Vegan PDRN gives the ingredient story a new source. The formula still has to earn its place on your face.
Originally published August 14, 2026. Updated September 21, 2026.
The salmon had a remarkable run in beauty marketing. A few letters on a serum bottle turned an ingredient conversation into dinner-party material. Now roses, green tea, and berries are auditioning for the same role, with considerably less explaining required over appetizers.
The change is real at the product level. In August, AXIS-Y announced a berry-derived PDRN serum. Haruharu Wonder has a rose-based line, while innisfree markets a fermented green tea alternative. The useful question has changed from whether you want salmon DNA in your routine to what, exactly, each alternative is promising.
The skepticism is already in the conversation. In a Reddit discussion about PDRN, shoppers debate whether the ingredient deserves credit for a formula they enjoy. That is a useful question, not clinical evidence. Neither enthusiasm nor disappointment in a comment section can isolate what one ingredient did.
Vegan answers the sourcing question
PDRN is short for polydeoxyribonucleotide. Traditional preparations can use DNA fragments obtained from salmon. The newer cosmetic category includes plant-derived ingredients and branded alternatives, which should not all be treated as chemically or clinically interchangeable.
If avoiding animal-derived ingredients matters to you, a clearly identified vegan formula is a meaningful choice. It does not automatically tell you how well that formula works. A rose origin is a sourcing detail. A measured result in people using the finished serum is a different kind of information.
Look for the actual ingredient list, the brand's explanation of its source, and evidence about the product you would buy. A large percentage on the front deserves a small question: a percentage of what? A branded ingredient blend is not necessarily that percentage of purified DNA. Packaging has always enjoyed a number with good posture.
The topical evidence deserves precision
It would be inaccurate to dismiss all topical PDRN research. A July 2026 study in PLOS One included a randomized, double-blind, split-face trial in 31 Chinese women aged 35 to 55. Over 28 days, the researchers compared a specific 0.1% PDRN eye cream with an eye cream containing 0.1% retinol in the same base and reported improvements in several measured outcomes.
The material was salmon-derived. This was a small, short study of a particular preparation around the eyes, not a trial of the vegan serums below. It cannot establish that every PDRN serum performs the same way, that a plant alternative is equivalent, or that PDRN as a category outperforms retinoids. The authors declared no specific funding and no competing interests; the materials section identifies suppliers of the PDRN and retinol.
The same discipline applies to injectable research. A procedure and a cosmetic applied to the surface are different interventions. A serum needs evidence for its own formulation and route of use. Borrowing the clinic's vocabulary does not borrow its results.
Two vegan options, two different decisions
These are researched selections, not products TSS has tested. Listed U.S. prices and purchase options were checked September 20, 2026. Availability and pricing can change.
01 / The rose-based serum without a retinoid
Haruharu Wonder Rose PDRN Soothing Serum
Size and listed price: 30ml, $22.
Why it belongs: The brand identifies its PDRN source as Damascus rose and lists vegan certification. The formula also includes glycerin, niacinamide, panthenol, squalane, and azelaic acid. That broader ingredient list is more useful to your buying decision than the flower alone.
Best fit: Someone who wants to explore a vegan serum without adding another retinoid to an already established routine.
The limit: The presence of azelaic acid does not establish equivalence to a dedicated treatment at a disclosed strength. Nor does a result reported for the whole serum tell us how much credit belongs specifically to its PDRN. Choose it for the complete formula and your preferences, not an assumed clinic effect.
02 / The option that is also a retinoid decision
innisfree Retinol Green Tea PDRN™ Firming Serum
Size and listed price: 25ml, $37 for a one-time purchase.
Why it belongs: This vegan formula pairs its green tea alternative with retinoids. The brand describes the foundation of Green Tea PDRN™ as a fermented green tea lysate. It is a useful example of why identical letters on two bottles do not guarantee identical ingredients.
Best fit: A shopper specifically considering a formula that includes retinol, rather than someone looking only for an additional hydrating layer.
The limit: The advertised 1% Triple Retinol Complex is a blend, not a statement that the bottle contains 1% pure retinol. Likewise, 56% Green Tea PDRN™ should not be read as 56% purified DNA. Follow the product's instructions and account for other retinoids already in your routine. The PDRN branding does not make that decision for you.
Disclosure: We may earn a commission from purchases made through our links at no extra cost to you.
What about salmon sperm facials?
The original salmon DNA craze arrived as a facial. A typical "salmon sperm facial" starts with a cleanse, then a serum or cream containing salmon-derived DNA is massaged in, sometimes alongside LED light or microcurrent. The trend took off after celebrities, Kim Kardashian among them, talked about it publicly.
Two things are worth separating. The facial is a spa treatment using a topical product, while the clinic version many people mean is injectable PDRN, a different intervention with its own evidence base. And as with the vegan serums above, a pleasant facial and plumper-looking skin the next morning can't tell you how much of the credit belongs to the DNA itself.
PDRN FAQ
Is a salmon sperm facial the same as PDRN?
They are related. PDRN can be made from salmon DNA, and salmon facials use salmon-derived ingredients on the skin. Injectable PDRN used in clinics is a separate treatment.
Is vegan PDRN as effective as salmon PDRN?
There isn't evidence to say so either way. Plant-derived and branded alternatives are not chemically interchangeable with salmon PDRN, so judge each finished formula on its own evidence.
Are PDRN serums worth buying?
If you like the formula as a whole, they can be a pleasant hydrating step. Choose one for its full ingredient list and your preferences rather than an assumed clinic-level result.
Give the serum an actual job
Before adding a bottle, decide what is missing. If your existing moisturizer already gives you the comfort and finish you want, curiosity is a perfectly honest reason to try something new. It is not an obligation to renovate your routine.
Our barrier-first skincare guide is a useful place to reconsider the basics. For an overcrowded shelf, revisit Your Skincare Routine Has Too Many Employees before hiring another serum with an impressive title. And if PDRN has you curious about the other "repair" ingredients, we've looked at the evidence for GHK-Cu copper peptides and exosomes too.
Assess one finished formula at a time. Follow its instructions, notice whether it earns a place in your routine, and resist assigning every good skin day to the newest acronym. For care after a procedure, follow your treating clinician's instructions rather than a product's proximity to the word recovery.
The vegan version may be the version you prefer. That is enough. The salmon can leave the campaign without taking your critical judgment with it.
For more ingredient guides and product breakdowns, browse our Skin Care section.