Peptide Glow Journal

Medicube PDRN Pink Collagen Gel Mask: The Label, the Colour Change and One Contradiction

A 43-ingredient hydrogel mask that declares Sodium DNA at position 29 and thirteen peptide ingredients after it, says it is formulated without acrylates while listing an acrylates copolymer fourth, and sells its colour change as proof of absorption.

Fiona G · Edited by Caroline S · Published 2026-10-02 · Updated 2026-10-05

Illustration: A folded, rose-tinted hydrogel mask on a beige ceramic dish in soft morning light.
Illustration

This is a hydrogel sheet sold on two ideas: salmon PDRN, and a gel that turns from pink to clear as it works. The brand's own product page carries the full ingredient list, which makes it possible to check both ideas against what the product declares. One of the things that check turns up is a contradiction on the page itself.

The declaration, in order

Medicube's US product page lists 43 ingredients (read 2 October 2026). Grouped by what they do:

  • Positions 1–4, the base: water, glycerin, methylpropanediol, and Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate Copolymer, a synthetic film-forming polymer.
  • Positions 5–25, the gel and its supporting cast: niacinamide (5), then a run of gelling and thickening agents — Chondrus crispus (Irish moss seaweed) powder, carob gum, glucomannan, xanthan gum, cellulose gum, guar gum — with humectants, solvents, emulsifiers, fragrance (21), potassium chloride, dextrin and adenosine. The page also says the mask has "dual functionality for fine lines and brightening", attributed to South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety; it does not name which declared ingredients that registration rests on.
  • Positions 26–30: hydrolyzed collagen (26), cyanocobalamin, which is vitamin B12 (27), ascorbic acid (28), Sodium DNA (29) and tocopherol (30).
  • Positions 31–43, the peptides: acetyl hexapeptide-8, ascorbic acid polypeptide, acetyl octapeptide-3, acetyl tetrapeptide-2, -3, -5 and -9, carnosine, copper tripeptide-1, nonapeptide-1, palmitoyl pentapeptide-4, palmitoyl tripeptide-1 and palmitoyl tripeptide-5.

Sodium DNA is the INCI name for the sodium salt of DNA and is how "PDRN" appears on a declaration. Our analysis of the brand's PDRN Pink Peptide Serum explains the translation and the 1% ordering rule in detail; it is not repeated here. What differs is the position. In that serum, Sodium DNA is fifth and the brand states 10,000 ppm. In this mask it is 29th of 43, behind the fragrance, and the page gives no amount.

The thirteen peptide ingredients are a long list for any product. Each has its own file on this site — for example acetyl hexapeptide-8, copper tripeptide-1 and palmitoyl tripeptide-5, with new entries for acetyl tetrapeptide-2 and the eye-area acetyl tetrapeptide-5 — and none of those files contains a vehicle-controlled human trial of the peptide alone in a gel mask. Their position at the end of the list, after Sodium DNA and tocopherol, places them among the smallest ingredients in the formula.

The contradiction on the page

Under "Formulated without", the same product page lists a long set of substances the brand says the mask does not contain. "Acrylates" is on it. The ingredient list four scrolls above declares Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate Copolymer as ingredient number 4.

There are generous readings. "Formulated without" lists are often written for a whole product range, and some brands mean free acrylate monomers rather than finished polymers. The page does not say which, and the two statements, read as written, conflict. The declared ingredient list is the statement US labelling rules require to be complete, so it is the one this page relies on.

What makes it pink, and what the colour change shows

The page says the gel is "free from artificial colors" and the declared list contains no colourant (no CI number, no FD&C or D&C colour). The only declared ingredient that is itself strongly coloured is cyanocobalamin, which FDA-listed drug labels describe as "dark red crystals or as an amorphous or crystalline red powder". That makes vitamin B12 the plausible source of the pink. The brand does not say so, and this page does not claim to know the mechanism by which the colour fades.

