Index / Numbuzin / No.3 Skin Softening Serum
Numbuzin

Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum.

About this product

A fermented, essence-style serum from Numbuzin, designed to soften skin and support hydration, with a brighter, smoother look.

Full ingredients

Bifida Ferment Lysate (42%), Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate (21%), Butylene Glycol, Methyl Gluceth-20, Purified Water, Niacinamide, PEG-90, 1,2-Hexanediol, Glycerin, Squalane, Alteromonas Ferment Extract, Silk Extract, Goat Milk Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Adenosine, Glycereth-26, Xanthan Gum, Polyglyceryl-3 Distearate, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Carbomer, Tromethamine, Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylyl Glycol, Tropolone, Disodium EDTA

More from Numbuzin 30 products · Guru Score 88% →

Guru Score

66%

Mixed

7 experts · Strong agreement

What they liked

  • Hydrating without feeling heavy
  • Works as a skin prep or primer
  • Slow brightening effect on discoloration

What they flagged

  • Too thick to wear before makeup for some
  • Not the strongest brightening serum available

What the gurus are saying

Fermented ingredients and a hydrating feel that absorbs well keep coming up, and some experts say it works well as a prep step under other products. Brightening can take a while to show, and the scent, from two fragrant ingredients, is a sticking point for some. Those with oily or acne-prone skin may want to skip it, as one ingredient is rated comedogenic, while dry or rough skin finds it nourishing.
Synthesized from 7 expert reviews · most recent take July 2026

Type

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

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What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
~Mixed
"Ooh, the Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum. This is basically like a pore care serum designed to smooth uneven texture and refine the appearance of pores. We have a lot of fermented ingredients in here, kind of reminds you of like an old-style essence. Bifida ferment lysate and galactomyces ferment filtrate helps support the skin barrier, improve the texture, brightness. These kind of ingredients just make your skin look better overall."
All 4 takes from James Welsh
Instant Glass Skin, Barrier Repair & The Worst Smelling Product EVERRRRR - Skincare Hits & Sh*ts
"My issue with this is the smell. As I mentioned, it's got an amazing ingredient list. It's got 50 plus fermented ingredients, which you want in an essence, right? Along with niacinamide to help brighten, make you look more radiant, and target fine lines and wrinkles, all that good stuff. A very classic, traditional essence could do that for you. But we have two fragrant ingredients in here that overpower the smell. It's an overpowering smell. And it's those two, Citronellol and [...] Geraniol."
Viral Skincare Products & Their BETTER Alternatives - Tiktok Skincare Compilation
"For even cheaper you can get Numbuzin's number three skin softening serum, rather than a traditional essence this is like a slightly thicker serum with the added benefits of goat milk and squalane, nicely hydrating without being too thick."
The Skincare Products I Actually Finished! Korean Skincare Empties
"Ooh, the Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum. This is basically like a pore care serum designed to smooth uneven texture and refine the appearance of pores. We have a lot of fermented ingredients in here, kind of reminds you of like an old-style essence. Bifida ferment lysate and galactomyces ferment filtrate helps support the skin barrier, improve the texture, brightness. These kind of ingredients just make your skin look better overall."
Holy Grail Korean Skincare That Transformed My Skin 💜 James Welsh
"I tried this on and off for about two years and would just forget to use it, [...] but I opened [...] it up and used it [...] every single day, twice a day. It's a very ferment-heavy serum with galactomyces and bifida ferment lysate, [...] very like an essence. It focuses on barrier support, brightening, and skin elasticity."
~Mixed
"This is like a one-and-done approach to hyperpigmentation. Now, this used to be my absolute favorite, but they did reformulate it a couple of months ago and took out the tranexamic acid that was in it. They've now launched a standalone tranexamic acid serum to go alongside it, which I personally love. I don't think the formulation of this one is as comprehensive without that acid, which is a shame and why I've actually moved on to some of the other options."
~Mixed
"The only downside of this is they put in glycerol stearate SE which is three out of five on the comedogenic scale. So I say if you have oily acne prone skin avoid this product. But I think this is a conditioning product. It's a conditioner. So yes it's going to work if you have rough skin or dry skin. It is going to nourish the skin. You are going to love it. It's not going to do anything for pigmentation and fine lines but it's not making that claim."
~Yay
"This serum is known to be [...] used a lot by K-pop stars and makeup artists. It's supposed to help smooth skin texture, but I don't feel that. It's definitely great as a skin prep product though, because it acts like a primer and absorbs well even after multiple layers."
~Mixed
"The brightening is there, it just takes long for it to show itself. It's the type of serum where you're like, I don't know if this is working, you stop using it and you're like, oh, [...] my skin's starting to look dull again, the hyperpigmentation is really not fading at the rate it was before. Yeah, this serum definitely was working for me, I just didn't quite realize it at the time."
~Yay
"We've got a couple ingredients of note: squalane, glycerol, steroid, and then carbomer, nothing terribly alarming there. In terms of the price, the full size 50ml, 1.7oz retails for about $19, so it's a pretty good deal. A little bit of this goes a long way; a bottle will last you forever. In terms of the it factor, I really like this one."
~Yay
"I think it comes together for skin health, and [...] especially the bifida and panthenol are wonderful for helping maintain skin health, I do think that is the strength of this product. All that said, at the end of the day [...] I like the Manyo more, though I don't know if that's just because it uses more bifida, since we don't have enough research to know the effective percentages."
All 2 takes from AliceintheRabbitHole
I Can't Finish These...My Mistakes & Product FAILS
"This is the Numbuzin No. 3 Serum. I did a whole one month trial of it and I liked this product, but I'm just not finding myself able to finish it. [...] It's not that it's a bad product, it's just not giving me what my Manyo Factory ampoule was giving me, so I've gone back to that instead."
Most Popular K-Beauty SERUMS!
"I think it comes together for skin health, and [...] especially the bifida and panthenol are wonderful for helping maintain skin health, I do think that is the strength of this product. All that said, at the end of the day [...] I like the Manyo more, though I don't know if that's just because it uses more bifida, since we don't have enough research to know the effective percentages."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Niacinamide

Niacinamide has evidence behind it for redness, uneven tone and supporting the skin barrier, and it is usually well tolerated even by skin that reacts to most things.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Frequently asked.

What is Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum?

A fermented, essence-style serum from Numbuzin, designed to soften skin and support hydration, with a brighter, smoother look.

Is Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum worth it?

The gurus mostly approve it, but with enough reservations to keep it in the middle at a Guru Score of 66%.

What is Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum's Guru Score?

Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum holds a Guru Score of 66%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 7 expert reviewers we have collected.

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