Best Korean Toner Pads: Anua, Mediheal, Biodance and 5 More

A Korean toner pad is a cotton or gel round pre-soaked in essence, used in place of a liquid toner. Mediheal sells the same hundred pads two ways: $26.40 in the jar, $22.00 in the refill pouch, same formula and same count. The 14-pad travel box works out at 59 cents each rather than 22.

Toner pads are sold in jars holding anywhere from 60 to 100, at prices that barely move. The number on the shelf tells you almost nothing about what you are paying. Per pad, these eight run from 26 cents to 38. Six of them carry no fragrance and no scented oils, and the two that do are the two cheapest, which is a trade you can only see after doing the arithmetic.

Key takeaways

• Pad counts range from 60 to 100 across these eight, and the jars look nearly identical on a shelf.
• Mediheal is the cheapest per pad at regular prices, 26 cents (Numbuzin matches it only on sale), and its refill pouch brings the same pads down to 22 cents.
• Six of the eight carry no fragrance and no scented oils. Two carry four aromatic oils each without printing the word fragrance.
• SKIN1004 runs on a ten-ingredient list, the shortest here by a wide margin.
• Mediheal’s 14-pad travel box works out at 59 cents a pad, more than twice its own refill.

The 8 best Korean toner pads at a glance

• Best overall: Biodance Collagen Gel Pads (around $23)
• Best value: Mediheal Madecassoside Pad (around $26.40)
• Best fragrance-free: SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Quick Calming Pad (around $18.90)
• Best for acne-prone skin: Anua Heartleaf 77 Clear Pad (around $23)
• Best for combination skin: Torriden Dive In Multi Pad (around $26)
• Best for sensitive skin: Abib Heartleaf Spot Pad Calming Touch (around $24)
• Best for dark spots: Medicube Kojic Acid Turmeric Toner Pad (around $24)
• Best budget: Numbuzin No.1 Centella Re-Leaf Green Toner Pads (around $18)

How did we choose these eight?

We read the full published ingredient list for every pad, counted how many pads each jar holds, and divided the price by the count. Prices were checked against the brand’s own US store on the same day. We did not test these on skin. Our method is set out in full in how we review.

The count does more work here than the volume does in a bottle. A 60-pad jar and a 100-pad jar sit at the same price on the same shelf, and nothing on the front of either one tells you which is which.

One pad you will see everywhere is missing. Medicube’s US store sells the Zero Pore Pad as a single 70-pad pack at $24, which is 34 cents a pad. Target carries it at $20.99, inside the price band of the eight ranked here. We ranked Medicube’s Kojic Acid Turmeric pad from the same brand instead, so this one sits outside the list rather than below it.

What is a Korean toner pad?

A Korean toner pad is a cotton or gel round pre-soaked in essence, used after cleansing in place of a liquid toner and a cotton round. One pad is one pre-measured dose. If you would rather stay with a liquid, our main toner ranking compares Korean toners for dry skin and glass skin, and we rank toners for oily skin separately.

The difference from a Western toner pad is what the pad is soaked in. “Korean toner pads are more like essence-soaked pads, while Western toner pads are often astringent-based,” says Marie Jhin, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and adjunct clinical instructor at Stanford University, speaking to Allure.

Dr. Jhin puts the job plainly: think of them “as a nourishing bridge between cleansing and treatment, not just an exfoliating step”. Many are double-sided, with a textured face for light exfoliation and a smooth face for hydration. Several brands size them large enough to press onto the cheeks for a few minutes as a short mask.

What do Korean toner pads cost per pad?

Between 26 cents and 38 cents across these eight. The jars cost $18 to $26.40, a spread of less than one and a half times, but the counts run 60 to 100, which is where the real difference sits. The cheapest jar on the shelf is not the cheapest per pad. Numbuzin at $18 and SKIN1004 at $18.90 look like the value picks until you notice Mediheal fits 100 pads into a $26.40 jar: 26 cents a pad, under SKIN1004 and level with Numbuzin only while Numbuzin’s sale runs.