What the brand does claim is that the change from pink to clear indicates "optimal absorption". Its own FAQ gives a different, more modest explanation: the hydrogel "gradually becomes transparent as it adheres closely to the skin and delivers its essence over time", and full transparency "varies by person". A colour change in a gel is not a measurement of how much of any ingredient crossed into the skin, and the page publishes no such measurement. The size question matters here as it does for every DNA product: the PDRN used in clinical trials runs from 50,000 to 1,500,000 daltons, far above the rough 500-dalton line for crossing intact skin, as our PDRN guide sets out. Whether a sheet mask's long wear time changes that is the question our PDRN cream page looks at, and no trial of a PDRN gel mask has answered it.

The "clinical test" figures

The page lists eight results attributed to a "clinical test report for use of PDRN Pink Collagen Gel Mask": horizontal pore improvement 4.06%, vertical pore improvement 4.90%, pore area reduction 37.88%, skin texture 8.21%, skin tone 4.38%, skin radiance 51.45%, inner skin elasticity 1.95% and surface skin moisture 71.77%.

None of the eight comes with a number of participants, a method, a time point or a comparison group. A moisture rise measured minutes after removing a water-and-glycerin gel is expected of almost any hydrating mask. Without the report itself, these figures cannot be checked or compared, and this page does not treat them as evidence for any ingredient.

What this declaration establishes

  • The mask declares Sodium DNA at 29th of 43, with no stated amount, and thirteen peptide ingredients after it.
  • Its gel is built from a synthetic acrylates copolymer plus seaweed and plant gums.
  • The page's "formulated without acrylates" line conflicts with its own declared list.
  • No colourant is declared; red vitamin B12 is the only strongly coloured ingredient, and the colour change is not shown to measure absorption.
  • The brand's eight test figures carry no method or sample size.

This is an ingredient analysis, not a review. It describes what the label states and where the evidence stops, and makes no judgement about how the product performs on anyone's skin.

Sources

  • Medicube, "Salmon PDRN Pink Collagen Jelly Gel Mask" product page (medicube.us/products/pdrn-pink-collagen-gel-mask): ingredient list, "Formulated without" list, clinical-test figures, how-to-use and FAQ text, price $5.99 per 28 g sheet, read 2026-10-02.
  • FDA-listed cyanocobalamin injection labels via openFDA (for example set ID 064c6841-3ed2-417f-a77c-a730785b6036), description section, read 2026-10-02.
  • Peptide Glow Journal, PDRN and Medicube PDRN Pink Peptide Serum, for the size figures and the Sodium DNA naming and ordering rules.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Medicube PDRN gel mask contain peptides?

Yes. The declared list ends with thirteen peptide or peptide-derived ingredients at positions 31 to 43, among them acetyl hexapeptide-8, acetyl octapeptide-3, copper tripeptide-1, nonapeptide-1, palmitoyl pentapeptide-4 and palmitoyl tripeptide-1 and -5. Hydrolyzed collagen, a mix of collagen fragments, sits at 26. No amount is given for any of them, and their position after Sodium DNA and tocopherol places them among the smallest ingredients.

How much PDRN is in the gel mask?

The page does not say. Sodium DNA, the name PDRN takes on an ingredient list, is declared at position 29 of 43, after the fragrance and the preservative booster ethylhexylglycerin. The product page gives no ppm or percentage figure for this mask.

Why does the mask turn from pink to clear?

The brand says the change indicates absorption; its FAQ says the gel becomes transparent as it adheres to the skin and delivers its essence. No colourant is declared, and the only strongly coloured ingredient on the list is vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin), which is red. What makes the colour fade has not been published, and a colour change is not a measurement of how much of any ingredient entered the skin.

Is the Medicube gel mask free of acrylates?

Its product page lists acrylates among the substances it is formulated without, and the ingredient list on the same page declares Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate Copolymer as the fourth ingredient. The two statements cannot both be read literally. The declared list is the legally required statement of what is in the product.

Has Peptide Glow Journal tested this mask?

No. Nothing here comes from using the product. We assess a product only after six weeks of split-face use by two testers, photographed to a fixed standard, and that has not happened. This page reads the published ingredient declaration and the brand's published claims against the literature on the ingredients.