I am a self-confessed skincare junkie. I will try just about any skincare product or treatment in my pursuit of perfect skin. But what I absolutely love is finding something I can integrate into my skincare routine on a fulltime basis.
As someone who has tried so many skincare products and treatments, I’m a little embarrassed that I’ve only recently crossed paths with Esse Skincare. Founded in 2002 by organic chemist Trevor Steyn, Esse is an award-winning skincare range that is leading the change when it comes to organic probiotic skincare development. Esse boasts certification by Ecocert and PeTA, is vegan and plastic- and carbon-neutral and was the first certified organic brand in South Africa.
What I absolutely love about this brand is their focus on protecting the skin’s microbiome by incorporating prebiotics as well as live probiotic microbes into their products. Why is this important? Quite simple, probiotics are good for you. They can shift the skin’s ecology to favour a diverse ecosystem that is healthy enough to resist attacks from pathogens and to slow the rate of ageing in skin by reducing inflammation.
My encounter with Esse began with a bespoke treatment at Nine Aesthetics in the capable hands of Aesthetic Therapist, Vidhya Dyalall. We started our journey with a skin analysis so Vidhya could determine what products would be best suited to my needs. We established that my skin wasn’t that bad – my skincare obsession is finally paying off – except for some congestion on my chin and nose as well as a little overall sensitivity.
Vidhya started by double cleansing my skin with the Esse Sensitive Cleanser. This was followed by another cleanse with the make-up remover to make sure that my skin was positively pristine for the next steps. The Microderm Exfoliator, which contains jojoba oil to ensure skin is left hydrated and not stripped, was applied and worked into my skin with the assistance of a steamer.
A little extra steaming and my skin was ready for comedone extraction, which I can honestly say was not that painful. Up until this point things seemed fairly normal, but then came the facial cupping done with the Esse Repair Oil. The cupping, which felt absolutely amazing, helps to stimulate circulation and tone the face.
My absolute favourite part of the treatment was the application of the probiotic, ampoule, and exclusion mask. Ampoule contains billions of individual live cultures per millilitre. This level of microbiome intervention helps to shift your skin towards a new normal that is less prone to sub-clinical inflammation and ageing. The exclusion mask, which is a setting mask that forms a layer between the mask and your skin to block out oxygen, was then applied to create an anaerobic environment to help the billions of little live probiotic microbes divide and colonise.
After 15 minutes, Vidhya peeled off my mask and applied the Esse Sensitive Toner, followed by the Protect Oil, Eye and Lip Cream and Nourish Moisturiser. We finished the treatment off with Esse Sunscreen for protection against those harmful UV rays, of course.
I walked out of Nine Aesthetics feeling fantastic and in the days that followed, the feeling never faded because there was (and still is) a visible difference in my skin. This no doubt comes from having billions of little microbes colonise on my face. If this is what it takes to have perfect skin, then I will happily be adding Esse Skincare (and the Esse experience) to my list of forever products.
This article was first published in the Aug/Sep 2021 issue of Afropolitan.
