The Yojiya Moisture Essence screams luxury with a beautiful gold and glass bottle. It’s no surprise it’s such a hit in Kyoto. Being the total skin care junkie that I am, I obviously had to buy one.

Essences are one of my favourite Asian beauty products (no prizes for guessing that my ultimate skin care item is sun cream). They’re an excellent way to hydrate skin and soothe skin inflammation. I couldn’t wait to try this offering from Yojiya, one of the best Japanese skin care brands, founded in Kyoto in 1904.

A Japanese essence packed with powerful ingredients

As you might expect from a moisturising essence, this contains hyaluronic acid to effectively retain moisture levels in the skin and guarantee a firmer complexion with minimised fine lines.

Hawthorn extract has an impressive amount of antioxidants to protect skin from air pollution, sun exposure and irritation. It also targets fine lines and wrinkles and can even help boost dull skin. Pretty impressive, right?

Grapefruit extracts are high in vitamin C to help promote a brighter complexion and balance acne-prone, oily or combination skin types. Another skin care benefit of grapefruit extract includes reducing skin irritation. Other vitamin C rich ingredients in this essence are orange juice, lemon juice and lime juice, which work together to hydrate skin, help with blocked pores and smooth skin.

Apple extracts are also high in vitamin C and polyphenols. The latter encourages youthful, glowing skin and protects it from UV damage and signs of ageing like fine lines, wrinkles and dullness.

I prefer using skin care without parabens but this contains methylparaben and ethylparaben, which I didn’t know at the time of purchase because the box didn’t include the English translation.

An easy way to hide dry skin

This glorious essence should be on every essential J-beauty addicts shopping list. With a beautiful lightweight texture, it glides onto my skin and is easy to tap in. Absorbed in mere seconds, it’s an ideal essence for a multi-step skin care routine. It gives me a lovely glow, hides telltale signs of dry skin like rough patches and flaky skin and doesn’t pill with other products I apply. Sigh. I think I’m a tiny bit in love with this essence.

Taking advice from Erin when she worked at Neogen, I sometimes layer this essence twice in place of a moisturiser. I’m really impressed at how much moisture this essence delivers to my skin. You’d never guess I’d skipped a moisturiser.

My skin looks and feels supple. Any dryness around my cheeks and chin disappears when I use this. It nourishes my skin deeply to guarantee my skin seals in moisture and my skin stays smooth and soft throughout the day.

It’s easy to see why the Yojiya Moisture Essence is such a staple in many Japanese skin care routines. I’m definitely adding this to my list of things to repurchase when I next visit Japan. That and more Tokyo Bopper shoes!

Find out more about my trip to Kyoto and discover my geisha makeover experience on the blog today!

Yojiya, approximately £41.43