Korean professional peels usually reach a U.S. practice through a sample, a trade-show demo or a colleague’s recommendation. The reason they get attention is usually real. The problem is the step that follows. The decision gets made on how the skin looked after the demo, and the paperwork arrives later, if it arrives at all.
That order is backwards. A demo shows you one application on one person. The documents are what tell you whether you can defend the product to a client who asks what is in it, who makes it and what it has been tested for. Here are the five to request before anything goes on your menu, and how to read each one. We use our own line as the example, including the places where the file is still incomplete.
1. The full ingredient list, in INCI names
Ask for the complete ingredient list using INCI nomenclature, per product and per format. A list of “key actives” is marketing. The INCI list is the formulation.
What to look for is consistency. The actives named in the brochure should appear in the INCI list, and each format of the same product (a Basic and an Ultra, for example) should have its own list rather than a shared one. If a supplier cannot produce an INCI list for a product, that tells you something about how far along its U.S. documentation is.
In our case, the full INCI lists for LHALA Peel, LHALA Foam and the Biome Fit Clear Embo Gel Mask are published on their product pages. For the rest of the line, the lists are still being confirmed with the manufacturer. Until they are, those pages carry no ingredient list rather than a partial one.
2. The testing on file, and what kind of testing it is
Every supplier has “testing”. The useful question is what the test measured, on which format and with how many people.
Most testing available for professional skincare is safety testing: skin irritation or patch tests that ask whether a formulation provokes a reaction. That is worth having. It is not the same as efficacy testing, which asks whether the product does what the brochure says. A sentence like “dermatologically tested” can describe either one, and it usually describes the first.
Two follow-up questions sort this out quickly. Which exact format was tested? A result on one concentration does not transfer to another. Was the test run on the product you are buying or on an ingredient inside it? Ingredient-level data describes the ingredient, not the finished formula.
3. Who holds the patents
“Patented technology” is one of the most repeated phrases in imported skincare and one of the least checked. Ask for the patent numbers, and look up who each patent is assigned to.
Two things come out of that exercise. First, whether each number is a granted patent or only an application, because the two are regularly presented as the same thing. Second, whether the assignee is the brand, the manufacturer or a third party such as a university lab. Third-party ownership is common and perfectly legitimate. What matters is that the claim matches the record.
The technology behind our line is a working example. INCUBE is covered by Korean patents granted to LabInCube, one of them jointly with Sookmyung Women’s University. H2sol is a pending application with no grant identified. None of those rights belong to LHALALA or to H2MEDI, and the technology page lists the numbers so you can check them.
4. The regulatory status in the U.S., per product
A product line imported from Korea does not arrive with one regulatory status. Each product has its own. A cleanser, a peel and a device are classified differently, and some products that are sold without restriction in their home market have no confirmed status here.
Ask the supplier to state the U.S. status of each item you intend to use, in writing, and to separate what is documented from what is assumed. A supplier who answers for the whole line in one sentence has not answered the question.
The same applies to anything described as “FDA-registered”. Registration and listing are administrative steps. They are not approval or clearance, and a supplier should not let the terms blur.
5. The distribution agreement
The last document is the one practices ask for least: proof that the company selling to you has the right to do so.
Product bought outside the authorised channel can be cheaper, and the discount has a cost. There is no traceable supply chain, no confirmed storage conditions and nobody accountable when something goes wrong. Ask who holds distribution rights for the U.S., since when and over what territory.
LHALALA U.S operates under an exclusive distribution agreement with H2MEDI, the manufacturer, signed on April 12, 2024. It covers the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, and Central and South America excluding Brazil. The details are on our global presence page.
What supports what. LHALA Peel Basic and Ultra each completed a skin irritation test with 30 volunteers per format, returning a non-irritant result. The Biome Fit Clear Embo Gel Mask completed a safety and patch test with 31 adults, also non-irritant. These are irritation and safety tests, specific to those formats, and they do not measure efficacy.
Suitability across Fitzpatrick types I to VI is the brand’s positioning statement, not a tested claim. The 60+ countries and 4,000+ facilities figures are declared by the brand, not an audited ledger. All products named here are for professional, in-office use, external use only.
What a good answer looks like
Not every supplier will have all five documents complete, including us. A good answer is still easy to recognise. It names what exists and says, in the same sentence, what does not exist yet.
The answer to be wary of is the one with no gaps in it. Every young import line has gaps. A supplier that shows you none has either not checked or not told you.
If you are evaluating fourth-generation peeling for your practice, request the five documents above for every product you plan to use, ours included. The U.S. team can send what is on file and pricing, and can tell you which items are still pending.