This post will review the Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Essence.
As a Kbeauty enthusiast, certain products have always been on my wishlist. This essence happens to be one of them. As a result of so many products available to try, you can never get around to using everything. So you have no choice but to keep adding them to your wishlist and go through all of them slowly.
Despite trying to cut down on the number of products I use as I start my Tretinoin journey, one thing I will never give up on is my hydrating products. So far, laying two to three hydrating products daily has kept all the flaking and peeling away.
Plus, I also have dry, dehydrated skin, so it will never be a compromise for me. Instead, I’m steering away from hydrating with active ingredients. The fewer active ingredients, the better, and this Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Essence is right up my alley.
Skinfood is a legendary Korean Skincare brand that has been around since 1957. They have formulated some iconic products, with their bestselling being their Wash Off Face Masks, which are known to be super gentle. Unfortunately, I’ve not been into wash-off masks in a while, so I haven’t used them.
On the other hand, I’ve been super curious about the Royal Honey Propolis line, significantly since it has been expanded recently.
I use the Essence and Cream Mist, and I’m happy to share my thoughts.
First Impressions Of the Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Essence.
According to Skinfood;
A fully nutritious essence that contains 63% black bee propolis extract, 10% royal jelly extract, and 10% black honey extract to build a firm barrier for radiant and moist skin.
Ingredient List & Fragrance
Regarding hydration, I’m always curious to learn how the different ingredients used in Korean Skincare could potentially be hydrating.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over time, it is most of the by-products of the bee, which include honey, propolis, bee pollen, bee bread, royal jelly, beeswax, and bee venom, are excellent for the skin. Learn more.
The ingredients list is as follows:
Propolis Extract, Honey Extract, Royal Jelly Extract, Butylene Glycol, Dipropylene Glycol, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Glycerin, Beta-Glucan, Lactobacillus Ferment, Saccharomyces Ferment, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Disodium Edta, Carbomer, Arginine
So you have Propolis, Honey, Royal Jelly, Glycerin, Beta Glucan and Sodium Hyaluronate for hydration and Purslane Extract and Arginine for soothing.
It is also alcohol, essential oil and fragrance-free.
Honestly, what more can you possibly want? As far as hydrating essence/serums are concerned, this product is the MVP. You could literally use it on its own to hydrate your skin, and it will be sufficient. Even without the Glycerin, Beta Glucan and Hyaluronic Acid, Propolis, Royal Jelly and Honey pack so much hydrating properties, it is unreal.
Packaging, Texture & Consistency
This essence is packaged in a 50ml dropper bottle which is quite aesthetically pleasing to the eye. You can tell the product was packaged to reflect the quality of the ingredients, particularly the Royal Honey and Propolis.
Similar to the Celimax The Real Noni Energy Ampoule, the dropper used in this packaging is unique and different from what many of us are used to. You have to press down the top of the dropper and load up the essence before applying it with the dropper. It is honestly quite brilliant.
When you do that, the dropper dispenses a lightweight but slightly viscous essence. You can see from the ingredient list that Water is not the first product, so it is not diluted. You have all the extracts mixed and formulated into a gorgeous texture. The result is a non-sticky and non-greasy product that absorbs immediately on application.
Again, this is quite frankly a brilliant product because it has all the tendencies to be sticky because of the honey, but it is not. So don’t be scared of the ingredient list, and try it yourself.
Price & Avaliablity
For a long time, this essence retailed around $20-30. But for some reason, the prices have dropped and are now about $10-20. Sometimes you can even catch it on sale, which never used to happen. But I’m glad it is slightly cheaper now and much more accessible.
Review Of the Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Essence
So, I use this essence daily in my morning and evening routines. I ensure I use it on damp skin, either after my hydrating toner or after the Cream Mist of the same line. The consistency is slightly thinner, so it goes first before any heavier serums.
Performance
What can I say? It’s amazing.
It leaves my skin hydrated, nourished and plumped. Typically I only need one full dropper for my entire face, which gets the job done. Again, I’ve been using Tretinoin for two months and haven’t had any flaking or dryness because of this serum.
It is excellent to use with Retinoids and any other actives. More importantly, it also doesn’t have Niacinamide which I’m even more excited about.
It goes without saying that you mostly wouldn’t like this product if you have bee allergies. Although, you wouldn’t be able to tell as it smells like nothing.
This essence again reminds me and reinforces the fact that nobody does hydrating products like Korean Skincare.
If you love this essence as much as I do, you’ll be happy to know that there are even more products in the Royal Honey Propolis line so check it out.
In Summary,
If you have dehydrated skin or want to repair your damaged skin barrier, I can not recommend the Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Essence enough.
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