[COMMLEAF] - Vitarice Essence Water

I have seen Commleaf products floating around Instagram and instantly fell in love with them. Especially this shot by Betweendots. It's absolutely beautiful. So I was ecstatic that they sent me the Vitarice Essence Water to review!

Before we go on any further, I just want to get it out there that I received this product complimentary from the brand in exchange for my honest opinion. Everything I discuss is 100% my own opinion.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Source: Material provided by brand

The name Commleaf comes from Comma and Leaf. The logo is also both a leaf and a comma, with the inspiration coming from the instinctive pause that caused with a comma and that of a leaf. If I understood it correctly, it is a combination of nature (leaf) and to pause (comma) and relax. I take it as take a break to relax and enjoy nature.

It actually fit their mission(?) statement, which is as below:

Source: material provided by brand 

The English is a little awkward, so I am glad they included a Chinese translation. Which actually correlates with the explanation of their logo much better in my opinion.

My translation of the Chinese statement is:
Commleaf is a brand that uses clean and natural ingredients to bring rest to the exhausted skin brought on by the modern harmful environment. The clean and natural ingredients used are low stimulant and will help boost skin's ability from the core and strengthen the skin health.

Fun fact. Commleaf's Chinese name is literally onomatopoeia of the English pronunciation, but the leaf part actually translates to beautiful skin.

The brand uses EWG Green rating raw ingredients along with zero hazardous materials such as glass. And let me tell you, those glass bottles and jars are gorgeous. 😍 Glass is also chosen as it is easily recyclable and preserve the ingredients for health and safety, as well as convey a sense of clean.

FUNCTION

The Vitarice line is Commleaf's nourishing line which aims to revitalize the skin with the rich, potent nutrition of rice and various vitamins.

I received the Vitarice Essence Water, which uses fermented rice to replenish moisture to dry skin and is highly moisturizing. It also has brightening and anti-wrinkle function to it as well. But those are not as important to me as hydration, seeing how I have dehydrated skin. It has been dermatological tested to be suitable for all skin type.

PACKAGING 

Source: http://en.commleaf.com/about.html#

The toner comes in a glass pentagon bottle, which represents the five essential nutrients for humans. Which are carbohydrates, protein, vitamin, minerals, and fat. It also represents the five balances that skin needs, which are wrinkles, firmness, brightening, oil-water balance, and skin issues.

The bottle also curves and there is also a meaning against that. The irregular curves represents the individuality of everyone's skin and personality, and how Commleaf's philosophy is to respect that difference.

I just absolutely love the bottle as it is so beautiful! I just want to keep on photographing it! I do think the fact that it is made out of glass makes it easy to knock over and break. But I find the irregular shape of the curves on the bottle create a weird crook that fits the shape of my clenched hands very well? The bottle is a shaker bottle, and I have this irrational fear that it will just fall out of my wet hands one day and shatter all over my bathroom floor. But when I go to shake it, I find  the curve prevent it from falling out of my hand. Which I greatly appreciate!

However, I think the essence is a tad too thick to be in a shaker bottle. It's not as thin as water, but it's not as thick as a gel either. It's that thick water that can retain its shape for a little while. Just think it would be better in a pump bottle. I have to shake it pretty hard before some drops comes out, which doesn't help with my irrational fear 😅. It's like I know it won't slip out of my hand but my brain is just like "IT"S GONNA FALL AND BREAK!!!". Eventually I got over the fear as the bottle stayed firmly in my hands whenever I shake it, even with a wet hand. But I think a pump would be so much better at dispersion of the essence water. >_<

INGREDIENTS 

Water, Glycerin, Methylpropanediol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Niacinamide (20,000ppm), Dipropylene Glycol, Centella Asiatica Extract, Prtulaca Oleracea Extract, Algae Extract, Eclipta Propstrata Leaf Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Cynara Scolymus (Artichoke) Leaf Extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract (110ppm), Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Extract (10ppm), Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Collagen Extract, Opuntia Coccinellifera Fruit Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Sodium Hyaluronate, Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate, Carbomer, Tromethamine, Adenosine, Polyquaternium-51, Beta-gluacn, Fructooligosaccharides, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Bifida Ferment Lysate, Saccharomyces/Rice Ferment Filtrate (10ppm), Butylene Glycol, Schizosaccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Biotin (0.1ppm), Cyanocobalmin (0.1ppm), Ascorbic Acid (0.1ppm), Pyridoxine HCL (0.1ppm), Hydrolyzed KEratine, Panthenol (0.09ppm), Lactobacillus Ferment, Raffinose, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Ceramide NP, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Folic Acid (0.0015ppm), Ethylhexylglycerin

CosDNA

Wow. That's a lot of good ingredients in there and they are all non-irritant with a couple at a level 1 which is barely anything. That is very impressive.

