Essence is one of the newer beauty buzz words. You may be more familiar with other beauty buzz words like “natural,” “effective,” and “age-defying.” Essence, along with these other beauty buzz words, are marketing words – they are words that sound good but lack importance because they are not regulated and therefore have little meaning. Instead, they are intended to target consumers who are looking for the next best thing.
Essence is defined as the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character. It is the most important element of something. The word “essence” sounds positive, sexy and appealing – but what does “essence” have to do with skincare?
In skincare, an essence is a newer category of a watery liquid product that is applied to a clean face to prep the skin to effectively absorb subsequent products like serum and moisturizer. An essence claims to make the active ingredients in your skincare products more effective while moisturizing and restoring the skin’s natural moisture balance.
To help define an essence in skincare, we determined what an essence is not.
An essence is not the same as a toner. While toners hydrate the skin’s surface or provide an extra step in the cleansing process, an essence adds moisture deeper within the skin.
Although an essence has moisturizing effects, it is not a replacement for moisturizer. Moisturizer is still needed as it provides essential fatty acids and longer lasting moisturization.
An essence is also not a serum, although both product types can contain high levels of active ingredients and are used at the same step in a skincare regimen.
Based on these learnings, even though an essence has similar benefits to other types of skincare products, it is not a product replacement for any step of your skincare regimen. Instead, if used as instructed, an essence would be an additional product and another step to add to your regimen.
While an Essence is not a product produced by Kate Ryan Skincare, the usage and benefits sound similar to Kate’s Energizing Facial Mist. This product is so fully loaded with powerful actives that we believe it deserves its own buzz word! Kate’s Facial Mist refreshes, brightens, hydrates and calms your skin – and your mood (it’s a great example of a product that contributes to overall wellness!)
Here are some of the ways that Energizing Facial Mist works for your skin:
- Revives dull skin and restores radiance
- Gives skin a hydrated dewy glow while controlling oil
- Reduces inflammation for a clear, calm complexion
- Tones and firms the skin
- Refreshes makeup or bare skin any time of day
- Provides antioxidant protection from environmental stress
As we mentioned above, Kate’s Facial Mist contains high-quality, powerful ingredients. Included in this list of effective actives are gotu kola, alpha lipoic acid, CoQ10, and green tea (EGCG.) You receive the benefits of these potent actives with just 1-2 quick spritzes of Facial Mist!
We’ve been known to refresh with Facial Mist during all of these scenarios:
- After exercising
- When the doorbell rings (Company!)
- In the car (dropping off kids, picking up kids, meeting friends, etc.)
- Before joining a Zoom call
- During a Zoom call (doesn’t everyone turn off their video at some point?!)
- On an airplane (or after a flight)
- Meeting for a playdate or for coffee
- In the middle of breakfast/lunch/dinner prep and/or clean up
You get the point – the beauty of Kate’s Facial Mist is that it can be used anywhere and anytime!
Why add an essence to your skincare routine when you are already receiving the same benefits from your toner, moisturizer, serums, and facial mist? We aren’t sure! An essence won’t be included in our skincare routine or product line, however, we welcome skincare-related research, education and knowledge, and wanted to share about this new-ish type of skincare product.
If you have questions about your skin or any skincare products, we would love to hear from you! Please send an email to hello@kateryanskincare.com – we are always happy to help!
Be Well, Stay Well!
Jennifer
