I really really wanted to write this post with an excited review of how I fell in love with the first Belif product I tried. Buuuut I’m not sure I can. Let’s see.
Purpose: Hydration station. This essence is purely to increase skin moisture levels and prevent moisture loss after cleansing and washing.
Who’s it for? All skin types.
How to use: Belif states that you should apply 2-3 pumps to a moist face within 10 seconds of washing (gonna be honest, although I tried for within 10 seconds, sometimes it may have been up to a minute 😉 )
Ingredients
Water, SD Alcohol 40-b, Glycerin, Dipropylene Glycol, Waterglyceringlyceryl Acrylate/acrylic Acid Copolymer, Algae Extract 1, 2-hexanediolbutylene Glycol, Trehalose, 1, 2-hexanediol, Butylene Glycol, Betaine, Panthenol, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/vp Copolymer, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Octyldodeceth-16, Waterselaginella Lepidophylla Extract, Fragrance, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extractcalendula Officinalis Flower Extractnepeta Cataria Extractrubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Leaf Extractbaptisia Tinctoria Root Extractstellaria Media (Chickweed) Extract, Alchemilla Vulgaris Leaf Extractviola Tricolor Extractrosa Damascena Flower Extractspiraea Ulmaria Flower Extractalthaea Officinalis Root Extract, Carbomer, Sodium Polyacrylate, Tromethamine, Trisodium Edta.
Here is the cosDNA link
Belif use Napiers Original Formula and Napiers Moisture Formula, which are herbal blends tried and tested since 1860 when Duncan Napiers began working on these formulations: “From humble beginnings in 1860, Napiers has grown over the last 150 plus years, to become one of the oldest natural healthcare and herbal medicine companies in Britain” (About Napiers). This tugs at my heart a little as it gives me a lovely sense of bonding between my home and my K-Beauty life in Seoul. Sentimental bull I know, buuuut truth. Napiers Original Formula contains a bunch of herbs that according to Belif “keep the skin healthy and delays the initial stages of anti-aging with its anti-oxidising, calming and anti-blemish properties”. All about that! Plus the Napiers Moisture Formula which, again according to Belif, “hydrates the skin while controlling and absorbing oil where needed, optimizing the skin’s water-oil balance”.
Another aspect of Belif is their zero addition of mineral oils, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, synthetic preservatives, or animal origin ingredients.
So, I can see lovely herbal blends and some great hydrating/moisturising ingredients.
And then there’s the alcohol. I’m not against alcohol. But I know many people have sensitivities to it, and if you’re avoiding alcohol I’d stear well clear of this, as Alcohol Denat 40B is third ingredient on the list. I’m surprised by this and don’t really understand why it’s so far up. Despite not being in the anti-alcohol squad, it didn’t look great when I scanned the ingredients list. As far as I can tell it’s had no adverse affect on my skin, but I felt like it was worth mentioning.
Scent
The best way I can describe the scent is herbal with alcohol undertones. Meh.
Texture
The texture is like a clear liquidy gel. It is sliiiightly sticky on application but absorbs fairly quickly to leave skin with a hydrated feeling.
My problem with this texture isn’t the texture in itself, but more that it’s significantly thicker than I like for a first essence product. After a first essence, I like to apply my hydrating toner, COSRX snail essence and Goodal Water Lasting Oil, all of which are a thinner texture than the Numero 10 Essence. It’s not a texture I like at that beginning stage of my skincare routine, as rigid as that may sound! I’m definitely after something much thinner and more watery at that point.
Performance
I don’t have a device to measure my skin hydration level (if you know of somewhere in Korea I can purchase one please let me know, I’ve been hunting for ages). However, I would say that the essence definitely did boost my skin’s hydration levels immediately after face washing. I applied it pretty much every morning and night after cleansing my face, within about a minute of finishing my cleanse, and it was fine. It was fairly quick absorbing, added hydration, and didn’t break me out or cause skincare nightmares. But that’s it really. I can’t say it wowed me, and I can’t say it’s anything special. The real problem is when I compare it to my two other first essence type products- my Kiehls Iris Extract Activating Treatment Essence and Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum Ex. The Sulwhasoo has a beautiful hanbang essence, feels luxurious, great herbal ingredients, and leaves my skin feeling lovely, soft and hydrated ready for my next products. The Kiehls has a watery but fantastic texture, that does an amazing job of absorbing in seconds whilst being highly hydrating (note Kiehls also has alcohol high on its ingredients list). I would always reach for those over this essence, and that’s why I can’t see it having a full time place in my skincare wardrobe.
Am I being too harsh?
As I’m writing this I realise I sound very anti- Numero 10 Essence. In all honesty I think I set my standards too high as I was so excited just to try a Belif product. I love the Napiers link to the UK, I love their wholesome natural vibe, and I think the packaging is elegant and simple. Whilst this essence left me underwhelmed, I don’t think it’s a bad product by any means. It worked nicely on my skin and added hydration as stated. It just wasn’t outstanding or exciting.
However my enthusiasm for Belif has not been dampened! I am currently testing the Aqua Bomb moisturiser, and its a TOTALLY different story, the opposite of underwhelmed. I adore it.
Price
I received this product as a gift from a student for my birthday, which although this product hasn’t been my favourite, of course I’m incredibly grateful for. In stores here, I believe the essence is about 30,000 Korean Won and I’ve seen prices between $30-40 online for foreign buyers. To me it really isn’t worth that…I’d rather buy something that I’m really excited to use, and this just isn’t it for me. Of course this is completely personal opinion, if the product is great for your skin, this isn’t a bad price for a quality skincare product.
So in a nutshell…
Pros:
- adds hydration
- fairly quickly absorbing
- simple, easy product
- quick, easy packaging
Cons:
- alcohol if that’s a problem for you
- bizarre scent- would be good without the alcohol undertones
- slightly too thick for a first essence
- nothing particularly special IMO
As you can probably guess, I won’t be repurchasing it. But don’t let me completely put you off, I have a feeling that this essence may be a real divider, with some people loving it and others, like me, left feeling bored.
Where can I get it? (no affiliate links)
Belif lists all its worldwide stores/stockists here
Online I have seen it on:
Amazon
GMarket
Korea Depart
ibuybeauty
(I don’t order online and so cannot vouch for the quality of these online stores)
Have you tried it? Let me know how you found it, I’d be really interested to know!
2 Comments
I was eyeing this and it’s expensive for me so I am glad to see this review beforehand.
Alcohol is not always a bad thing in products. As you said some people may be irritated by it, but not all. Alcohol usually improves penetration of other ingredients present. That’s not a good thing if the other ingredients are irritating but good if not. Quite a lot of studies on herbs show better antioxidant activity of the alcohol extract than the water or oil extract.
Of course the concentration of alcohol matters. May be high up in the list but still may not be high enough to dry out the skin too badly.
There’s too much paranoia about some things just to sell ‘natural’ products.
Hey Seiryuu, I totally agree with you! I wrote this 3 years ago, and although I’ve never been against alcohol, I wasn’t as informed about the benefits of having it in a formulation as I know now. Like you said it often improves the effects of other ingredients.
I’m only usually concerned about alcohol in a formula when I can smell it and then I really dislike that. Unfortunately this product really does have that alcohol scent!