-acne trigger	yes	no
tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate Pregnancy: generally fine	no	yes
tocopheryl acetate	yes	no
tocotrienols	yes	no
trehalose	yes	no
tromethamine	yes	no
vitamin e	yes	no
water	yes	no

Paula's Choice's label is only partially captured — rows may grow as parsing completes.

Rows come from parsed labels and live offers. Where a label isn’t fully captured, we say so instead of guessing.

The bottom line

Both lines come from the parsed labels and the prices on this page — neither product is the reference, and neither is called the better one.