When a brand revisits a product that was already doing well, the obvious question is whether the update earns its place or just refreshes the label. Isntree's original Hyaluronic Acid Toner had a loyal following as a clean, do-no-harm hydrator, the kind of unfussy step people reorder without thinking about it, so the 2024 Plus version had a fair bit to prove. What it adds is the MultiEx BSASM Plus complex, a patented Korean botanical blend, grafted onto the brand's familiar multi-form hyaluronic acid base. The honest verdict after living with it is that the soothing differentiation is real but quiet, the kind of upgrade you register over weeks of consistent use rather than in the first splash across your cheeks.
The hydration architecture here is genuinely layered, and that is worth dwelling on because it is the part that separates a good hydrating toner from a forgettable one. Rather than leaning on a single hyaluronic acid, the formula stacks five forms: sodium hyaluronate, hyaluronic acid, hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid, hydrolyzed sodium hyaluronate, and a sodium hyaluronate crosspolymer. Different molecular weights bind water at different depths of the upper skin, and that spread is what gives a well-built toner its cushioned, plumped feel rather than a flat, surface-level dampness that evaporates and leaves you tighter than before. Around that core sits a supporting humectant cast that does serious work: trehalose, an osmolyte that stabilizes cells against water loss; sodium PCA, which mimics one of skin's own natural moisturizing factors; biosaccharide gum-1, which forms a thin moisture-binding film on the surface; and beta glucan, which hydrates while contributing a soothing, anti-inflammatory note. All of these are well-established ingredients with decades of formulation history behind them, not speculative novelties, which is part of why the toner feels trustworthy rather than experimental.
The MultiEx BSASM Plus complex is the new headline and the brand's signature soothing platform across several of its products. It bundles chamomile, green tea, centella, baikal skullcap, polygonum cuspidatum, and rosemary, and the evidence behind these botanicals is best described as promising rather than ironclad. Individually they bring documented antioxidant and calming chemistry: centella's asiaticosides and madecassoside, green tea's EGCG polyphenols, the baicalin and baicalein flavonoids in skullcap, resveratrol from Japanese knotweed. Stacked alongside a wider soothing layer of licorice root, aloe, purslane, and panthenol, the overall effect skews firmly toward comfort, which is exactly what reactive and easily-flushed skin wants from a first hydrating step. I would not promise it erases redness on contact, but the cumulative calming benefit over consistent use is plausible and consistent with how people describe it, and that calming character is the most credible reason to pick the Plus over the leaner original.
On the skin it reads as a slightly viscous water, more substantial than a thin essence-toner but nowhere near a gel. It absorbs cleanly without that tacky residue that makes some hyaluronic toners feel sticky in humidity. You can swipe it on a cotton pad or, better, press it in with your palms, and the generous 200ml bottle makes it genuinely practical for the 7-skin method, where you layer the same toner several times over for deeper hydration on parched skin. Hydration is immediate and obvious; the barrier-comfort payoff is the part that compounds quietly in the background over time.
Where it asks for honesty is at the dry-skin extreme and the track-record question. On very dry skin, this is a hydrating step, not a sealing one, so it genuinely needs an occlusive or a richer cream layered over it to hold the water it deposits, otherwise that moisture simply evaporates off. As a 2024 reformulation, it also carries a shorter independent review history than the original it replaces, and there is a small but vocal contingent who simply preferred the leaner old formula and find the multi-active version more than they were actually after. None of these are flaws so much as fit considerations, and they square neatly with the moderate confidence the data here warrants, since the formula has not yet had years on the market to accumulate the kind of long-tail feedback its predecessor enjoyed.
At twenty-two dollars for 200ml, the math is firmly in the buyer's favor for a K-beauty hydrating toner of this complexity, which is reflected in its strong value score. It is fragrance-free, alcohol-free, oil-free, and fungal-acne safe, a combination that quietly clears most of the usual disqualifiers and makes it broadly wearable across normal, combination, oily, dry, and sensitive skin. That breadth is its real strength and the reason it scores so well on suitability. The right buyer is anyone building a gentle, hydration-forward routine who wants a soothing first step that plays nicely with whatever serums follow, and especially reactive or barrier-compromised skin that benefits from the calming botanicals. The people who can comfortably skip it are those chasing an exfoliating acid toner, anyone who genuinely prefers a barebones single-ingredient hydrator, and bargain-per-ounce hunters who would rather a no-frills humectant. For everyone else, the Plus is a thoughtful, low-drama upgrade that does what it claims without overselling itself. One last practical note worth making is that this kind of toner rewards routine over intensity, so the people who get the most from it are the ones who use it consistently morning and night and resist the urge to chase a faster, harsher fix. Hydration and barrier comfort are slow-accruing dividends, and a gentle formula like this one is built precisely to be reached for daily without ever wearing out its welcome on the skin.
