DERMALOGY by NEOGENLAB Real Ferment Micro Essence, 150ml

Love this essence, its watery and soaks in immediately! Ive been using this fpr a long time and will continue too! It helps brighten your completion

So hydrating

Really great essence, light smell and very plumping.

Very favorite serum

Très bon produit

Befeuchtet meine Gesichtshaut gut. Zieht schnell ein. Kein abrollen beim Benutzen weiterer Cremes. Habe ich schon nachgekauft.

best essence i have used. i have tried tatcha. misha. skII. juice beauty. amorepacific. this is the most hydrating of all. sinks in right away, and price is waaaaay cheaper than tachta/skII/amorepacific

I bought this because I love fermented skincare, and I have been using SK-II long enough to know what a really good first essence can do. I also know that $245 a bottle is a lot to keep signing up for. So I went looking for something more affordable that still had a serious ferment profile, and this was one of the few formulas that immediately caught my attention. I already use other Neogen products and have had good experiences with the brand, so I decided to give it a shot. Does it replace my SK-II? No. I’m not going to pretend it does. But this is still an outstanding essence, and compared with most of the lower-priced fermented essences I have tried, this one is in a different league. I’m 53, post-menopausal, with dry, mature skin, so I am not looking for a watery product that does nothing except make my face damp for thirty seconds. I want an essence to actually improve how my skin feels over time, especially hydration, softness, overall smoothness and that healthy, rested look that fermented products can be very good at supporting. This does that. The ingredient list is the reason this stands out. The formula starts with 32% bifida ferment lysate, followed by 28% Saccharomyces ferment filtrate, then 9% rice ferment filtrate and 4% Aspergillus ferment. That is not a token amount of ferment added near the bottom of the list so the brand can put “fermented” on the front of the bottle. Ferments are the backbone of this formula. Bifida ferment lysate is one of the ingredients I pay attention to in barrier-supportive skincare. It contains fermentation byproducts and components that can help support a healthier skin environment and improve resilience. Saccharomyces ferment filtrate is another classic fermented ingredient used for hydration, conditioning and helping skin look more even and refined over time. The rice ferment adds another layer of skin-conditioning benefits, and rice-derived ferments have a long history in Korean and Japanese skincare because they tend to work very well in formulas focused on softness, hydration and radiance. There is also birch juice, which brings additional humectant and soothing support, along with glycerin, betaine, trehalose and sodium hyaluronate. Those are all ingredients that help attract and retain water in the skin. On my dry skin, that matters. This is very lightweight, but it does not feel pointless. My skin feels more comfortable and less tight after I use it, especially when I layer it before serum and moisturizer. The formula also includes green tea extract, which provides antioxidant support, plus allantoin, which is calming, and hydrogenated lecithin, which helps with skin conditioning and barrier support. There is also adenosine, a well-established K-beauty ingredient often used to support smoother-looking skin, and niacinamide further down the list. I would not buy this specifically for niacinamide, because it is not present high enough for me to treat this like a dedicated niacinamide product, but it is still a useful supporting ingredient. Something else I like is the amino acid blend near the end of the formula. Glycine, serine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, leucine, alanine, lysine and several others are included. Again, I am not expecting these to transform my skin structurally, but amino acids are part of the skin’s natural moisturizing system and fit very well into a formula designed to improve hydration and skin feel. Texture-wise, this is exactly what I want from a first essence. It is watery and absorbs quickly, but it does not disappear into nothing. I usually pour a small amount into my palms and press it into my face rather than wasting it on a cotton pad. It layers extremely well and does not leave stickiness or a film. I can follow it with serums, growth factors, richer creams or sunscreen without any pilling issues. As for results, this is not the kind of product where I expect one dramatic before-and-after moment. Fermented essences are more about cumulative improvement. With regular use, my skin feels softer, better hydrated and more refined, and it gives me that subtle healthy glow I specifically look for from this category. It also seems to make the rest of my routine sit better on my skin, which is one of the reasons I keep a first essence in my routine in the first place. Now, compared with SK-II, I still give SK-II the edge. There is something about that formula and the way my skin responds to it that I have not found duplicated exactly. But this costs a fraction of the price and gets surprisingly close in terms of the overall experience I want from a fermented essence. More importantly, it is not trying to copy SK-II with one hero ferment and a bare-bones formula. Neogen took a different approach by combining several ferments with humectants, soothing ingredients, amino acids and barrier-supportive components. I think this would be especially good for dry, mature, dehydrated or dull-looking skin, and also for anyone who likes layering lightweight hydration without heaviness. It could also work very well for combination skin because it is not oily or rich. People who are new to fermented skincare may want to patch test first, since ferments are not universally tolerated by everyone, and if your skin reacts easily to fermented ingredients, this obviously may not be your product. For me, though, this was exactly what I was hoping to find: a genuinely strong fermented essence that does not require luxury-level spending. It does not knock SK-II off my shelf, but it absolutely earns a permanent place next to it. And at this price, I can use it generously without feeling like every drop costs five dollars. Would I buy it again? Absolutely.