1. Biodance Collagen Gel Pads: Best Overall

These are gel rather than cotton, which makes them the outlier here in feel as well as price. They are built on low-molecular-weight collagen, hyaluronic acid and galactomyces, and they are the ones Allure ranks first in the category.

Jane Yoo, MD, a dual board-certified dermatologist and Mohs surgeon in New York City, frames them as a shortcut rather than a staple. “If you’re short on time or too tired for an overnight mask, this is the perfect morning rescue,” she told the magazine.

They are also the priciest here by the pad, at 38 cents, because 60 pads is the smallest jar in this group. That is the trade: a heavier, more occlusive pad, fewer of them. A gel pad does not swipe the way a cotton one does. If you want something to wipe residue off after cleansing, this is not it.

Best for: dehydrated skin and rushed mornings. Price: about $23 for 60 pads at retail, $26 at full price.

2. Mediheal Madecassoside Pad: Best Value

A hundred pads for $26.40 is the most product in this round-up, and 26 cents a pad is the lowest figure here. Mediheal is also the brand with the deepest range, selling the same jar format in eight variants.

The formula leads on niacinamide and whole-plant centella, with madecassoside for irritation. Allure names it their pick for active breakouts, and Charlotte Cho, the Soko Glam cofounder, calls cica “one of the most iconic calming ingredients in K-beauty”.

Buy the refill rather than the jar and the same hundred pads cost $22.00, which is 22 cents each. The jar is a plastic tub with a lid and a pair of tweezers. You need that once. The ingredient list carries four aromatic oils, which the section below covers.

Best for: active breakouts, irritation-prone skin, and anyone who gets through pads quickly. Price: $26.40 for 100 pads on Mediheal’s US store, or $22.00 for the 100-pad refill.

3. SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Quick Calming Pad: Best Fragrance-Free

Ten ingredients. Water, two humectants, centella extract, panthenol, a thickener, sodium hyaluronate, a preservative, a chelator and citric acid. That is the entire list.

Nothing else here comes close. Mediheal runs to 34 ingredients, Abib to 24, and the Torriden pad to roughly fifty. If you are trying to work out what your skin reacted to, a ten-item list is a very different starting point from a thirty-four-item one.

At $18.90 for 70 pads it is 27 cents each, and it was reduced from $21.00 the day we checked. SKIN1004 sells three pad variants: this one, a Hyalu-Cica jelly pad at the same $18.90, and a dark spot pad at $19.80. A short list means few actives. There is no exfoliant, no niacinamide and no acid here, just centella and hydration.

Best for: reactive skin, anyone eliminating ingredients, and routines that already have their actives elsewhere. Price: $18.90 for 70 pads on SKIN1004’s US store, reduced from $21.00.

4. Anua Heartleaf 77 Clear Pad: Best for Acne-Prone Skin

Houttuynia cordata extract at 77 percent is the first ingredient, ahead of water. That is the same heartleaf concentrate behind the toner that tops our Korean toner ranking, in pad form. Gluconolactone, a PHA, does the light exfoliation. The rest of the list runs through elm root, kudzu, pine leaf, evening primrose and green tea extracts, with centella and its four isolated compounds at the end.

Anua sells six pad variants at $22 to $23 each, including a PDRN one of the kind we rank in our PDRN serum round-up. This is the one built for congestion and visible redness rather than hydration. 33 cents a pad puts it in the upper half here, and Anua’s own PDRN pad holds only 60 for a similar price.

Best for: congestion, visible redness, and acne-prone skin that does not need more hydration. Price: $23.00 for 70 pads, 160ml, on Anua’s US store.

5. Torriden Dive In Multi Pad: Best for Combination Skin

Eighty pads and 160ml, which is the second largest count here. Built on five molecular sizes of hyaluronic acid, with gluconolactone and willow bark for the oilier areas and ceramides and beta-glucan for the drier ones.

