Review: MISSHA Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence

Following several raves about this product, especially as a more economical alternative to the also famed SK-II Facial Treatment Essence, I decided to try MISSHA's Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence. When I first heard of these product as containing products from fermentation, I have to admit my curiosity got the best of me and I haphazardly bought this product without checking the price first. Better make good use of the money by making a review and sharing my experience.

Availability and Price: My sister bought this product for me (she lives in Korea) for around 30 USD. The price is quite expensive for me (anything above 20 USD is expensive for me). I am not so sure if this product is available from MISSHA kiosks/shops here in the Philippines.

Packaging: Nothing much to note, except for the heavy glass bottle. It comes with an instruction suggesting this product be used after cleansing. Box also shows the ingredient list and other information.

Texture and Scent: I am not a fan of the smell, but I can't say I hate it either. The essence is watery, and is quite difficult to not use a cotton pad. Still, I use my hands so I can make the product last longer.

Ingredients: (from cosdna.com): Ingredients of note are Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Licorice, Niacinamide, and Bifida ferment lysate.

Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate is a filtrate produced through fermentation by the microorganism Saccharomyces. This ingredient appears to be the replacement to the main ingredient of The First Treatment Essence's high end competitor, as the former also boasts yeast filtrate (a different, patented one). Anyway, I checked for both serums' active ingredients over the web if there are any published studies which specifically used such ingredients, but unfortunately, I found nothing. I did find the very nice Skin and Tonics blog post by Kerry comparing this MISSHA essence and the SK-II one, and at the end of the article is a link to a study. The linked study suggests that live yeast cell derivatives, specifically from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, may stimulate would healing.

Bifida ferment lysate, a type of gram positive bacteria has no known effect on the skin when applied topically, as said in paulaschoice.com. I can't seem to find any published studies focused on these, so I have no idea if these filtrates are miracle ingredients or just hype.

I am not surprised if there are skin care products with
beer in them (from the beginnersbrew.com) 

Meanwhile, licorice is an ingredient usually added as an anti-inflammatory and whitening ingredient, and though there are some studies saying that such effect have been observed, further studies with licorice still need to be implemented.

Niacinamide is another popular skin care ingredient with a ton of benefits. This is a beneficial ingredient to anyone with skin discoloration from pimples. Normally, I would be delighted to use a product with niacinamide as a main ingredient, but I am currently using Vitamin C, and these two can interact and cancel out each other. FutureDerm has an excellent article on Vitamin C and Niacinamide interaction.

Effect: I quite like how my skin feels immediately after using this product: soft, somewhat firmer, relaxed. I cannot say this product had any "anti-aging" (preventive or curative) effect on me (maybe because of the interaction between niacinamide and Vitamin C).

Rating: I was only able to read about the FutureDerm article today, when I've been using this product in my skin care routine for weeks. Good thing my vitamin C serum's active ingredient is not L-Ascrobic acid because apparently, L-Ascorbic Acid can form hydrogen peroxide with Niacinamide and UV light. Due to the Niacinamide and Vitamin C interaction, it is unfair if I would give a low rating because it had no effect on me. Sure, I am doubtful the effect of the filtrates, but this product still has a main ingredient with proven benefits.

But considering the fact that this product is expensive, I would choose my Vitamin C serum over this essence (since I apparently should not use them together). But for those who would want alternatives, this product is still worth a try. I plan to stop using this product with my Vitamin C serum, hence you can expect a revised review. (Follow the updated to the review here.)