K-Beauty really has us learning all kinds of new words and glossary. For example if I were to ask you twenty years ago what is an ampoule or an essence, would you be as well-versed with those words as now? When I was a teenager I only knew a cleanser, a toner, a serum, and a moisturiser. Hehe now we are all familiar with the concept of essence, ampoule, sleeping mask, modelling mask, bubbling mask, and more. Well now we have a ‘boosting essence’, how ‘bout that?
However, instead of an essence, this By Wishtrend Quad Active Boosting Essence is recommended as a serum booster. Quite a head scratcher, huh? Totally! I keep on wondering why didn’t they just name is as a serum booster. I think it is because they need the users to know that this is to be used in the step of essence which is before serum, and what they mean by serum booster is that this product can help boost the efficacy of your serums. Well at least that’s my take on this!
This essence is recommended as a serum booster that contains ‘Quad Active’ Ingredients: 3 Complex Ingredients (Morus Alba Bark Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera Leaf Extract, Schisandra Chinensis Fruit Extract), Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Centaurea Cyanus Flower Water, and Propolis. These ingredients are widely known to help with anti-inflammatory, anti-pollution, and anti-bacterial effects to maintain your skin to stay healthy and lively. Also, with supporting ingredients Black Tea and Honey, it provides moisturizing effects to the skin. Recommended using this essence in between your toner and serum step!
This product is targeted at people with acne prone skin, oily skin, and combination skin.
Ingredients
Aqua(Water), Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract(10%), Centaurea Cyanus Flower Water(9%), Schisandra Chinensis Fruit Extract(9%), Morus Alba Bark Extract(8.7%), Nelumbo Nucifera Leaf Extract(8.7%), Methylpropanediol, Glycerin, Saccharomyces/Honey Ferment Filtrate, Saccharomyces/Xylinum/Black Tea Ferment, 1,2-Hexanediol, Propolis Extract(1%), Butylene Glycol, Benzyl Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Disodium EDTA, Ethylhexylglycerin
I love the ingredients list because not only is it quite minimal, it is also free from essential oils yay! I don’t mind essential oil in moisturisers but I prefer not to have them in my toner, essence, or serum. This product is also free from alcohol, silicone, and fragrance in case these three are the concern for you. I also love that willow bark extract 10% is among the top ingredient as I love a little astringent effect in the first few steps of my skincare routine. Willow bark extract also helps to fight acne and remove dead skin cells. It also has cornflower flower water which is a soothing ingredient, morus alba bark extract that helps calm stressed skin, organic propolis extract which is a great anti-inflammatory agent, and other moisturizing ingredients such as glycerin and butylene glycol. This boosting essence also contains fermented ingredients which are fermented honey extract and fermented black tea extract to improve skin texture.
How I Use It
In the official ByWishtrend website, it says to apply three to four drops on the palm and gently pat lightly all over the face until it fully absorbs. It is recommended to use this in between toner and serum step.
I use this after toner and before my thicker serums. I have tried comparing using cotton pad vs with my hands and I prefer to apply it with my hands because it feels more comfortable that way.
Texture and Smell
This is scentless, feels runny and watery. Slightly more viscous than water a bit of a slip to it. feels quite tacky at first but as it finishes off mate and not sticky nor does it leave any sticky residue. Dries down matte but hydrating.
Experience
It has been almost a month and I experienced no bad reaction to this boosting essence, as in no itchiness or redness or irritation or breakouts experienced. When I first received this Quad Active Boosting Essence, I was quite blown away with the golden packaging because honestly it looks and feels high-end to me.
It comes in a golden shiny box and as I opened it out came the golden glass bottle that definitely feels so luxe. Even the cap is in gold chrome colour.
Love the effort that By Wishtrend put into perfecting this product. It definitely wins a lot of mark in the aesthetic department even though the glass bottle makes it quite high-maintenance to travel with, you can always decant it into a smaller plastic bottle hehe.
In the first week of using I kind of wondered what was this product doing to my skin because it to be frank it just felt a lot like a normal toner. I could feel that it is mildly hydrating (which I like, I don’t expect this to be richly hydrating because it isn’t marketed as that) and my skin felt refreshed but that was just about it. Nothing so spectacular still.
In the third week however, I started to feel the purifying effect that was most probably from the willow bark extract and my skin feeling super smooth. Thus all in all, I would describe my overall experience with this as average? Nothing bad about it at all but nothing that wow-ed me either. This is perhaps an essence for oily skin that helps boost the efficacy and absorption of the products later in the routine. However in time, I am positive that this quad active boosting essence will boost the efficacy of my serums and ampoules so I will update this post in the future.
I like to use this essence in the midday as it is really refreshing on a hot afternoon. I also like the super mild astringent feel before layering other thicker essences and serums. This suits my combination skin and I think it will for oily and acne-prone skin or for days when we have flare-ups or irritation.
My Rate: 4/5
Would I repurchase this? Maybe.
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