The essence of facial essences

If you are an avid fan of K-beauty, chances are you would have come across facial essences, an important skincare step in your daily beauty regimen.

Facial essences are generally formulated with ingredients to help restore balance and hydration to your skin. Often times they are easily confused with facial toners and serums. Read on to find out what benefits they hold and how they differ from other skincare products.

What are essences?

Essences are water-based skincare products that are formulated with active ingredients to promote protection and hydration to the skin while boosting skin health.

Essence is best applied to clean skin, after a layer of toner has been applied but before serums and moisturisers. This helps prepare the skin to better absorb the next layer of skincare products.

Some of the common ingredients found in essence include water, glycerin or glycol, hyaluronic acid, vitamins and minerals, all of which are known for their moisturising and hydrating properties.

Read more: Best skincare ingredients for oily skin

What’s the difference between essence and toners?

As mentioned earlier, essences are often confused with toners. While they may look the same in terms of consistency, they have different jobs when it comes to skincare.

Toners are generally alcohol-based and serve to give skin a deeper cleanse after you have washed your face. Toners can also help to tighten pores and rebalance skin tone for a smoother complexion.

Using an essence after a toner can help to rehydrate and rebalance moisture levels in the skin.

Read more: Crystal healing: yay or nay?

What’s the difference between essence and serums?

While it’s true that both essences and serums contain high levels of active ingredients, again they each play a different role.

You would probably notice that serums are mostly thicker than an essence, meaning it aims to penetrate deeper into the skin to work its magic.

While essences help to improve hydration levels in general, serums are more specific in targeting skin concerns, be it dull skin, pigmented skin or ageing skin. Plus, it’s always recommended to apply a layer of moisturiser after using serums to lock it into the skin.

Applying a later of essence before serums help the skin to better absorb serums and its intended benefit into the skin.