Verified Beauty Data

Product record / Toners, licorice-root

Toner

ACWELL Licorice pH 5.5 Balancing Cleansing Toner

Toner · 150 mL · glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root water is the #2 ingredient (after water), plus root extract (incidecoder-verified)

$15.49
retail price
$0.10
per mL
Data source
Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Water is the #2 ingredient (after water), plus Root Extract (INCIDecoder-verified) Licorice verified high in INCI via INCIDecoder 2026-06-14; ASIN B01LZK411L price PA-API-verified 2026-06-14.
ACWELL Licorice pH 5.5 Balancing Cleansing Toner bottle
Pictured: Amazon listing
Best for
Hydration · Brightening & dark spots
How it feels
Watery, layerable toner
Value
$15.49 for 150 mL · $0.10/mL

Bottom line The cult pH-balancing licorice toner — licorice root water near the top of a botanical-rich, low-pH daily base layer.

Editorial verdict / Social intelligence

Qualified yes Product review

The cult pH-balancing licorice toner — licorice root water near the top of a botanical-rich, low-pH daily base layer. 1

Beauty benefit
A gentle, pH 5.5 daily hydrating toner (despite 'cleansing' in the name, it's a leave-on toner) built on Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Water as its second ingredient, with a botanical blend (green tea, peony, kudzu) and a low pH meant to keep skin comfortable and calm.
Does it work
Yes as a soothing, layerable daily toner — just calibrate the brightening. Licorice root water sits at #2 (and a licorice root extract appears lower down), so the licorice claim is real and the toner leans on licorice's antioxidant and calming character at a skin-friendly pH. Honest notes: licorice's brightening here is gentle and gradual rather than a spot treatment; the % is undisclosed; and the formula contains Bergamot fruit oil, a fragrant citrus extract, so very reactive or fragrance-sensitive skin should patch-test. See the verified data below →

Consensus strength

Moderate

Licorice is well-liked for gentle brightening and calming redness, and both have real support — glabridin inhibits tyrosinase/MITF and licochalcone A has human vehicle-controlled erythema trials. The honest limits: the brightening evidence is largely in-vitro and gradual, the two effects come from different compounds, and active content is rarely disclosed.

01 / The key active

licorice-root

licorice-root is present in the formula; the brand does not disclose the exact concentration.

Primary active

licorice-root

Concentration undisclosed

Read the licorice-root dossier →

Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Water is the #2 ingredient (after water), plus Root Extract (INCIDecoder-verified). Licorice verified high in INCI via INCIDecoder 2026-06-14; ASIN B01LZK411L price PA-API-verified 2026-06-14.

Other products with licorice-root:

02 / The full ingredient list

Every ingredient, in label order

Exactly as printed, each token matched to the EU CosIng register and flagged where a CIR safety assessment exists. Highlighted rows are the key actives.

# Ingredient, as printed CosIng functions CIR
01 Water
  • antiplaque
  • skin conditioning
  • solvent
02 Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Water
  • antioxidant
  • skin conditioning
✓ reviewed
03 PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides
  • surfactant - emulsifying
✓ reviewed
04 PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
  • surfactant - emulsifying
  • surfactant - cleansing
✓ reviewed
05 Dipropylene Glycol
  • fragrance
  • solvent
  • viscosity controlling
  • perfuming
✓ reviewed
06 1,2-Hexanediol
  • skin conditioning
  • solvent
✓ reviewed
07 Poloxamer 184
  • surfactant - emulsifying
  • surfactant - cleansing
✓ reviewed
08 Phenoxyethanol
  • antimicrobial
  • preservative
✓ reviewed
09 Rheum Palmatum Root Extract
  • astringent
  • skin conditioning
  • tonic
10 Psidium Guajava Leaf Extract
  • astringent
  • skin conditioning
11 Rosa Hybrid Flower Extract
  • skin conditioning
  • tonic
12 Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
  • antimicrobial
  • antioxidant
  • astringent
  • skin conditioning - emollient
  • humectant
  • fragrance
  • oral care
  • skin conditioning
  • skin protecting
  • tonic
  • uv absorber
✓ reviewed
13 Perilla Ocymoides Seed Extract
  • antioxidant
14 Poncirus Trifoliata Fruit Extract
  • skin conditioning
15 Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil
  • fragrance
  • perfuming
16 Sodium Citrate
  • buffering
  • chelating
  • fragrance
✓ reviewed
17 Disodium EDTA
  • chelating
  • viscosity controlling
✓ reviewed
18 Citric Acid
  • buffering
  • chelating
  • fragrance
✓ reviewed
19 Tocopheryl Acetate
  • antioxidant
  • skin conditioning
✓ reviewed
20 Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract
  • bleaching
  • skin conditioning - emollient
  • skin conditioning
  • smoothing
  • soothing
  • perfuming
✓ reviewed
21 Paeonia Albiflora Root Extract
  • skin conditioning
22 Cimicifuga Dahurica Root Extract
  • antioxidant
23 Pueraria Lobata Root Extract
  • humectant

