I generally don’t pay much attention when stores rave about their own products, because, of course they would, but that changes when they start picking favorites in a big way, like Glow Recipe did with this essence. I saw this post on Instagram, checked the ingredients and saw artichoke and ceramides on the list, and needed to have it.

AT A GLANCE

The Claim
Whip saggy pores back into shape with the Yuripibu Artichoke Power Essence, formulated with 60% artichoke extract. 

Where does it fit in your routine?
This is called an essence, but the texture most closely resembles that of an emulsion. I would use it after your normal toners/essences and thinner serums/ampoules.

Size and Price
The bottle comes with 40ml of product. I purchased this from Testerkorea for ₩16,690 or ~$14.26. Since then, TK has taken the price up to ~$22.06. It is also available on Glow Recipe for $38, Ebay for $36.99, and Amazon for $41.95.

Get $5 off your first purchase using this link. 

Packaging
Ugh. Don’t even get me started. This essence comes in a frosted glass bottle with a dropper cap that is difficult to use and wasteful. I ended up decanting most of my bottle into an airless pump but even so, there’s probably 5 ml or so of product that I literally CANNOT get out.

Fragrance
Smells faintly like witch hazel to me, maybe with a hint of artichoke.

Color and texture
This has a light, creamy, but not dense emulsion-y texture.

What’s in it?

• ARTICHOKE LEAF EXTRACT (60%)
  There’s not a lot of research on what artichoke does for skin, but we know that as a food it contains a generous amount of antioxidants, more than any other vegetable and on a per-serving basis beating out powerhouse antioxidant fruits and seeds such as cranberries, coffee, blueberries. Furthermore, silymarin, a flavinoid present in artichoke, is an anti-carcinogen against skincancer. Because of the lack of concrete research, I wouldn’t rely on this your only or main source of antioxidants, but it’s full of good stuff. Also, I should probably eat more artichoke!
• WITCH HAZEL WATER
  This is the classic astringent ingredient in toners that has antioxidant and anti-irritant properties. If you experience pore-tightening sensation from this product (I don’t, but others reportedly do), this is likely the ingredient responsible for the (temporary) effect.
• GLYCERIN & SODIUM HYALURONATE
  Your classic humectant duo. These ingredients attract and hold on to water.
• Oils: SUNFLOWER SEED OIL, SAFFLOWER SEED OIL, ROSE FLOWER OIL, LAVENDER OIL, TEA TREE LEAF OIL, SQUALENE, SHEA BUTTER
  The oil choice is kind of confusing. There are some good oils here – sunflower seed oil and safflower seed oil are both excellent emollient oils that contain linoleic acid and assist in skin barrier repair, squalene is a natural component of skin, and tea tree oil is an anti-microbial oil effective against acne. However, I don’t love the inclusion of rose flower oil or lavender oil, which contain compounds prone to oxidation and can be potentially sensitizing, in a product that neither smells like rose or lavender. It just seems unnecessary, no?
• CERAMIDE 3, CHOLESTEROL, GLUCOYL CERAMIDE
  As first brought to my attention by The Acid Queen, the ideal proportion for ceramides, cholesterol, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid is 3:1:1:1. This power essence has all the right components (sunflower and safflower seed oil provides linoleic and palmitic acid), but the ingredient list doesn’t provide enough information to verify they’re in the right proportion. That said, ceramides and cholesterol are natural components to your skin barrier and great ingredients to use for their barrier-reinforcing abilities!

Acne Triggers & Irritants
Cosdna identifies tocopherol as acne trigger (2) and potential irritant (2).

Full Ingredients 
Artichoke Leaf Extract (60%), Witch Hazel Water, Glycerin, Coco-caprylate, Silica, Eclipta Prostra Extract, Sunflower Seed Oil, Zanthoxlylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Lichen Extract, Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate, Beuthero Root Extract, Cathamus Tinctorius (Safflower Seed) Oil, Rose Flower Oil, Lavender Oil, Tea Tree Leaf Oil, Ceramide 3, Sodium Hyaluronate, Phytosphingosine, Yeast Polysaccharides, Cholesterol, Lecithin, Squalene, Glucoyl Ceramide, Keratin Amino Acids, Shea Butter, Tocopherol, Adenosine, Xanthan Gum, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Sclerotium Gum

Performance

THE BAD

First of all, ignore all claims about skin tightening or whipping “saggy pores back to life.” As mentioned above, the astringency from witch hazel results in a temporary tightening sensation, but for anything more permanent, you’re going to need long-term, consistent use of a properly formulated Vit C, retinol, or a face lift.

Also, I can’t emphasize enough how much the packaging sucks. Even when the bottle is mostly full, it’s sometimes difficult filling the dropper cap with essence, but if you were planing to finish the bottle, you’re going to have to get yourself some pipettes or other tools to reach the bottom of the bottle, because the dropper is too short.

THE GOOD

Other than that, there is a lot to love! The texture of this essence is creamy without being dense or viscous, making it easy and tactically very pleasant to apply. Given how light it is, it is surprisingly moisturizing, which gives me hope that the ceramide/cholesterol/fatty acids mix is correct.

This essence is particularly nice during the summer time because if I’m having a nice skin day (i.e. my skin isn’t too dry or dehydrated) I can get away with using this without having to use a cream. I imagine normal and/or oily skin types would particularly enjoy this.

The Takeaway

This is an emulsion-like essence that provides a surprising amount of hydration while being very light. It’s a great product to have during warm, summer months. I likely won’t repurchase, because there are other emulsions I enjoy using more, but I’m glad I tried it and fully expect to finish off the bottle I do have!

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