Review: Nature Republic The First Essence

I love how things are always a trend in the Korean beauty world – first, it was BB cream, then it was the BB cushions. In the skincare world, you’ve now got the trend of the First essences – something that’s a nutrient-enriched version of a toner.

So far, I’ve tried the following First essences and gotten pretty decent results from them:

• IOPE Bio Essence Intensive Conditioning
• Hera Cell Essence
• SK-II Facial Treatment Essence
• The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Concentrate Total Treatment
• Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence

And well, if something’s good and not broke, don’t go fixing it – I’ll be continuing to use First essences 😀

Nature Republic The First Essence – KRW32,000

 

 

The ingredient list is in English (for once!) – Phenoxyethanol is the latest replacement for parabens, and is a preservative derived from either grapefruits, green tea, or from a lab. I’ve done some reading and some people might get an itchy reaction from this, so do monitor your usage. My skin hasn’t had any adverse reaction to this so far, thankfully. 😀

 

 

A typical watery liquid

 

Immediately after it’s been absorbed

 

A few minutes after absorption

I say… 

• Like all other similar First essences, this also comes in a heavy frosted glass bottle. I’m more or less resigned to this already, although I still don’t know if there’s any scientific reason for it (i.e. preserving the integrity of the product for a longer period of time). It does cramp my (shopping) style though – it means that I can’t buy more than 2 bottles at one time from Korea, cos it’ll significantly increase my shopping weight (yes, I have bought 48kg of stuff back before heh).
• Anyhoos, the cap is the screw-on type, and the Essence is dispensed through a tiny 4mm hole across the top.
• The liquid is watery in consistency and non-sticky.
• It is really quickly absorbed, and leaves no residue – none of them sticky, greasy feeling.
• It has a nice mild floral-herbal scent – herbal enough to remind you that you’re using a product with 6 herbs, but scented enough so that it doesn’t turn you off.
• After using this for about 2-3 weeks, I actually notice that my skin is getting clearer and slightly fairer – nothing shade-changing though. It’s more of an overall improvement in my skin radiance 😀
• It’a also made my skin slightly softer and smoother, but if I were to recommend this product, it’ll be solely based on the fact that it helps in skin tone clarity. I’m guessing this can be attributed to its 90% fermented yeast from Jeju island.
• What’s more, it ups my moisture levels – at certain times when my skin feels particularly stripped after cleansing or when it’s particularly dry, I apply some of this and I can feel my skin being soothed by the extra moisture.
• Application info: Apply after cleansing onto bare face. I then follow up with Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum / Hanyul Optimising Serum –> Hanyul Skin Softner –> Emulsion –> Serum –> Cream / Day Cream –> Sulwhasoo Luminature Finisher (if I’m going out)

 

Yes I lurve this, and I’m so glad I adopted it back from Korea 😀