23 ingredients as printed · 23 exact CosIng matches · source: glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root water is the #2 ingredient (after water), plus root extract (incidecoder-verified)

03 / Where to buy

Where to buy Licorice pH 5.5 Balancing Cleansing Toner

Buy on Amazon $15.49

Some links on this page earn us a commission. It never changes our analysis — the methodology is public.

04 / What people say

What buyers actually say

What works

  • Common Gentle, well-tolerated brightening — glabridin is a real tyrosinase/MITF inhibitor 19
    Glabridin, an isoflavan, isolated from the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn, has exhibited several pharmacological activities, including excellent inhibitory effects on tyrosinase. Study
  • Common Genuinely soothing and anti-redness — the side with real human trials (licochalcone A) 37
    Topical LicA causes a highly significant reduction in erythema relative to the vehicle control in both the shave- and UV-induced erythema tests, demonstrating the anti-irritative properties of LicA. Study

What to know

  • Common The brightening is gradual and mostly lab-based — not hydroquinone-level, and licorice content/species varies 46
    Glabridin, a prenylated isoflavonoid of G. glabra L. roots (European licorice, Fabaceae), has been associated with a wide range of biological properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherogenic, regulation of energy metabolism, estrogenic, neuroprotective, anti-osteoporotic, and skin-whitening. review

What you'd only know from the reviews

  • A well-loved everyday 'prep' toner from the K-beauty line built around licorice — licorice root water is the #2 base, so it's genuinely licorice-forward, not a marketing nod. It's a comfort-and-glow layer, not a corrective; note the bergamot oil if you're fragrance-sensitive. 5

  1. 1 Study Inhibitory mechanisms of glabridin on tyrosinase (noncompetitive, IC50 0.43 uM) 2016
  2. 2 Study Glycyrrhiza glabra extract as a skin-whitening agent — active components & CRTC1/MITF 2025
  3. 3 Study Anti-inflammatory efficacy of Licochalcone A — clinical potency vs in vitro (erythema RCTs) 2006
  4. 4 review Phytochemistry and biological properties of glabridin 2013
  5. 5 Study Antioxidant and anti-melanogenic activities of heat-treated licorice (Wongam) 2021
  6. 6 Study Antimelanogenic effect of fermented licorice water extract (MITF inhibition) 2025
  7. 7 Study Double-blind RCT — licochalcone A moisturizer improves adapalene-acne tolerability 2016
  8. 8 review Role of Licochalcone A in potential pharmacological therapy: a review 2022
  9. 9 Editorial Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract — INCIDecoder 2026

05 / Questions

Frequently asked

What's in ACWELL Licorice pH 5.5 Balancing Cleansing Toner?
ACWELL Licorice pH 5.5 Balancing Cleansing Toner lists 23 ingredients. Key active: licorice-root (concentration undisclosed). Licorice verified high in INCI via INCIDecoder 2026-06-14; ASIN B01LZK411L price PA-API-verified 2026-06-14. The full ingredient list, matched to EU CosIng, is on this page.
Does ACWELL Licorice pH 5.5 Balancing Cleansing Toner work?
Yes as a soothing, layerable daily toner — just calibrate the brightening. Licorice root water sits at #2 (and a licorice root extract appears lower down), so the licorice claim is real and the toner leans on licorice's antioxidant and calming character at a skin-friendly pH. Honest notes: licorice's brightening here is gentle and gradual rather than a spot treatment; the % is undisclosed; and the formula contains Bergamot fruit oil, a fragrant citrus extract, so very reactive or fragrance-sensitive skin should patch-test.
How much licorice-root is in ACWELL Licorice pH 5.5 Balancing Cleansing Toner?
ACWELL does not publicly disclose the exact concentration. licorice-root appears in the INCI list; the amount is undisclosed. Licorice verified high in INCI via INCIDecoder 2026-06-14; ASIN B01LZK411L price PA-API-verified 2026-06-14.
Where can I buy ACWELL Licorice pH 5.5 Balancing Cleansing Toner?
$15.49 on Amazon (price recorded as of the date shown). Licorice verified high in INCI via INCIDecoder 2026-06-14; ASIN B01LZK411L price PA-API-verified 2026-06-14.