Review: YSL Pure Shots Soft Polish Double Essence

There was a time when I didn't appreciate using an essence, but like all good habits (and come to think of it, bad ones too), the more often you do something, the more used to it you are, and once I started using an essence, well, let's just say, I don't think I could stop any time soon. It is one of those products that I feel is somewhere in between a serum and a toner, so that's where I've wedged it in my skincare routine, and it's now just a permanent part of it, I think! 

So much so that I recently bought something very indulgent from YSL, but honestly, I don't regret it one bit. I purchased the YSL Pure Shots Soft Polish Double Essence off the the back of my recent success with their Pure Shots Night Reboot Serum, and while at first glance, that price tag may not suggest that it's of particularly good value, sitting at $125 for 150ml of product, you only need to tap out a small amount of essence each time, making this actually quite an economical bottle.

Like the Pure Shots Night Reboot Serum, this is a bi-phase product, which means that you have to shake up the bottle in order to get the aqueous layer of AHA and LHA to mix with the argan oil phase before applying it to the skin. The 97% of aqueous phase can help gently exfoliate the skin, while the argan oil from Morocco is present to nourish the skin and improve the skin barrier, helping to soothe it after the former does the hard work of peeling the skin and removing dead skin cells. Put together, it's meant to help transform the skin by improving clarity, tightening pores and plumping the skin.

This comes in a stunning, heavy glass bottle with a screw cap, which makes it pretty leak proof. It's meant to help you achieve that glass skin/translucent glow situation, and I feel like they designed the bottle to resemble that, which is aspirational! The consistency of this is really thin and runny, making it so that it's easy for the skin to absorb. I love that this doesn't have a scent, and that a few pats is all it takes for it to sink into my skin.

It feels almost simple, but works well on me. I received a compliment on my skin recently, and I thought it might have been due to me using this essence! I wish it made more of a difference to the pores around my nose, but I'll take what I can get! This essence is appropriate for all skin types, including those with sensitive skin. The YSL Pure Shots Soft Polish Double Essence is available from a number of retailers, including Mecca. What essence would you consider your favourite?