SK-II Facial Treatment Essence : Does It Really Work?

A Japanese cult product SK-II Facial Treatment Essence is world-renowned as one of the best products to use for anti-ageing and crystal clear skin. Touted as a “miracle water”, Pitera, a bio-ingredient derived from yeast fermentation that resembles skin's natural moisturizing factors containing over 50 micro-nutrients like vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and organic acids was discovered incidentally in the 1970’s, when scientists noticed the soft tender hands of sake brewers that sharply contrasted with their wrinkled and aged faces making it a product that a lot of women swear by. According to the SK-II website, scientists spent years looking through 350 yeast strains to isolate the Galactomyces yeast strain that produces Pitera. When they discovered it, leading scientist on the SK-II team Takashi Yoshiji said, “We knew we had found something very special – a gift of nature that will transform skin for generations to come. Even today, we are constantly making new discoveries about its efficacy after 30 years.” 

How far does the truth goes? to be frank, i have been using SK-II FTE for few years on and off now and i just realized that i never really written a post about it to share a bit of my experience with the product and how i personally feel towards it, due to the price i don't really maintain the sustainability, normally once the product ran out i will only buy again after a month or two or maybe after few months, wouldn't say that my skin depends on it, to me it's definitely a special product in the market and as well as a comfortable product to be used but not really making it as a staple. Since i've been using it for considerably around 7 years plus minus (my first purchase from them was in 2014 together with my mom), i think there's few significant things to talk about especially if you're new to the product and would love to try it. 

SK-II Facial Treatment Essence Ingredients :

Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate (Pitera)

Butylene Glycol

Pentylene Glycol

Water

Sodium Benzoate

Methylparaben

Sorbic Acid

Ingredient	Purpose	Irritancy/  Comedogenicity
Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate  (Pitera)	moisturizer/​humectant
Butylene Glycol	moisturizer/​humectant, solvent, viscosity controlling	/
Pentylene Glycol	solvent, moisturizer/​humectant
Water	solvent
Sodium Benzoate	preservative
Methylparaben	preservative	/
Sorbic Acid	preservative

Simply put, the Galactomyces ferment filtrate which they call as Pitera is a natural by product of yeast fermentation, it is a rich liquid containing amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and organic acids and said to improve skin radiancy, minimalise wrinkles and toning down dark spots. Sounds like you've found a magical key to rewind back time for your youthful skin isn't it? Yet again how far does truth stores in the department? Given the steep price point, not everyone can afford to buy this, even for me, like i said i can only restock it back after a month or two or maybe after few months (gotta live and there's a lot of other essentials need to be paid first let's be honest), thus why i think that it is equally important to let people know on what it basically does to skin and what type of skin it is most suitable for. 

I have other friends that have been using this for relatively long time, some stopped from using after awhile and some like me chose to continue using even after years based on our personal reasons. I gathered their experience regarding on how they feel and what it's done to their skin. I'll go with my friend who suffer from acne prone skin first. If you see the table where i listed all of the ingredients from a bottle of FTE with their purposes, most of them serve as a humectant except the last three which act as a preservative, you do know what acne suffered skin needs when it comes to skincare right? among the known and prominent ones are benzoyl peroxide, alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs), salicylic acid and tea-tree oil. Scientifically, butylene glycol and famous ingredient used as a preservative, methylparaben is known to irritate the skin of some people, especially those who are sensitive to it giving it a reason to irritate people who suffer from acne as well due to their skin sensitivity. 

My friend stopped from using it after few months breaking her bank on this product for the trial phase. It didn't work on her. This is not the first case that i heard from the people who suffer from acne prone skin. A lot of them told me the same thing. It doesn't make her skin worse but it definitely didn't do anything either. Which in a equal way making her skin worsen coz she skipped on her acne skin regime to dedicate it on this product. I also had a fair share in this problem too. Once in few years back, i suffered from skin irritation after i came back from a camping trip. My skin is very sensitive to the change of weather and surrounding environment which means that the fun in the woods wasn't really fun for my skin unfortunately. I was using the SK-II FTE too when i came back from the camping trip thinking it could fix my irritated skin (coz it worked wonders before i had that post camping skin irritation), alas it didn't do anything at all, which made it worsen coz i skipped from treating the irritation with a suitable product at that moment thinking that the magical FTE alone could fix my skin like normal again. It worsen so bad that i had to pay a visit to a skin specialist coz the irritation gone for few months long. For someone with a normal skin that is hardly experience breakout and acne that was one of the nightmares i ever had having my skin in that condition for the first time in my life.

After few months passed where my skin came back to normal with no zits and acne mapping on my face anymore, i continued using it again thinking that i already spent a pinched bucks on just a bottle just to finish and get done with it without really hoping so much. To my surprise, it hydrated my skin and my skin is radiant once again. I was very puzzled at this. I asked the experience of others again about this product and this time my mom shared hers to me. My mom has been having some visible freckles and pigmentation on her skin and only God knows how much she hates having it. She used FTE for about few months before she stopped. She told me that while it helps in retaining the moisture, it doesn't do much on her skin. Her pigmentation is still there, apparent and unbudged, like there were no visible changes. From what I collected and understand from the experience of others and combining mine together, there's only one thing i can conclude from this product. 

