The gift that keeps on giving…

I didn’t know what an essence was until a few years ago. I thought it was a toner. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s absolutely nothing like a toner apart from its texture.

But I’m not talking about any essence. I’m only talking about the pioneer of essences. The essence that has millions of women swearing by it – SK-II Facial Treatment Essence.

SK-II Facial Treatment Essence has an amazing history. It was actually discovered by sheer chance. Legend goes that a scientist noticed that old sake workers in a Japanese brewery had unbelievably youthful hands. He started doing research to find out what was causing this phenomenon and realised that they were constantly touching the sake. He then found that there’s a particular compound that is born from the yeast fermentation while making the sake that’s responsible for this youthfulness. He named that compound Pitera. And today, every bottle of Facial Treatment Essence contains 90% Pitera! Pretty cool huh?

I actually picked my first one from the airport in Korea on a whim. I had heard so much hoo ha ha about it, I was like “Oh, what the hell!”. The only reason I hadn’t tried it so far was because it was super pricey, and I wasn’t sure it would work and I wasn’t willing to throw my hard earned money down the drain. But you do strange things when you travel, and I’m sure glad I did.

So I came home and tried it all excited, hoping it lives up to the hype. The application is a bit strange actually. You take a few drops in your palm and then pat it on your face – like an aftershave (which is kind of weird for us girls). Another interesting thing is WHEN to use it. It’s after the toner, but before the serum. What I really like is how my skin feels immediately after applying it – as if I have quenched its thirst. I don’t know why but I always let out a satisfied sigh while using this.

So I followed this routine every day, morning and night and within a few days I had the worst breakout ever! I was so upset. I went online in a fury all ready to bash this product , only to find out that happens to many women because the product is actually ‘purging’ your skin and that I should continue using it and not give up. So I gave it another go. The deadline was 1 month. If it didn’t work, then I would be a very unhappy customer.

Within a few weeks, my skin did slowly but surely start clearing up, but I didn’t see any major difference from when I had started using it.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, people started asking me what I’m doing to my skin, because it was looking great!

I honestly couldn’t tell the difference but I often got asked if I was just back from a holiday. It was only when I met my best friend (who I hadn’t seen in 6 months) that I realized there must be some truth to this. She’s known me for the longest time and she knows about my crazy obsession with having healthy flawless skin. And when she said that my skin has never looked better, that’s when I was sold. What’s more, even she went and bought herself some Facial Treatment Essence.

But using it in summer is one thing, would this work in winter? So I took it with me to New Zealand. My skin didn’t dry, burn or chaff even in the coldest, windiest weather. There I was shitting in my pants while bungee jumping, but my skin looks all happy and glows in all the pictures. Yaay!!

Since then, I’ve been advocating it to all and sundry. My mom, my aunts, random strangers in cafes… the only watch out, if you’re like me, you may breakout and bad! Just hang in there and don’t give up. Your best skin ever is waiting for you on the other side!

P.S.: I used it throughout my pregnancy – my skin was at its worst thanks to all the raging hormones. This was the only thing that calmed down my angry skin. But it served me best immediately after my son was born. No one could tell I had sleepless nights. My skin looked great. The brownie points just keep adding up.