Fresh Kombucha Essence vs. Tatcha The Essence vs. Missha Time Revolution: Which is Best for You?
- Originating from the Korean beauty industry, a facial essence – not to be confused with a toner – essentially works as a primer for your moisturiser whilst also including a lot of extra benefits for the skin. A face essence usually has a lightweight texture that isn't quite as watery as a toner but is also not as thick as a serum. It's this silent overachiever energy and barely-there finish that's seen the humble facial essence develop from a trend in Japanese and K-Beauty routines to an international sensation. The best essences out there combine various benefits in one, working to hydrate, balance, soothe or exfoliate, depending on the formulation. Here, three cult favorites of essences in the market are Fresh Kombucha Antioxidant Facial Treatment Essence, Tatcha The Essence Skincare Boosting Treatment, and Missha Time Revolution The First Essence 5X. Which is best for you? Below, we will make a comparison to help you choose.
The Difference & Reviews
| Fresh Kombucha Antioxidant Facial Treatment Essence
Fresh: $82.00/150ml (up to 5% cashback)
Sephora: $82.00 (up to 4% cashback)
Bluemercury: $82.00 (up to 8% cashback)
What Does It Do?
Feel luminous with Fresh Black Tea Kombucha Facial Treatment Essence, a highly concentrated liquid treatment that aims to provide anti-pollution protection while helping to minimise the premature signs of ageing.
Powered by fermented sweet black tea, this formula aims to boost luminosity, smooth the skin's texture and deliver long-lasting hydration to the skin. Rich in antioxidants, the serum also works to refine the look of pores, reduce the look of fine lines and improve the skin's natural bounce. Hyaluronic acid helps to maintain moisture in the skin, while mandarin peel extract promotes an even complexion.
Key Ingredients:
- Advanced metabiotic is an active ingredient technology that supports skin’s enzymes to help visibly repair from the effects of oxidative stress for 24 hours.
- Kombucha is fermented black tea rich in antioxidants that helps to smooth skin, increase luminosity, and deliver 24-hour protection* against the effects of environmental stressors such as pollution and blue light—which can lead to dullness, dryness, uneven skin tone, and the look of premature lines.
- Artemisia flower extract improves skin homogeneity to help deliver a more luminous, even complexion.
- Hyaluronic acid helps attract and maintain moisture to enhance suppleness for soft, smooth, plump-looking skin.
Best for: All skin types and anyone wanting to add additional antioxidants or hydration into their skincare routine.
Texture & Fragrance: A lightweight watery liquid – it's kinda like scented water. It's absorbed quickly into the skin, leaving no residue. Skin feels hydrated and refreshed after application. A slightly sweet aroma, probably caused by the black tea kombucha ingredientt, with a slight whiff of tea. It's all good – nothing too overwhelming, and dissipates as you apply the product to your face.
Review: This fermented kombucha tea essence is known as a "facial treatment essence" not just because it says it is one, but it really does treat the facial skin, especially with mature skin because fermented ingredients tackle more than maintain our biological processes, and so bring about greater improvement to the skin condition. They induce good bacteria to fight off the bad ones and increases cellular metabolism; these reduce inflammation and increases the nutrient absorption at the same time.
It works for all skin types because of its moisturizing properties which hydrate the driest areas of the skin but it's so lightweight that it doesn't feel heavy or greasy on oily or combination skin types.
Pros | Cons |
Helps to protect from indoor and outdoor pollutio | Has a little scent |
Works to minimise signs of ageing and boost luminosity | Price tag is pretty hefty |
Designed to deliver long-lasting hydration | |
Absorbed quickly into the skin without residue | |
Suitable for all skin types |
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| Tatcha The Essence Skincare Boosting Treatment
Tatcha: $110.00/150ml (up to 4% cashback)
Sephora: $110.00 (up to 4% cashback)
Kohl's: $110.00 (up to 3% cashback)
What Does It Do?
This simple yet transformative formula is 100% Hadasei-3™, a proprietary fermented complex of the very superfoods core to the Japanese diet: rice, algae, and green tea. This potent formula boosts the effects of skincare, resurfaces, and hydrates for primed, plump, petal-soft skin at any age.
The complex is rooted in Akita rice fermented with a specially selected yeast strain to yield much less alcohol. As the base, this ferment helps deliver nutrients directly into the skin, allowing them to permeate. Moisture-retaining Okinawa algae replenishes the skin barrier for a plumped appearance, and antioxidant-rich Uji green tea protects the skin from premature aging. With each component represented at its optimal level, this harmonious trio of superfoods is fermented once more, boosting the benefits of the transformative superfoods therein. This fermentation process produces amino acids and AHAs like lactic acid, which support natural surface cell turnover for smooth skin.
