Sampling the Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence and Night Repair Ampoule

A couple months ago, Missha, a Korean skincare and make-up brand most renowned for their BB creams, opened its first store in the US in the New York Flushing area. I had the pleasure of shopping in the store with Kar Yi, and was happy not only to find the entire Missha range with testers, but also many other popular Asian brands: My Scheming, HABA, My Beauty Diary, Dollywink and more. Another bonus of shopping in store was that the sales associates were very generous with free samples, and as I was interested in trying the Missha Time Revolution range, they provided me with enough packets to sample the range over the course of 3-4 weeks.

I was mostly interested in trying the Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence ($49 for 150ml), which is the brand's version of the vastly popular, and painfully expensive at $105 per 2.5 oz bottle, SK-II Facial Treatment Essence. There's no way I'd spend over $100 to try the SK-II, which is why I've been looking into options from other brands, like the IOPE Bio Essence, The Nature Republic The First Number One Essence, or this one from Missha. All of these clear watery toner/serum products are formulated with high percentages of different yeast ferment filtrates, and promise to enhance the skin's hydration, firmness, radiance and tone. Missha's First Treatment Essence contains 80% of proprietary fermented yeast concentrate called Fissione, rich in B Vitamines, as well as Niacinamide (Vitamin B3).

I received seven foil packets of the First Treatment Essence, and found that I was able to get 3-4 uses out of each, as you only need 5-6 drops for the entire face. I've been using the Missha Essence in place of my regular hydrating toner both in the morning and at night. After nearly a month of sampling the essence, I found that my skin feels nicely hydrated and supple, and the serums I layer over the essence absorb a lot better into my skin. In fact, what I liked the most about the Time Revolution Essence, is that it absorbs immediately into the skin without any product feel - just like water, only more moisturizing. Since Asian 'essences' are a cross between toners and serums, I think they're a fantastic option for oily skin types, or to use in the summer; they feel extremely lightweight, yet still give your skin a nourishing boost.

In the morning, I've been layering the Missha Time Revolution Night Repair New Science Activator Ampoule ($49 for 50ml) over the First Treatment Essence - I know it sounds very counterintuitive as the ampoule is meant to be mostly an overnight treatment, but you can in fact use it day and/or night, and I'll get to my reasons for doing so in a moment. I was excited to learn the Night Ampoule contains a lot of probiotics: fermented Bifida, Lactobaccilus and Lactococcus, as well as niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and a whole host of natural plant extracts, and promises to moisturize, energize, repair, improve elasticity and even out skintone.

The first few times, I applied the Time Revolution Ampoule at night, and woke up to my skin feeling quite hydrated and plump, but unfortunately, not very even in tone or texture, which is why I returned to using my Murad hydroquinone serum at night, and started using the ampoule in the mornings. After testing it for nearly a month, I have to say that it doesn't work well with my skin; while I can see that my skin remains quite hydrated, I've unfortunately started experiencing a lot more redness and sensitivity in my skin as the weeks went on. I've also been noticing a lot more clogged pores, but I can't pinpoint that down to just this product - my skin has just been a lot more oily recently, probably due to the hot and humid weather. What I do like about the Ampoule is that it's quite a liquidy gel consistency, and it absorbs quickly into the skin with no residue, although it does feel a bit tacky - but once you layer a moisturizer over it, the sticky feeling is gone.

I'm not completely head over heels for the Missha Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence or the Night Repair Ampoule, although I quite enjoyed using the Essence; I just haven't seen enough of a result to rush out and buy the full bottle - at least not without trying the IOPE Essence first. If you're interested in sampling the range, the Missha website offers a small Time Revolution kit with both the Essence and the Ampoule for $19 - very reasonable, and the minis should last you a couple months as you only need a few drops of each product. Have you tried any skincare products from Missha? Are you interested in trying any of the Asian essences?