What we will not claim

We are not going to show you a before and after.

There is no re:tones trial. There are no customer reviews yet. This is the list of what we will not tell you, and the short list of what we will.

From re:tones4 minute read

Why you are right to be suspicious

You have read this page before, with a different logo on it.

These are the ways people describe what the category has done to them.

  1. 1

    Everything says clinically proven and nothing says by whom.

  2. 2

    The percentage on the front is huge and I have no idea what it means.

  3. 3

    The before photo is always lit worse than the after photo.

  4. 4

    I stopped believing the reviews on any of these sites a while ago.

Every one of those is a reasonable thing to think. This page is written on the assumption you think all four.

How the numbers work

A big percentage often describes a diluted solution.

Peptides are used at hundreds of parts per million. A carton advertising a large percentage of one is usually describing something else.

The same ruler

CONCENTRATION, ppm 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 ppm is 100 percent Each step is ten times the one before it 210,000 ppm Niacinamide, 21 percent 50,000 ppm Tranexamic acid, 5 percent 500 ppm Acetyl hexapeptide-8, 0.05 percent WHAT THE FIGURE REFERS TOIn ppm THE ACTIVE ITSELFAs a percent ? THE SUPPLIED SOLUTION How much of that solution is peptide is usually not stated on the carton.
The three re:tones actives at the figures printed on their own cartons. The lower block is the difference between naming an active and naming the solution it arrived in.
  1. 01

    ppm and percent are the same ruler

    One percent is 10,000 ppm. Niacinamide at 210,000 ppm is 21 percent, and acetyl hexapeptide-8 at 500 ppm is 0.05 percent.

  2. 02

    Peptides work in parts per million

    They act as messages rather than as building material, so hundreds of ppm is the normal range for one.

  3. 03

    They arrive already diluted

    A supplier ships a trade solution in water or glycerin, and the peptide is a small fraction of what is in the drum.

  4. 04

    So the big number is often not the peptide

    A figure in ppm usually refers to the peptide. A large percentage usually refers to the solution it came in, and that share is rarely printed.

This is not an accusation against any particular brand, and none is named here or anywhere on this site. It is arithmetic. It is also the reason re:tones prints the ppm figure on the carton and prints the percent next to it.

Claims we will not make

Five lines you will not read on this site.

Each of these is standard in the category. Each is missing the one thing that would let you check it.

  1. 01

    Clinically proven

    Some brands really have run a study. When they publish the institution, the method and the number of people, it is worth reading.

    re:tones has not run one. The phrase is not on this site and it will not appear until there is a study with a name attached to it.

  2. 02

    A percentage of users agreed

    A consumer survey is a legitimate thing to run and a legitimate thing to report.

    Printed without the sample size, the question asked and who paid for it, that figure has no basis. re:tones publishes no user figures.

  3. 03

    Instantly, or in seven days

    Some things genuinely do change quickly, and skin looks different straight after water.

    A timeline is an outcome claim. re:tones has measured none, so none is printed anywhere on this site.

  4. 04

    Before and after

    A photograph is the most persuasive thing in this category, and that is exactly the problem with it.

    Lighting, angle, makeup and time of day move a face more than most products do. A before and after is an efficacy claim in picture form, and this brand has no efficacy data.

  5. 05

    Surgical grade stainless steel

    It reads like an engineering term, and a real specification would look something like it.

    It names no alloy, no standard, no supplier and no lot, so nobody can check it and nobody can compare two products by it.

None of the above is aimed at a named company and none is named. Every line is a format rather than an accusation, and each one is absent from this site for the same reason: we could not print the basis beside it.

What we will tell you

Every figure, printed with the thing it rests on.

A specification is checkable. An outcome is not. re:tones publishes the first kind and marks the reference values it borrows.

What a published figure looks like here

DEPTH, LINEAR, 0 TO 1,500 µm 1.5 mm = 1,500 µm DERMIS stratum corneum, 15 to 20 µm † viable epidermis ends about 100 µm † 0 0.5 0.75 1.0 1.25 1.5 The collar travels 0.5 to 1.5 mm, with no clicks THE FIRST 100 µm, AT FIFTEEN TIMES stratum corneum, 15 to 20 µm † VIABLE EPIDERMIS 0 25 50 75 100 µm tip diameter, 8 µm, drawn to this scale
The two skin figures on this drawing carry a dagger, because they are general reference values for facial skin rather than re:tones measurements. The collar range carries none, because it is a device specification. That difference is the whole disclosure standard.

0

Efficacy figures published by re:tones. There is no trial behind this brand yet, so there is no number to print.

3

Third party declarations of conformity behind the device: FCC, CE for EMC and RoHS. The Korean KC declaration is our own, and it is labeled that way.

A number without its basis is not a number.

† Stratum corneum thickness and the depth of the viable epidermis are general reference figures for facial skin, not re:tones measurements. Every depth shown is a position the collar is set to, not a measured depth in anyone's skin. How much of anything reaches a given layer, and how long a channel stays open, are not measured by re:tones and are not claimed on this page.

What we sell

Four products, and the numbers printed on them.

One device that opens the channel at a depth you set, and three sealed ampoules dosed for the moment after it.

re:tones Skin Rejuvenation Tap Pen Device

The device

re:tones Skin Rejuvenation Tap Pen Device

$109Two colorways, three cartridges in the box

Tip
8 µm on the PRO-5D Nano cartridge, 15 µm on the PRO-R Nano
Depth
0.5 to 1.5 mm, continuous, on a collar with no clicks
Intensity
Six settings, separate from depth
Release
The ampoule is dispensed at the moment the tip meets skin
Cartridges
Three in the box. Sterile, single use
Classification
Cosmetic device

What we do not tell you

  • It does not treat any condition.
  • We do not tell you how much more of anything gets in. We hold an internal figure, it is not substantiated, so it does not run.
  • We do not tell you how long a channel stays open. That has not been measured.
  • We do not claim it is painless. Sensation varies by person, by depth and by area.
  • There is no re:tones trial, and there are no customer reviews yet.

The three ampoules

One thing to do

Nothing above promised you anything.

That is the point. Here is the device, here is what it is, and here is what it is not. Decide on the specifications. Every one is listed with its basis on the science page.

Build the system

Put the device and an ampoule in the cart and 10 percent comes off the ampoule. There is no code to enter.

re:tones is developed and made in South Korea and sold by Idenbrick LLC in the United States. The Tap Pen is a cosmetic device, and nothing on this page is a medical claim.