Product: SKII Facial Treatment Essence
Price: S$120-S$159 for 150ml (varies with stores)

RE: Texture/Scent/Application
The SKII Facial Treatment Essence (FTE) is so popular and widely advertised that I don't think it's possible for ANY lady not to know what it is. First of all, this is fragrance free , or at least it is almost 95% scentless to me. However I am certain that it contains alcohol because there is a very very faint smell, but it is there. This looks just like water and applies like a toner even though it is named an essence. I pour this on my palms and pat the liquid on my face. I use this after toning with a hydrosol. There is no residue of any kind at all. It gets absorbed really nicely.

RE: Effectiveness
I will divide my review into two parts in to " The first 3 mths" and " After" I could see an improvement on my skin right from the beginning that I used this. First of all, it hydrates my skin well enough on most days. I have dry to normal combination skin that is really sensitive and sometimes, dehydrated. After using this, I don't use a moisturiser most of the time.
This might be different if you are living in a dry climate. Singapore is an island surrounded by the sea so the humidity level is always very high.

After 1-2 weeks of usage , (at least once and at most twice a day) I noticed that the pores on my cheeks looked smaller. My skin does not feel so dehydrated anymore. It was amazing. My skin looked more radiant and supple after a month. That was when this became my Holy Grail product. However, we have to be practical here. There is a limit to how much a product can do for your skin.

So it basically maintained my skin condition during the 2nd month. It made my pores looked smaller, hydrated my skin, and my face looks more radiant. My Tzone does not oil up as much as well. Even though this is considered an expensive product. I though it was worth the price for all these benefits, especially since it does not break me out.

Now for the "After"
Sometime into the 3rd month of usage I began getting breakouts. Just a couple here and there sometimes which I dismissed as those time-of-the-month breakouts.

However, I soon realised that they weren't. I began getting cystic acne on my cheeks. One or two on each cheek. Normally those breakouts that came on the time of the month go away easily after a day or 2 of spot treatment using Benzoyl Peroxide gel (5%). These didn't go away for up to a week, and more before one heals.

I reduced the usage of my skin care products to try to find out which was causing the breakouts and I narrowed it down to the FTE. I looked up makeupalley.com for reviews because I though its really weird that a HG product can suddenly break me out. I wanted to be sure that it IS the FTE. It is after all S$150 a bottle and it worked so well I just didn't want believe it was the one causing the breakouts.

I found out from numerous reviews on makeupalley.com that states it broke out the user after a usage for a while ( varies from weeks to months) . I was so disappointed!. But I still wanted to test it out. So I stopped all the other products that I apply on my face and only used the FTE after my cleanser for 2 days. And VIOLA! two cystic acne started to form just after that two days.That was two weeks ago.

I have not touched the FTE since then and my skin is now free of new breakouts. I am still recovering from the acne marks that are left on my cheeks. I id some research about the FTE and read more reviews. It seems that the FTE will thin out the skin etc. Pitera seems to be a kind of bacteria or yeast (I really can't remember, it was weeks ago when i read about it). The product will work really well at first, but then some people's skin will react to it after a while depending on how sensitive the skin is.

So now, the FTE is no longer part of my skincare routine. I foudn out that natural products works best on my skin. The natural soaps I got from Chagrin Valley works wonderful and the moisturizers, hydrosols and what nots from Garden of Wisdom are doing my skin lots of good.

The only chemical product I have in my skincare routine that I use on an everyday basis now is just my cleansing oil and eye makeup remover and eye gel/essence.I still use the charcoal mask,Ginvera Marvel gel, SKII facial treatment cleanser now and then, but not more than 3 times a week.

I am beginning to think that it is because I am switching to mineral makeup and organic skin products that my skin seems to be unable to tolerate normal chemical products. I'm not sure now if that is a good thing or bad thing.Natural skincare is a lot cheaper than counter brands though. ;)

Labels: review, SKII, skincare