Get your glow on! We’ve partnered with SK-II to reveal why an essence, the star of Asian beauty, is the best skin care product to single-handedly transform your skin – for the brighter and better.
Everything we know about skin care is rooted in the same problem-vs. -solution approach. Experiencing a breakout? Use this spot treatment. Struggling with dryness? Invest in that moisturizer. Trying to correct morning dullness? Consider an overnight serum your secret weapon. Although this method can sometimes yield direct results, it can also leave you with an overcluttered beauty cabinet and deflated bank account.
But here’s an idea: What if we told you that you were approaching skin care all wrong? It’s not about creating a cocktail of products to tackle individual skin concerns. It’s about discovering a category of products that holistically transforms skin and enhances your natural look. Here in the beauty industry, that’s called an essence.
Equivalent to the skin care world’s very own unicorn, an essence is the one product (not three or five or seven! ) that can turn your skin into the absolute best version of itself. One of the biggest ways it does that? By amplifying brightness and overall radiance – an especially notable benefit given our growing obsession with glowy skin. With a better, brighter complexion, you’ll forget you even had a laundry list of skin concerns in the first place.
If you need help discovering the MVP of the essence category, just look to your local glow goddesses – starting with your favorite influencers, celebrity makeup artists, or even POPSUGAR’s very own beauty editors. They all consider the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence a “holy grail” skincare staple and the best brightening product in the game. Read on to see why.
Why Brightness Is a Big Deal
We’ll say it again for the people in the back: bright skin is the best skin. Why? Because a bright and radiant appearance is the hallmark of healthy skin. When you have that, your entire vibe will change and your appearance will thrive; you can wear less makeup, pare down your skin care routine, and walk out the door feeling confident every day. Of course, we can’t forget that diet and hydration play a significant role in the appearance of your skin, too. But adding in the right skin care product makes for the ultimate glow-boosting trifecta.
If you’re up to date on all that’s new and now in makeup, you may have noticed an influx in the number of radiant highlighters, luminescent foundations, and shimmer-infused face and body liquids on the market. That’s no coincidence; bright and glowy is the “it look” – and we can assure you it’s here to stay. The only problem with achieving that look via makeup products, however, is that they get wiped off our cheekbones, Cupid’s bows, and eyelids at the end of the day. It’s up to us to help our skin glow on its own, so that’s where the almighty essence comes in.
The Essence All-Star – and Why It Works
Skin, meet your new brightness-boosting BFF. While there are a number of essence formulas on the market, there’s one undeniable leader: the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence ($99). Basically the Swiss Army Knife of skin care products, this formula relies on more than 38 years of time-tested science and one key ingredient to deliver big-time results for all skin types. The hundreds of rave reviews (from beauty editors, skin care experts, celebrities, and, most important, regular people) all over the internet are proof.
If an essence isn’t already part of your skin care routine, that’s probably because you don’t know what it is – or that it can seriously transform your skin. Not to be confused with toner, an essence has a lightweight, watery consistency that contains concentrated active ingredients. (This means that it typically has a higher percentage of active ingredients than many thicker creams and serums, which are often made of mostly water and oil. ) By patting or tapping it into the skin post-cleansing, those ingredients can be directly, quickly, and easily absorbed for fast and powerful results. Besides the transformational work an essence does on its own, it also prepares skin for the rest of your regimen. It’s the perfect – and most important – step to see game-changing results.
In the case of the Facial Treatment Essence, its concentrated miracle ingredient, PITERATM (which makes up 90 percent of the formula! ), is precisely what makes it the all-star of the essence category. It was actually discovered at a sake brewery in Japan and is derived through a natural fermentation process of a unique yeast strain. But what really sets this particular essence apart is the fact that it so closely resembles the skin’s natural formula, working in perfect harmony with different skin types, concerns, and conditions to enhance your natural look. In other words, it helps restore your skin’s natural glow and then some; we’re talking brightness beyond your dreams and skin that’s never looked better. With one game-changing bottle of an essence on your hands, you can truly set your skin up for success.