The shape is the part worth knowing. Torriden cuts a curved edge into the pad so it sits under the eye, which matters if you use pads as a short mask rather than a swipe. Allure picks a Torriden Dive In hyaluronic acid pad for combination skin. Tea tree and witch hazel handle shine without the alcohol a Western astringent pad would use.

Torriden also sells a Balanceful pad at the same $26 with only 60 sheets, which works out at 43 cents. Check the count before you add to cart.

Best for: combination skin, oily T-zones with dry cheeks, and using pads as a short under-eye mask. Price: $26.00 for 80 sheets, 160ml, on Torriden’s US store.

6. Abib Heartleaf Spot Pad Calming Touch: Best for Sensitive Skin

Eighty pads for $24.00 works out at 30 cents a pad, which is mid-table here, and the list is genuinely plain: heartleaf, hollyhock, wintergreen leaf, allantoin, trehalose and a run of humectants. No fragrance, no essential oils, no acids. Caffeine and acetyl glucosamine are the only things doing anything beyond hydration and calming.

Abib sells five pad variants at the same $24.00, split by concern rather than by skin type. This is the calming one. The other four are green LHA for pores, glutathiosome for dark spots, sedum for hydration and Jericho rose for firming, all at $24.00.

Plain works both ways. If you want a pad that treats something specific, the Glutathiosome or Green LHA versions are the same price.

Best for: sensitive and reactive skin, and anyone who wants calming without acids or scent. Price: $24.00 for 80 pads, 150ml, on Abib’s US store.

7. Medicube Kojic Acid Turmeric Toner Pad: Best for Dark Spots

Kojic acid and turmeric, aimed at post-blemish marks and uneven tone rather than at active breakouts. Seventy pads for $24.00, reduced from $31.00 the day we checked.

Medicube markets this for face and body, which is unusual in a pad and makes the 70-count go faster than it looks. Chestnut shell and strawberry fruit extract round out the list. No fragrance and no essential oils.

Worth knowing before you shop: Allure’s Medicube pick for oily skin is the Zero Pore Pad, not this one. This is the pigmentation pad in the range. At full price this is 44 cents a pad, the highest figure in this round-up. The $24 is a promotion.

Best for: post-blemish marks, uneven tone, and anyone who wants a pad for body as well as face. Price: $24.00 for 70 pads on Medicube’s US store, reduced from $31.00.

8. Numbuzin No.1 Centella Re-Leaf Green Toner Pads: Best Budget

Eighteen dollars for 70 pads and 190ml, which is the most essence per jar here and 26 cents a pad. Numbuzin numbers its ranges rather than naming them, and No.1 is the centella line. It was reduced from $24.00 the day we checked, which is what puts it level with Mediheal. At full price it is 34 cents and sits mid-table.

The formula carries four essential oils: grapefruit peel, geranium flower, tea tree leaf and rosemary leaf. None of them is labeled fragrance.

The range runs to five pad lines, from $13. No.3 exfoliates with bakuchiol at $19.20 and No.5 brightens with niacinamide at $21.50, so the centella pad is the cheap way in. It is the cheapest per pad only while the promotion runs, and it is one of the two scented picks here.

Best for: budget buyers, centella beginners, and anyone who does not mind a scented formula. Price: $18.00 for 70 pads, 190ml, on Numbuzin’s US store, reduced from $24.00.

Which of these are actually fragrance-free?

Six of the eight. Biodance, SKIN1004, Anua, Torriden, Abib and Medicube carry no fragrance, no parfum and no scented essential oils in their published lists.

Two do, and neither prints the word fragrance. Mediheal’s list carries juniper, mugwort, patchouli and rosemary oils. Numbuzin’s carries grapefruit peel, geranium, tea tree and rosemary.

Allure flags the Mediheal one, describing the scent as rosemary and mango with no synthetic fragrance. That is accurate as far as it goes. The published list names four aromatic oils rather than one.

