Review: From Nature Age Intense Treatment Essence

It can be overwhelming, the sheer abundance of first essences on the market. Practically every Korean brand offers a variation on the theme, from the dizzying heights of absurd luxury (Amore Pacific Vintage Single Extract Essence, for example), to the cheerfully downmarketed From Nature Age Intense Treatment Essence at the local Emart, one of many iterations of SK-II that might catch your eye while shopping for groceries and socks, priced gently enough to make a glow-inducing, mildly acidic post-cleansing hydration step accessible to everyone. The formula is brief and to the point, but the important ingredients (galactomyces ferment, niacinamide, and humectants) front the list.

INGREDIENTS    galactomyces ferment filtrate, niacinamide (2%), water, adenosine, sodium hyaluronate, butylene glycol, Portulaca oleracea extract, Ipomoea hederacea seed extract, Paeonia albiflora flower extract, saccharomyces/Angelica dahurica root ferment filtrate, ethylhexylglycerin, phenoxyethanol, chlorophenesin

From Nature Age Intense Treatment Essence is housed in the conventional manner for first essences: a frosted glass bottle with silver accents. It smells faintly of yeast, which dissipates quickly, but is otherwise unscented. The texture is optimal for a first essence—watery, a touch of slippery humectants, quick absorption—and it dries down to a slightly tacky finish that one expects from a moderately humectant formula. This means that, on dehydrated skin, it penetrates a little deeper, absorbs better, hydrates a bit more. If you're more severely dehydrated, or live in a dry climate, you'll still need to layer on products targeted at dehydration, but this forms a nice base. It's also brightening. Perhaps not as much as the Swanicoco, but more than the Hanyul and BRTC. What makes the From Nature appealing is the balance it strikes: the niacinamide-rich formula competently hydrates and brightens, and isn't onerously priced.

It leaves the skin nicely hydrated, not too tacky.

Does this make From Nature my perfect first essence? Not quite. I didn't quite finish my full run with this product; one out of five products will irritate my skin, and this was one of them. (Years ago, I reacted to SKII, and since then I've always been wary of galactomyces. I'll avoid it from now on.) Since sensitivity is entirely individual, this ought not dissuade anyone else from trying what appears to be a good product in all other respects.


AFTERTHOUGHTS

• PROS Inexpensive. Easy to find at Emart. Moderate hydration. Moderate brightening. Respectable amount of niacinamide.
• CONS None, really. It irritated my skin, but that's down to personal triggers.
• UNIQUE FEATURES None, but it simultaneously satisfies a number of criteria well: sometimes a well rounded performance is noteworthy.

DETAILS
RRP for From Nature Age Intense Treatment Essence is ₩19,800 for 150mL or ₩30,000 for 340mL (a plastic bottle with a pump), but typically goes on sale for 50-60% off. It's also worth looking around for 1+1 deals; two 150mL-bottles for ₩18,000 make this an economical purchase indeed. I bought mine at the Emart near Guro Digital Complex for ₩12,900.