8 Best Korean Facial Essence to Get Glass Skin 2025
- Essence is the heart of the Korean skincare routine, and it is a skincare category that was created in Korea, which essentially works as a primer for your moisturiser whilst also including a lot of extra benefits for the skin. Essences contain impressively high doses of active ingredients, like hyaluronic acid, fermented ingredients (e.g. yeast and rice), and gentle doses of skin-softening meant to intensely nourish the skin post-cleanse and prep it for any oils, ampoules, or serums that should come after. The best part? The lightweight and layerable textures of these formulas feel so incredibly relaxing as it's patted and quickly absorbed into the skin. You won't find any waxes and emollients in essences so they don't clog pores, or feel heavy or greasy. As a result, all skin types can benefit from an essence in their routines — whether you’re looking to nourish dry skin, hydrate oily skin, or improve acne-prone skin. Below, we've rounded up the best Korean facial essences to get class skin.
• For Dry Skin
| Missha Time Revolution The First Essence 5X
($27.89/150ml, up to 9% cashback at Stylevana)
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.
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.
| Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence
($13.49/100ml, up to 3% cashback at Stylevana)
Like a multivitamin for your skin, COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence helps to nourish, repair, and plump the skin with moisture. Formulated with 96.3% Snail Secretion Filtrate, this essence repairs and rejuvenates the skin from dryness and aging. It improves skin vitality by reducing dullness and soothing dehydrated skin. This lightweight essence fastly absorbs into the skin and gives you a natural and healthy glow. Guarantees long-lasting hydration without heavy feeling on the skin.
The texture of this product is so interesting. It's not as sticky, but it definitely has some 'bounce' to it. It's the kind of substance that forms 'threads' as you pull your fingers away. This viscosity obviously goes away when it dries though! Despite being somewhat on the thicker side for an essence, it doesn't feel heavy on the skin at all. It rubs in really nicely and feels really moisturising.
The ingredients list doesn't contain any fragrance so it's safe to assume that this would be suitable for sensitive skin.
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| NEOGEN Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence
($28.50/150ml, up to 4% cashback at Yesstyle)
This deeply hydrating and brightening essence that contains more than 93% naturally fermented ingredients, including bifida ferment lysate and 28% saccharomyces ferment filtrate, to deliver instant moisture and skin-plumping benefits.
This fragrance-free fermented treatment is also formulated with 17% birch juice to add hydration and 9% rice extracts to illuminate skin from within. Full of natural brighteners, antioxidants and cell-communicating ingredients, this essence is the key to glowing, supple "honey skin".
You won't find any fragrances and irritants either, so it's truly ideal for all skin types. You can apply it twice daily, patting it on with your hands or using a cotton pad to swipe it across your face and neck. That said, the high concentration of ferments could break out acne-prone skin, so consider starting with once-daily use.
| PURITO Fermented Complex 94 Boosting Essence
($20.70/150ml, up to 4% cashback at Yesstyle)
Purito Fermented Complex 94 Boosting Essence is a powerful, anti-aging essence that helps to reduce the signs of aging, while also providing hydration and nourishment to the skin. The essence is formulated with fermented complex 94, which helps to reduce inflammation and redness. It also contains hyaluronic acid and niacinamide to help reduce the visibility of pores and wrinkles, while also providing antioxidant protection.
Lactobacillus and Rice Ferment are rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, which helps nourish the stressed skin, improves skin texture, and provides smooth, even skin tone. Morus Alba Root Extract enhances moisture content, revitalizes skin's outer surface layers, softens, and improves dry skin. Niacinamide, the active form of vitamin B3, strengthens the natural barrier.
The essence is free of parabens, sulfates, and phthalates, and is perfect for all skin types. The lightweight, clear texture of the essence revives dull skin.
| SeoulCeuticals Marine Mineral Pump & Glow Essence
($20.00/120ml, up to 5% cashback at iHerb)
Refreshing — like you've stepped out of a hot shower! This rejuvenating Korean facial mist contains marine mineral glow essence that guarantees to make a stunning difference to your skin within a few uses.
This superior essence has Tamarind Seed Extract; a natural film forming polysaccharide, that has moisturizing effectiveness equal to Hyaluronic Acid. Includes Aloe Vera, Chamomile and Japanese Green Tea, which assist in rejuvenating the skin, while Cucumber Extract will help tighten pores. Wheat protein and marine minerals containing Selenium, Magnesium, Copper, Zinc, Calcium and Germanium round out the essential needs for a glowing complexion.
A must-try if you are dealing with dull, acne scars and best face mist for dry skin too, spray on to witness the difference!
• For Oily & Acne Prone Skin
| MISSHA Time Revolution Artemisia Treatment Essence
($26.07/150ml, up to 5% cashback at iHerb)
Time Revolution Artemisia Treatment Essence by Missha is a single-ingredient product formulated with double fermented Artemisia Annua Extract from Ganghwa Island, an island in the West Sea off Korea’s west coast. Artemisia is widely known for its healing effects, packed with vitamin A that offers skin renewal and regeneration, and vitamin C that makes skin brighter. This lightweight concentrated essence primes skin with soothing moisture while actively calming redness and healing stressed skin.
Harvested in September, when it has the maximum amount of active properties, Missha’s Artemisia extract is fermented 100 days, first in warm temperature, then twice at a cool temperature. This highly pressurized extraction process creates the purest and most active Artemisia concentration possible.
This soothing Missha Time Revolution Artemisia Treatment Essence is safe for all skin types including sensitive and acne-prone.
| Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Essence Water
($14.40/150ml, up to 7% cashback at Style Korean)
Inspired by Korean traditional herbal medicine, this watery toner is the go-to for revitalized and youthful-looking skin.
The Ginseng Essence Water is infused with 80 percent ginseng root water, an antioxidant-rich and anti-inflammatory ingredient that shields the skin against free radicals that can lead to signs of premature aging. Playing a secondary, but, no less important role is niacinamide to balance oil production and diminish the appearance of large pores over time. It also contains dipotassium glycyrrhizate for brightening, as well as panthenol, glycerin, and sodium hyaluronate for all that needed hydration.
This product helps resolve the problem of the lack of moisture, which is the cause of oily and dry skin, dead skin cells, and sensitive skin.
| TONYMOLY The Chok Chok Green Tea Watery Essence
($28.00/55ml, up to 5% cashback at Macy's)
Chok chok means dewy in Korean, and The Chok Chok Green Tea Watery Essence from Tony Moly will get you one step closer to achieving perfectly glowy and moisturized skin. Instead of using distilled water, this essence is made with over 80% fermented green tea extract, an antioxidant which works to immediately plump skin with hydration and calm down any irritation.
This light essence instantly absorbs into skin and harnesses the power of a green tea extract that's been cultivated for a year withstanding both winter and summer environmental stressors, as well as lemonseed oil which works as an antifungal agent. Also included in the formula is rosewood oil, which helps to soothe skin.
Not heavy and doesn't leave a feeling of being on your face or body. Though if you do have a scratch on your face does leave a little sting, but goes away pretty quickly. A little bit goes a long way!
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