List length has nothing to do with it. Torriden’s pad runs to roughly fifty ingredients and carries no scent at all, while Mediheal’s 34-item list carries four aromatic oils and SKIN1004 keeps ten and stays clean. None of this makes either pad a bad product. It does mean the two cheapest pads per unit are the two scented ones, which matters if scent is the thing you are avoiding.

Why the refill costs less than the jar

Mediheal sells its pads three ways, and the gap between them is larger than the gap between any two brands on this page. The jar is $26.40 for 100 pads, or 26 cents each. The refill pouch is $22.00 for the same 100 pads, or 22 cents. The travel box is $8.20 for 14, which is 59 cents a pad.

The travel box costs more than two and a half times the refill for the identical product. You are paying for the tub, the lid and the tweezers, and you only need those once. We found the same thing in the cleansing balm round-up, where one brand’s small jar cost more than twice its large one. Two categories is not a rule, but it is worth checking the jar before the price in both.

How do you pick the right Korean toner pad?

Start with the count, not the price. The jars look alike and prices cluster between $18 and $26, so pad count is what separates them.

• Just want to replace a toner: a plain hydrating pad like SKIN1004 or Abib, for around 30 cents a pad or less.
• Want the pad to treat something: an acid or vitamin version, which costs more per pad and goes through the jar faster.
• You react to scented products: stick to the six clear formulas; the two scented ones are also the two cheapest.

Pads do not replace the rest of the routine. “They combine toning, light exfoliation, and essence into one step,” Dr. Jhin says, which is a shortcut rather than a substitute. Our Korean skincare routine guide sets out where that step sits.

Her description treats toning and essence as distinct steps, and the ingredient lists say otherwise: a product sold as an essence toner carried 7 ingredients in our comparison against 39 for a plain toner.

Frequently asked questions

Do Korean toner pads replace a liquid toner?

For most routines, yes. A pad is a pre-measured dose of essence on a carrier, so it does the work of a toner and the cotton round in one step. The difference is cost. A pad here runs 26 to 38 cents, where a liquid toner from our ranking works out lower per use. Pads buy convenience and portability rather than value.

How many pads should a jar last?

At one pad a day, 60 pads is two months and 100 pads is a little over three. Counts in this round-up run 60, 70, 80 and 100, so the same nightly habit empties a Biodance jar in two months and a Mediheal jar in three and a bit. If you use pads morning and night, halve both figures.

Are Korean toner pads exfoliating?

Some are, mildly. Several here use gluconolactone, a polyhydroxy acid that works more gently than an AHA, and the Medicube pad uses kojic acid for tone rather than texture. Others, including SKIN1004 and Abib, contain no acid at all. Check the list rather than the marketing, because the word “pad” covers both.

What is the difference between Korean and Western toner pads?

What the pad is soaked in. Marie Jhin, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and adjunct clinical instructor at Stanford University, describes Korean pads as essence-soaked where Western pads are often astringent-based. In practice that means hydration and calming ingredients rather than alcohol and strong acids for oil control.

Is a bigger jar always better value?

By the pad, usually. Mediheal fits 100 pads into a $26.40 jar and beats every $18 jar here on a per-pad basis. The clearest case sits inside one brand: Mediheal’s 14-pad travel box is 59 cents a pad against 22 cents for its own 100-pad refill, which is more than two and a half times for the same product.

The bottom line

Buy on the count. The prices in this category sit so close together that the jar tells you almost nothing, and the difference between 60 pads and 100 pads at the same price is the whole decision.

Mediheal is the cheapest per pad at regular prices and cheaper still as a refill, if the four aromatic oils are not a problem for you. SKIN1004 is the one to reach for if they are, on a ten-ingredient list that is the plainest here. Biodance earns the overall pick on formula rather than on price. It is the priciest per pad in this group, and the gel is doing something the cotton ones are not.

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