Review | Holika Holika 3 Seconds Starter Hylauronic Acid

First essence review and there will be more to come over the next few weeks! During the summer I don't love using essences. It is too hot and using additional layers simply makes the skin sticky and tacky. But now that the weather is really cooling down to make way for the fall, that is a different story. 

Essences are vital to create a moisture barrier between your skin and the dry air. It is critical to maintain consistent moisture in your skin in order to retain a youthful looking appearance. The Holika Holika 3 Seconds Starter is a pretty popular essence in Korean and comes in 3 different types, each with a different active ingredients. The review in this post will be for the blue-bottle hyaluronic acid version. 

Hyaluronic acid, according to Google "can treat burns, bed sores, wounds, and skin ulcers when applied topically". To be frank, I'm not the biggest fan of hyaluronic acid skin products because I have tried a variety of products with hyaluronic acid as the active ingredient and have been disappointed each time. This time, with Holika Holika's essence, I was also let down.

The three different types

Packaging: Pump top 150 ml with cap, or about 5 ounces. 

Pricing / Purchasing: Ranges from $8-$12 depending on where you buy. 

• Here on eBay.com
• Here on Amazon.com

Usage Tip(s): 

• Use essence after you tone your face and before you put on your sheet mask, moisturizer, serum / ampoules

Color / Consistency: Clear colored with a very water-like consistency, apologies for the lack of picture, I actually used up the bottle a while back

Scent: It is perfumed, it's hard to describe the scent though...but the scent is one of the stronger scents

Pros:

• Adds moisture to your face
• Good if you want to use an essence in the summer since it is of a thinner consistency

Cons: 

• I do not like essences that are very thin
• If you are looking for this product to provide "intense moisture" or if have dry skin, I would suggest you move onto another product. I have normal skin that gets pretty dry in the winter and this did not do much to moisturize it. 
• Don't love the scent either because it is a little too strong for me
• Do not see much plumping effect, as hyaluronic acid should do

Overall manage your expectations with this one. This is one of the cheaper products with hyaluronic acid and I'm pretty convinced it doesn't do much because the ingredients are not as high of quality. There are some users who absolutely love using this product, but I am not one of them. Although it is nice and light, I prefer the widely liked Benton Snail Bee Essence (review to come) because it is thicker and provides more moisture to the skin. However, this product may be beneficial for those with oily skin to just provide a light layer of moisture to the skin.

Overall rating: 3.0 / 5.0

Have you tried this product? What did you think? Let me know down below in the comments and thanks for reading!