Anua Heartleaf 77 vs Round Lab 1025 Dokdo Toner: Which Korean Toner Fits Your Skin?
Both are viral, both are clean fragrance-free formulas — but they solve different problems. One calms; the other hydrates and gently refines.
Not rivals — different jobs. Match the toner to your skin’s problem.
Both are fragrance-free, alcohol-free, fungal-acne-safe, and genuinely gentle. The difference is the active idea: Anua centers 77% heartleaf for calming and redness; Round Lab 1025 centers mineral-rich deep-sea water plus a protease enzyme for lightweight hydration and gentle exfoliation. Pick by concern — and you can even own both.
Same clean base, two different active ideas
Both toners are unusually clean: no added fragrance, no alcohol, no silicones, fungal-acne (malassezia) safe, and vegan. So this isn’t a “which one is gentler” contest — both are gentle. The real fork is what each one is trying to do.
Anua’s formula is built around 77% Houttuynia cordata (heartleaf), a calming, anti-inflammatory botanical, backed by panthenol and hyaluronic acid. It’s a soothing step for reactive, redness-prone skin. (It carries a mild natural herbal scent from the heartleaf itself — not added fragrance.)
Round Lab’s 1025 is built on deep-sea water (marketed as 72–74 minerals) plus red algae and a protease enzyme — the brand’s “HATCHING EX-07” — which gently lifts dead-skin buildup and sebum, while betaine, panthenol, and allantoin hydrate and soothe. It’s a lightweight hydrate-and-refine step, better suited to oily, combination, or textured skin.
Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner
The soothing daily step for reactive, redness-prone skin.
Best if: your skin runs reactive or red and you want a low-irritation calming step.
Round Lab 1025 Dokdo Toner
The ultra-light hydrator with a gentle enzymatic refine.
Best if: your skin is oily/combo or looks a little rough and you want a weightless refining step.
At a glance
Texture and how to layer them
The two feel quite different in the hand. Anua is light but a touch more substantial than water, with a faint herbal scent, and sinks in without residue. Round Lab is famously water-thin (a “물광/glass-skin” style toner) — it can drip off your palm and absorbs almost instantly with zero stickiness.
How to use either: after cleansing, press it in with your hands or sweep with a cotton pad. One practical caveat — because Round Lab’s toner is so light, very dry skin usually needs a serum or moisturizer layered on top; it’s a refining hydration step, not a rich one. Anua’s heartleaf-and-HA base can double as a light hydrating layer on calmer days.
What real reviewers report
Commonly praised: calms redness, feels gentle, lightweight hydration, well-liked by sensitive and reactive skin.
Commonly flagged: the mild natural herbal scent isn’t for everyone; a few find it slightly tacky if over-applied.
Commonly praised: ultra-light, absorbs instantly with no stickiness, smooths texture over time, helps with sebum, excellent value.
Commonly flagged: too light to be the only hydration step for very dry skin — it needs layering.
Can you use both? A simple rotation
A simpler approach that many K-beauty users land on: reach for Anua on reactive or red days, and Round Lab when skin feels dull, oily, or textured. You can also split them by season — Anua for calming in dry winter, Round Lab for weightless refining in humid summer. Owning both and rotating is a legitimate, common routine.
Which one for you?
Pick Anua if…
- your skin is sensitive or redness-prone
- you want soothing without any exfoliation
- you like a clean, calming ingredient focus
- you want a larger 250 mL bottle
Pick Round Lab if…
- your skin is oily or combination
- you want light hydration plus smoother texture
- you like gentle daily enzymatic refining
- you prefer a water-thin, unscented finish
FAQ
Are these exfoliating toners?
Anua isn’t — it’s purely soothing. Round Lab’s contains a mild protease enzyme that gently lifts dead-skin buildup, so it lightly refines texture; it is not a strong acid (AHA/BHA) exfoliant.
Can sensitive skin use the Round Lab one?
Generally yes — it’s fragrance-free, alcohol-free, and skin-irritation tested, and the enzyme action is mild. As always, patch test if your skin is highly reactive.
Which is better for dry skin?
Anua’s heartleaf-plus-hyaluronic-acid base feels a touch more nourishing. Round Lab’s is ultra-light and usually needs a moisturizer layered on top for very dry skin.
Bottom line
Choose Anua Heartleaf 77 if calming reactive, red, or sensitive skin is the goal.
Choose Round Lab 1025 Dokdo if you want ultra-light hydration plus gentle enzymatic refining for oily, combo, or textured skin.
If your skin shifts between those states, owning both and rotating is a legitimate, common approach — just don’t layer them at the same time.
Sources & verification
- Anua — Heartleaf 77 Soothing Toner, official product page. Checked Aug 23, 2026. Used for 77% heartleaf, supporting ingredients, size, and calming positioning.
- Round Lab — 1025 Dokdo Toner, official product page. Checked Aug 23, 2026. Used for deep-sea water minerals, the HATCHING EX-07 protease (gentle exfoliation), and watery texture.
- INCIDecoder — Round Lab 1025 Dokdo Toner full ingredient list. Checked Aug 23, 2026. Used to confirm the 16-ingredient formula including protease, red algae, and no fragrance/alcohol.
- ReviewDermatica — Round Lab 1025 Dokdo Toner review. Checked Aug 23, 2026. Used to summarize texture and behavior (paraphrased), not for quoted text.
- Mirai Skin — Anua vs Round Lab toner comparison. Checked Aug 23, 2026. Used to cross-check positioning and common user sentiment (paraphrased).