Key Ingredients:
-Akita Rice: serves as the base of this ferment to deliver nutrients directly into the skin, allowing them to permeate.
-Okinawa Algae: replenishes the skin barrier and retains moisture for a plumped appearance.
-Uji Green Tea: is rich in antioxidants and protects the skin from premature aging.
Best for: All skin types, even sensitive skin.
Texture & Fragrance: The consistency of The Essence is very thin, almost water-like. Because of that, it absorbs into skin very quickly. Also, because of its watery texture, a little goes a long way—a few drops are all it takes to cover the entire face and neck. There is no distinguishable fragrance, which is great for people with sensitive skin or anyone who is sensitive to scents.
Review: This essence hydrates skin without the waxes and emollients that make creams and lotions thick, so they don't clog pores or feel greasy or heavy. As soon as you pour The Essence into your hands, you immediately notice how lightweight and barely-there it feels. But don't be fooled: It's loaded up with hydrating ingredients, like a special concentrate of green tea, rice, and algae, as well as glycerin.
Most reviewers said that they noticed that their skin appeared more hydrated and plump following application and those with dry skin noticed an especially dramatic difference in the look and feel of their skin with consistent usage.
Pros | Cons |
Works to support natural cell turnover | Very high price point |
Helps to replenish the skin barrier | |
Contributes to radiant, healthier-looking skin | |
Sits beautifully under makeup | |
Free from parabens, sulphates, phthalates, mineral oil and synthetic fragrances |
| Missha Time Revolution The First Essence 5X
Walmart: $33.95/150ml (up to 4% cashback)
Yesstyle: $42.43 (up to 4% cashback)
Stylevana: $28.99 (up to 9% cashback)
What Does It Do?
A K-beauty and Missha #1 best-seller, the Time Revolution The First Essence 5X is the brand's fifth-generation leading essence. Formulated with 97% Desert Cica Yeast Ferment, this firming and brightening essence helps maintain the skin's pH balance, delivers dense moisture, and offers basic strength care. The pure and potent skin-nourishing ingredients provide eight key skincare benefits: clarity, moisture, skin tone, texture, soothing, smoothness, hyperpigmentation, and protection.
Very unique to this formula is the fermentation process - ingredients are fermented with Missha's EXTREME FERMENT α™ Method, a unique three-step fermentation method that stably delivers an extreme boost of active ingredients to the skin, boosting it's benefits for visible results.
Key Ingredients:
- Fermented Cicaenzyme (Yeast) Extract: a mixture of flavonoids, vitamins, and amino acids that contain a high concentration of antioxidants to thoroughly balance and moisturize dehydrated skin, tone uneven or dull skin, soften fine lines and reduce the visible signs of aging.
- Niacinamide: known for its brightening and smoothing properties, helps skin look and feel healthier, restores skin's natural support system, and stimulates collagen production for smoother, firmer skin.
- Ceramide NP and Glycerin: two ingredients that work together to hydrate skin and support its crucial protective moisture barrier.
Best for: Normal/combo/oily skin types can use this as a hydrating toner as well. Those prone to fungal acne should avoid as fermented ingredients may exacerbate symptoms.
Texture & Fragrance: Extremely Watery, lightweight texture. This slides down the hand, absorbs fast and dries down fast. It doesn’t feel sticky or tacky on the skin as this is an essence and sinks right in. There is no distinguishable fragrance, which is great for people with sensitive skin or anyone who is sensitive to scents.
Review: The Missha essence uses fermented yeast extracted from Himalayan purple barley. This ingredient is well known to plump up skin, help smooth out skin texture, and reduce excess pigmentation. The process of ion fermentation is used to make sure that your skin drinks up moisture easily and retain moisture longer, helping to restore some of your skin's elasticity.
If you are into Yeast Ferment products, this could be a good one, as Missha have worked to try and keep the efficacy of the active ingredients in here and make sure it penetrates as much as it can into the skin, so you don't waste your money. So overall, this will help maintain or improve the skin's condition.
Pros | Cons |
Provide hydration deep within the skin and help skin's cellular renewal | Those who are sensitive to fermentes or suffer from fungal acne should avoid |
Help refine skin texture and remove dead skin cells | |
Diminish the signs of aging by improving collagen synthesis | |
Skin calming and brightening | |
Quicker absorption and increased efficacy of the product's natural ingredients | |
Suitable for all skin types |
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