Estée Lauder Micro Essence Skin Activating Lotion Review

Estée Lauder Micro Essence Skin Activating Lotion

Price: HKD617 (Sasa) | HKD780 (Counter)
Volume: 150ml

Holy crap.

The website and reviews weren’t kidding when they said that this Micro Essence Lotion would increase moisture retention on its own, and that the results would be further amplified when used in combination with the ANR II Face Serum.

I bought this activating lotion yesterday during my SaSa haul after checking out the company website with some questions in mind:

Is this alcohol- and fragrance-free?
Will this be more like the Western version of a more hydrating toner as opposed to the Japanese concept of a lotion?
Will the (hydrating) effects be relatively immediate or does it take a while to prove itself?

I first stopped by the beauty counter to give this product a test run before popping over to SaSa to buy it since most SaSas don’t have testers for this item. Encased in a hefty glass bottle, the Micro Essence Lotion has no alcohol in its ingredients or a (floral) fragrance. I can only describe the extremely subtle scent as part of its…fermenting process? It’s not offensive to the nose and it goes away fairly quickly upon application. The bottle itself is not travel friendly, therefore I would suggest to either use a separate travel bottle or to get one of those small 15ml bottles that SaSa sells if it’s a relatively short trip.

There are varying opinions as to whether one should use this like a toner or a (Japanese-type) lotion. After trying it out last night and this morning again, I can confidently say that it would be worth your while to use a more hydrating toner first before patting on the Micro Essence Lotion. In fact, for girls with drier skin types, I would use a toner that has no alcohol in it – if you aren’t doing so already as toners with alcohol in them does your skin zero favours – and to leave your skin a little moister than usual with the toner before using the Micro Essence Lotion; I poured out 5 to 6 drops of the lotion onto my palm and pressed it both of my palms together before pressing it onto my entire face. I must stress that I’m not patting it on as it’s an essence that needs to soak into your skin; patting seems to do the opposite where you’re invigorating your skin with that motion instead.

As such, I followed these steps for the evening:

Kanebo Facial cleanser
Muji Hydrating Toner
Estée Lauder Micro Essence Lotion
Estée Lauder ANR II Face Serum
Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream** (technically, you could put on your eye cream first after the toner since you’ve got more steps to do for the rest of your face haha 🙂 )
Perricone Face Finishing Moisturizer

When I applied the ANR II Face Serum onto my face with the same pressing motion, there was a slight suctioning feeling on my skin; it was like the Lotion was attaching itself to the ANR II (or the other way around LOL) and it was staying put on my face. By the time I put on my moisturizer, I could feel that my skin was much more hydrated than usual.

The results for the next morning?

You betcha that I woke up with a healthy sheen and bounce to my skin in the morning 🙂