Anua

Anua is a South Korean skincare brand founded in 2019 [3][5]. It sits in the wave of K-beauty labels that built an international following in the early 2020s, and is positioned around gentle formulas for sensitive and acne-prone skin, with the plant extract heartleaf as its signature ingredient. The brand trades under the tagline "Gentle yet Effective Korean Skincare" and remains active and expanding internationally.

Most of Anua's public profile rests on a single breakout product, the Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner, which carried the brand from the Korean market onto Amazon and into Western retail. By the mid-2020s the label had moved from a digital-first presence into thousands of physical stores across the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

According to the K-beauty editorial and retailer coverage that documents the brand, Anua was launched in 2019 by The Founders, described as a Korean brand incubator or "brand-building company" led by co-CEOs Lee Sunhyung and Lee Changjoo [4][5] (whose names also appear in romanized form as Seonhyeong Yi and Changju Lee). The owning company is named consistently as The Founders across the sources gathered for this article [4]. A separate, unverified note had suggested a link to Dongkook (Dongkook Pharmaceutical); no source examined here substantiated that connection, and it should be treated as unconfirmed.

The brand's own US storefront does not publish its founding year, parent company or corporate origin, so those details rest on third-party editorial sources rather than on Anua's own pages.

Anua presents itself as making skincare that is "Kind to Skin, Yet Effective." The company says it prioritizes "ingredients that are kind to skin — carefully selected to calm, hydrate, and nourish without unnecessary irritation," aimed at a range of skin types. In practice this positions the brand around soothing, barrier-supporting actives rather than aggressive ones, and it is frequently associated with the "glass skin" look popularized through K-beauty.

The product range is built around a set of recurring hero ingredients, among them heartleaf, niacinamide, azelaic acid, retinol, PDRN, rice, peach and ceramide. The brand sits at an accessible, drugstore-level price point.

The defining product is the Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner, formulated with a high concentration of heartleaf extract — botanically Houttuynia cordata — which editorial coverage describes as offering soothing, anti-inflammatory benefits comparable to those of centella asiatica. Around this anchor the brand built a wider heartleaf line, including the Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil and the Heartleaf 77 Clear Pad.

Beyond the heartleaf range, Anua's catalogue spans serums and other treatments. Its Niacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Serum launched in 2023, and the brand's storefront highlights products such as a PDRN-based facial mist, marketed as an "Amazon No.1 Global Best Seller," an azelaic acid serum described as "Derm Approved," and a Double Cleansing Duo that the company states has sold "Over 10 Million" units worldwide. In 2026 the brand introduced a dermatologist-developed line called Barrier Reboot.

Anua's commercial profile is closely tied to its toner's success in awards and online sales rankings. The Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner was a top-rated toner in the 2022 Olive Young Awards [5], and several sources report it winning recognition across multiple categories at that retailer's awards over consecutive years. In June 2024 it took first place in the toner category during Amazon Prime Day [3].

Press coverage has centered on the toner's viral reach. SheKnows described it as a "cult-favorite" that had "been viral on TikTok since last year," citing "over 28.6 million views" across posts on the platform, and noted its Amazon best-seller status [6]. The brand's US storefront also features a tie-in section associated with the model Kendall Jenner.

Anua is active and scaling internationally. In 2025 it expanded into Boots stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland — reported at around 650 locations by August of that year — and was rolled into roughly 1,400 Ulta Beauty stores in the United States [4]. In 2026 the brand announced a partnership tied to the Netflix title KPop Demon Hunters [4], alongside continued product launches on its live storefront.