Going through the ingredients, I see so much goodies for hydrating and moisturizing, like niacinamide, algae extract, rice and rice bran extracts, collagen extract, green tea leaf water, sodium hyaluronate, adnosine, and hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid. I also see lots of ferments like bifida ferment lysate, saccharomyces, and lactobacillus ferment. Sounds sooo good already!

Could this be the unicorn that is both beautiful and functional??

SCENT

The scent of the Vitarice Essence Water surprised me. When I first smelled it from the bottle, it smelled like roses. Which got me sooooo surprised. I was like WHY DOES THIS SMELL LIKE ROSES? Double checked the ingredients list and saw nothing related to roses on there.

When I put drops on my hand, I smell lychee with a hint of leafy scent. When I put it on my face and spread it, I can only smell a leafy scent. It's not bad but it took a little getting used to.

PERFORMANCE

I tested the essence water for about a month now. I been using it on the right side of my face so I can see the difference between using the essence water versus a regular toner. However, I failed to realize that because I am a side sleeper, my right side is a little bit more dehydrated than the left side. But I'll elaborate later.

First of all, I only use about 3 drops of the essence water from the bottle for half of my face. It's more than enough for half of my face, and a little bit of my decolletage. After using it once every day, I am only about 1/8th into the bottle. So if you are careful, you can probably last quite a few months on a 120ml bottle.

The essence water sinks in really quickly. It may have parts to do with my more dehydrated skin, but it sunk in really quickly. It leaves my skin feeling dewy and plump, but not shiny at all. I quite liked it.

But.. and this is a BUT.. I realized that the right side was just EVER SO SLIGHTLY less dewy and soft than the left side. I stared in the mirror, making tons of faces, and I notice just minimal difference. Heck. I even noticed the right side has less pronounced wrinkles than the left side. So it didn't make sense why it was feeling slightly less dewy.

So I thought perhaps it is because the other toner, the Etude House Pink Vital Water Facial Toner, was more hydrating. To test it tout, I switched sides, such that the right side uses the Etude House toner and left side uses the Commleaf Vitarice Essence Water.

I can tell immediately that it wasn't because of the toners. The right side was still feeling much drier than the left. Then I realized it is because I sleep on my right side and most likely some of my products are being absorbed into the pillow cover instead of being absorbed into my skin.

As a compromise, I switched back to the original testing sides, but slather on two layers instead of one. That produced a much better result! It took a little longer to absorb because well.. two layers man.. But the right side feels much more hydrated and softer than before. I was happy to see that.

After a month's use, I definitely noticed my skin feeling more hydrated and plump than before, and I noticed the wrinkles are less pronounced when I am making faces.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Overall, I like the Commleaf Vitarice Essence Water. It has a gorgeous glass packaging that stays in my hand when I am shaking products out of the bottle. It has a pleasant scent. A herbal leafy scent that is quite mild and goes away quickly. It has clean ingredients and there is tons of oxygen bubbles that makes it gorgeous to photograph and also beneficial to the skin.

The essence definitely kept my skin very hydrated and I noticed my wrinkles being a little less pronounced. So it fits two out of the three claims of hydration, brightening and anti-wrinkle. I am not 100% on the brightening claim but I think the skin tone has been more even. While I can't exactly say it has no brightening effect, I can't exactly say it haven't. So we will just go 2.5 out of 3 claims reached?

So to answer my question earlier. Is this possibly a unicorn that's both beautiful and functional?? Well.. I think it is!

As for its price, it has suggested retail price of US$38, and on sale for US$30.40 on StyleKorean. I honestly think it is a little high for what it does. But I guess it is due to the glass packaging and the EWG Green rating raw ingredients. For me personally, I would prefer to pick it up in a set with the serum and set. Which was sold on StyleKorean for a really nice price. I actually wish I picked it up because it seems to be no longer offered. Darn!

RELATED PRODUCTS

Links provided are non-affiliate links.

Vitarice Line:
Vitarice Essence Water StyleKorean/YesStyle 
Vitarice Glow Serum StyleKorean/YesStyle
Vitarice Moisture Cream StyleKorean/YesStyle

Skin Relief Line:
Skin Relief Perfect Cleansing Oil YesStyle
Skin Relief Soothing Toner StyleKorean/YesStyle
Skin Relief Fresh Serum StyleKorean/YesStyle 
Skin Relief Moisture Cream  StyleKorean/YesStyle

Rose Line:
Rose Blooming Mist StyleKorean/YesStyle 
Rose Moisture Pad YesStyle
Rose Sleeping Mask StyleKorean/YesStyle 
I love roses and I heard good things about these two products so I think I may try these products next!

Rice Line:
Rice Purifying Foaming Cleanser StyleKorean/YesStyle
Rice Toning Bright Cream StyleKorean/YesStyle