Innisfree Soybean Energy Essence EX-Retail $24

When I traveled to Korea in September 2017 as part of my honeymoon, I stayed in Myeongdong, the street filled with skincare/beauty stores and street food. In my short stay there, I picked this up at the Innisfree store and have been using it till now. It's been 4 months now of use! This product is made with 91% fermented soybean which rejuvenates and strengthens the skin barrier. 

Specs:

• Size: 150mL
• Texture: Silky, slippery, more on the viscous side of essences
• Color: Clear
• Scent: None

Ingredients: 

BACILLUS/FERMENTED SOYBEAN EXTRACT, PROPANEDIOL, ARBUTIN, AVENA SATIVA (OAT) KERNEL EXTRACT,NELUMBO NUCIFERA FLOWER EXTRACT, PRUNUS MUME FRUIT EXTRACT, WATER, ADENOSINE, SUBTILISIN, XANTHAN GUM, LACTIC ACID, CITRIC ACID, GLYCERIN, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, PEG/PPG/POLYBUTYLENE GLYCOL-8/5/3 GLYCERIN, BIS-PEG-18 METHYL ETHER DIMETHYL SILANE, 1,2-HEXANEDIOL, SODIUM POLYACRYLATE, GLYCERYL CAPRYLATE, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, DISODIUM EDTA

*Liking that fermented soybean is #1 and that there's a fairly short ingredient list!

Claims: 

Innisfree Soy bean Energy Essence purifies your dull skin tone and refine unbalanced skin texture, leaving a translucent, healthy looking complexion. Naturally fermented pure Jeju green bean helps form a dense and firm skin barrier to protect your skin from external aggressors. Also, 6-in-1 Functional Skincare Nourishing texture provides soothing and moisturizing effects to illuminate and smooth your skin while fortifying your skin barrier.

Performance:

Note: If you're familiar with essences, you'd know that is a spectrum of different textures from watery-->viscous. This is considered more viscious, so based on your hydration needs and preferences, you may/may not like this just by the texture alone.

Before this product, I was used to the Missha Time revolution essence (watery mist), which was on the watery side. This Innisfree one glides onto the skin so easily and feels so nourishing to the skin. I use this after my second cleanse, so my skin is ready to drink up all the good stuff! I like how this felt on the skin, but I will say that I am pretty fast with my skincare routine so this definitely slows it down a little. Before moving on, I have to wait for a minute for this to sink in before I move onto the serum step. During that time, I'll either brush my teeth or go to the kitchen really quick to prepare some tea. 

Over time, I did notice a difference to my skin. Since I scar easily from pimples and blemishes, I do struggle with some hyperpigmentation (mostly on my chin and around my mouth). This essence noticeably brightened and evened out my skin tone! While I do tend to gravitate towards waterier essences, this one was perfect for winter, and also currently very fitting for my peeling contact dermatitis. As of right now it's so incredibly dry and flaky that this is just a must for extra skin strengthening while my skin is vulnerable and acting up (my journey soon on the blog!). The fact that I saw a difference in my skin really told me that this product is doing what it claims to do, and that the main ingredient is the one doing work!
 

Verdict:

Yes! Totally worth the money! This is one of those older, OG essences, but honestly it's so so good. And so affordable also! With the 91% fermented soybean extract, it did improve my skin tone and even after 4 months of use, I still have 1/3 left of the bottle. This is something I would repurchase again, perhaps the light version for a less viscous texture. 

Save Some $: 

Surprisingly I don't see this product sold online on many websites, So far Amazon is the most consistent place I've seen it sold.