SK-II was once my favorite and i especially like their SK-II Facial Treatment Essence but this is surely a luxury product because of its price. I just checked online and my gosh they are selling at US$165/bottle now. :O When i was a teenager, i tried the whole skin care routine and I was allergy to toner with the brand YSL and Clinique, i believe those i used for YSL had stopped its production line. My face was allergy to the ingredient alcohol and i believe a lot of ladies face the same problem also.
After the bad toner experience, i started using SK-II Facial Treatment Essence for quiet a long time (5-8 years) as a base right after cleanser before my serum. It was obviously an expensive [ Toner Replacement ] for years. So did it work? Yes it did bright up my skin honestly.
Main ingredient of the Essence was Rice Water and that was one of the selling point (gimmick) of Essence which grabbed my attention on start using it. The advertising budget from SK-II in Hong Kong during the time was large and advertisements were everywhere with famous celebrities as selling gimmick. The story behind is also very interesting with an inspiration of an old lady from Japan cleaning rice everyday who kept perfect young looking skin on her hands. Here is their video as reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4G8JFDr_l8 (SK-II Discovery Tour)
After using it for years, i then heard a lot of rumors by saying that using the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence are harmful for skin. :O The reason behind is a key ingredient which is used in all of SK-II products – Pitera. An Chinese article also claimed that the brand has been banned in the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand. I tried searching in the internet again about this and i found an interesting reading in year 2014: Daily Vanity from Singapore decided to approach SK-II to clarify on some of the points that were raised in the deleted article: http://dailyvanity.sg/news/sk-ii-bad-banned-non-asian-countries-facts/. Here are more post: Does SKII’s Facial Treatment Essence Really Work?
As I used a lot of Sk-II products for quiet some time and i would like to share simple experience:
- Facial Treatment Essence (honestly i think they are great except too pricey)
- Facial Treatment Sheet Mask (my first Sheet mask ever in life – not awesome but good enough as a mask, but again it is just too expensive)
- Signs Eye Mask (not awesome but good enough as a mask – too expensive)
- Wrinkle Specialist Moisturizing Serum (Eye Serum – not my favorite but i repurchased and used 3-4 pcs in the past)
- Essential Power Eye Cream (Eye area is my most concerned area, so i will not prefer this brand honestly)
- Cell Cellumination Cream EX (not my favorite)
- Skin Signature Melting Rich Cream (For cream, i think i like this the most as a night cream, but there were no significant changes to my skin)
As many of you know, the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence was produced with main ingredient of “Rice Water“, which was then used by many Korean Skin Care companies as ingredient for Masks. I think by using SK-II for so long, rice water had became my personal favorite ingredient. For all Rice Water Mask I used so far, i would mostly prefer Innisfree, Etude House and SOC.
Another famous Korean Brand name Grinif had
Here is a blog post from Skin18’s writer: Ingredient Detail Review: Rice Water
Again, i love to share my rice water mask experience with you and please write us to get your free Rice Water Mask to try out! 😀 *
* Note for free blogger’s sample: This offer is only for a limited period of time (Jan 2016 – June 2016) with limed quantity, mask samples are giving away to those who are currently a blogger who has at least 50+ posts and blogged for 1 year – please send an email to info@skin18.com (email subject: skincarebeauty18.com sample – Ingredient Rice Mask ) with your blog’s address if you are interested and Skin18’s sales and marketing team will contact you accordingly.