It does helps in retaining the hydration given the fact that among the other SK-II products, FTE contains the highest of Pitera concentration. This is the product that put this Japanese label on map, although they still actually have the other products in their list that contains Pitera as well, ironically they are not as popular as FTE (praise their marketing as well where they normally only feature FTE most of the time instead of their other products). True that sufficient hydration is very important in order to promote skin lucency and to treat most skin problems (most problems like irritation and and acne does come from dehydrated skin), however if your skin condition is already not at its best and currently having a hard time tackling the acne, irritation, or inflammation, it is best to treat the major problem first before using this product, i'd like to relate back to my case after the camping. 

Now that my skin at its normal condition except just dry sometimes, i find that SK-II is working really wonderful on my skin. True that it really doesn't do anything prowess besides just maintaining your skin condition when it's already at its best by providing hydration (though if your skin is excessively dry it might not work too i'm afraid to say). Now I understand when they say that it could slower down the ageing only because what it's best does is preserving the skin condition, when your skin don't have any serious or particular problem that needs other treatment beforehand. You see their advertisement on TV/internet where they use celebrities (to name a few) like Tang Wei, Chloe Grace Moretz and Arimura Kasumi? lol they all are already known to have a clear skin to begin with so using it sure make them the glowing goddesses. IT DOES work wonders when you don't have a skin problem, IT DOES give you that radiance when your skin is already clear, and IT DOES maintain it too if your skin is already in a good condition. Since a lot of my friends who've been dying to try this came to ask me about it knowing that i'm using it, i really can just say one thing without being biased of the hype. If you have a problematic skin that needs some attention beforehand, don't think that this product work on you like a magic. You need to treat the skin condition first before even thinking about trying this unless you don't mind wasting some bucks over the elegant looking frosted glass bottle that look fancy on your vanity table as how the brand wants it to appear to be.

Overly hyped? I have mixed feelings in giving a fixed yes or no, coz for me it didn't work when my skin was at its worst and it did work wonders when my skin is not having any notable problem that needs prior attention. This is not only happening to me but to a lot of friends who used this too. Collectively, in a sense maybe it is overly hyped coz it certainly doesn't work on all skin type and problem especially those that need to be treated for a certain problem first (praise the excellent marketing again where it makes one into believing that it's a miracle to all kind of skin condition).

Here i'm gonna list some important things about this product in two categories so you can decide whether to you are willing to break your bank or not over a single bottle of FTE or whether this product even worth your attention at all.

What I like :

• • Beautiful weighty frosted glass bottle that makes it look very exclusive and posh
• • Does give you a notable radiance when your skin is already clear and maintain its hydration
• • Comfortable to be used before you sleep as it gives you a hydrated feeling in the morning

What I dislike :

• • The odd fermented smell, main ingredient derived from yeast fermentation what do you expect lol (it does stink to me when i first time used it), now my nose kinda already assimilate to it
• • Doesn't do much in the other field like lessening the dark spots (i kinda had to use the other products that could treat it better)
• • Doesn't treat the wrinkles as it is said to be, if you use this before your wrinkles start to appear it could probably have really saved you from premature ageing but if your wrinkles are already there by the time you start using it, gullible of you to think that it could erase them
• • It is so expensive, imagine that their smallest bottle of 75ml worth of RM256 

I repeat, this is why i said that i only use it on and off (i used it consistently before and there were not much difference in terms of appearance rather than good hydration), it is definitely a comfortable product to use when your skin is in a good condition, when my skin don't, i will treat it first before i use it again. Currently my skin is at its best, using this altogether improving it. My skin is glowing now. Nonetheless, this is not a product that my skin depends on too for sure. This is just like a relationship lol, you love it when it works and you kinda need to fix certain things first when it don't before getting back at it, pissed you off right especially when you already invested a lot in it. Same goes to this product. I would honestly still restock in the future as long as i could afford it and if i don't anymore i wouldn't like i mentioned above, my skin is not really depending on it. It only enhances in term of radiancy and hydration for me and i only love it for that particular reason. Should i can't afford anymore someday given unforeseen priority coming in the future that we need to spend on more, i think i will bid goodbye to it. Thank you next lol

Not really a big deal coz thanks to the current technology, there are numerous of other dupes in the beauty market that work similar to SK-II FTE like those from Korean brands like Missha and Secret Key for example. Certainly they could not beat SK-II in any way coz SK-II is the pioneer to the Pitera and best known for it, however the other products that use similar ingredient derived from yeast fermentation work as well. I would say that my second best is from this Japanese brand, Hada Labo Kouji Treatment Essence. Their prices are definitely cheaper too like half of the price of that 75ml SK-II FTE for a larger size and product volume. For now, i'll enjoy the radiance it gives me while looking bougie on my lil vanity table as long as i could afford it and if i don't feel like continuing it doesn't greatly affect my skin condition either. 

Till then,

-Pinku-

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