Essence Meh.

Review: SKII Facial Treatment Essence – My One Week-Only Miracle

20 January 2016

SKII

SKII Facial Treatment Essence, or “Miracle Water” has been on my wishlist for the longest time. I couldn’t bear splurging on it which is why I have never made a move to buy it, but the husband decided to correct that and got a bottle on my birthday!

He went over the top and splurged on the biggest bottle! You cannot imagine how stunned I was when I opened the gift! My birthday was last March, and I’ve been using it for many months now. There’s still lots left because I took a break in between (just to test if this stuff makes a difference).

So how does this $170 bottle of essence fare with my skin?

SKII Facial Treatment Essence

Despite the “essence” name, it’s not the typical essence whether in texture or application method. It is a “first essence” and meant to be used before most skincare steps. Think of it as the skincare version of a primer, to prep the skin and helps absorb incoming products better. I use it right after my toner, but it can be used right after cleansing if you don’t use a toner.

My first use, I gingerly unscrewed the top of the heavy frosted glass bottle and carefully counted out the drops on my palm.The texture is just like water and the hole controls the essence quite well so I didn’t have much difficulty portioning it.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
OK! Stop right there!

Not being neurotic; this stuff is like liquid gold so we have to make it count! Pun unintended.

SKII-sw

This is what 5 drops of miracle looks like

I gently spread the water-like liquid between my palms and patted it gently onto my face. No cotton pad nonsense for me because I rather my hands absorb it than the cotton pad that I’m going to throw away!

My skin drank it up almost instantly and I proceeded with the other steps of my skincare routine.

All that’s left to do is wait. Work your magic, Miracle Water!

Sometime during the first week, I noticed that my skin was glowing. Not sure if it’s a placebo effect, because EVERYONE says they get glowing skin, so I might have subconsciously been expecting it and maybe my mind somehow wired my eyes to see it that way. BUT. My hairstylist very genuinely asked me what I was using because my skin looked so awesome. I’m sure his brain wasn’t rewired too, so it must be true!

I was floating on clouds that week, exhilarated by the astonishing change in my skin. GLOWY SKIN IS ME!

But then somewhere along the way at the second week or so, the glow disappeared.

Everything else remained the same, so I have no idea what happened. No matter what I did, I could never get back that glow I saw in the first week. That remains true till this day :(

I’ll tell you another thing that changed though; the smell. OH THE SMELL.

The fresh bottle is a mostly scentless liquid, but one day, without warning, it smelled like I just rubbed used socks over my hands and face. How is it people rave about the clear, glowing skin, but failed to mention that this stuff stinks?

I recently found something else that smelled similar: the cheese I found in my fridge that had fuzzy green mold sprouting all over it. How’s that for imagery?

Verdict

SKII Facial Treatment Essence’s magic powers only worked for a week on me, and after that, it doesn’t seem to make a difference whether or not I use it. I will still continue using it till the end though because dang this stuff is expensive! No repurchase after this for me because after a week, Miracle Water becomes just Water.

SKII should also put a warning on the bottle that reads “Caution: Stinky water inside!” I’m still smelling that moldy cheese/old socks smell every night for a couple of seconds -_-

Rating: 3/5 (although it was 5/5 for the first week)

ratings-bt

PRICE

The husband bought the 215ml bottle at duty-free for about 17,000 yen (OUCH!) Online, you can find it at ebay.

Read the disclaimer regarding reviews here.

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3 Comments

  • Reply Ilgnim 26 April 2018 at 6:19 pm

    I was contemplating whether to splurge on this. Thank you for your honest review! The other blogs have nothing but only good things to say about the product. Saved my bucks. Guess I’ll go spend my money somewhere else. Bless you!

  • Reply Re 29 May 2018 at 6:05 am

    Thank you Rin for your honest opinion. And…thank your husband too. what a nice guy!

  • Reply Erika Ramirez 26 June 2018 at 9:44 am

    Absolutely true!!!!!!I agree 100%. I thought it was only me :( !!!! so glad I read this review. Thank you !!!!!!!

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