Starting treatment essence.

"Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence. I declared this to be my all-time favorite Korean skincare product. Absolutely love it. If you want hydration, if you want plumping, if you want great hyperpigmentation boosting, this is the toner for you. It's inexpensive. It costs like £10 versus it's the dupe for the SK2 essence which is like £100. Same product. I like the rose one. They do a plain one as well. Absolutely love this."

"This has been in my collection for four, five years, definitely since I started experimenting with Korean skincare. This was one of the first Korean skincare products I bought, never looked back. Phenomenal. It's the exact dupe for that bougie SK-II Essence that's like 150 dollars, this is 10 pounds. It's packed full of Galacoside ferment, so it hydrates and it's going to even out your skin tone. I'm not a big fan of toners, I don't like the texture as much as I like serums. I'd rather pack my routine with serums. Toners are an afterthought. However, this is the one toner I really make an exception for. I would use this every single day and I very rarely miss it. It hydrates, it plumps you up. You could even put this in a spray bottle in summer, keep it in the fridge, and then just mist throughout the day for a bit of cooling and a little extra hydration."

"I apply just a little across the skin before my serum steps. After you've cleansed, just use a little of this to dampen up the skin, put your serums on and all those serums are going to deliver a little extra. You get more bang for your buck. For the price point, I think this is worthy of addition in any top 10 list. I just think it's absolutely wonderful and a holy grail for sure."

"My favorite of the two is the Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence. This contains lactic acid, which is going to be one of the hottest ingredients in skincare this year. It's great because it hydrates but it also calms skin and fades hyperpigmentation. So if you're someone that's seen that celebrity endorsed SK-II essence, you know the one that's like $200, and you want an exact dupe, this is it. It hydrates you to the gods, fades your hyperpigmentation, plumps out the skin. This one's everything, one of my absolute favorites."

"If you want to go for a slightly fancier option something in the Korean skincare market, this is the Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence. It works with galactomyces ferments. It will add some hydration, some moisture that those humectants can grab on to, but it also has a nice range of different ingredients to calm and soothe. This is a great all-rounder. This is great if you've got particularly sensitive skin. I use this every day without fail and I love it. Quick spritz on in the morning, going with your hydrating serum afterwards, and you'll see instant results. It's super affordable, so I would genuinely say this is a sort of product that everyone should have in their skincare collection. Affordable, works really well."

"The Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence is a toner that's great for fading hyperpigmentation and hydrating the skin. It contains galactomyces ferment which is great for adding some additional hydration but at the margins also supporting with the eradication of excess pigment. If you're someone who is trying to fade their hyperpigmentation this is a great toner to slot in alongside your other actives. It's a great option if you're looking to shop drugstore and affordable but want a little extra boost to your hyperpigmentation fighting and some extra hydration. I absolutely adore this one."

"This is the Secret Key starting treatment essence. This is a product that I go back to time and time again. I first tried it four years ago and I thought nothing special. I finished a bottle and thought, I can actually see results. I think this is helping with my hyperpigmentation. My skin is less dry because I started using it in the cooler winter months when my skin is very dry. It was less dry. It was less sensitive. And so I got another bottle and ever since then I've never been without it. I think it's just one of those products that maybe doesn't wow on first application but your skin suddenly learns to love it and you're just like actually this is my skincare best friend and I don't think I've been without it for the past four years. It is genuinely stunning. Really inexpensive. The last time I bought it, one lasts forever as well. So I buy one every six months. I think I paid £14. It's glass, so it feels bougie and luxury. It's got galactomyces in here, which are going to help even out the skin tone and help you with hyperpigmentation, which I love. It's also super hydrating. They do a rose version and a plain version. I like the rose one. It's uplifting, smells gorgeous."