Review: Age Defense Essential Softener (Etude House)

I’ve had this post sitting in my drafts for a lot longer than I thought I would but that just means that I took my time in testing it. But, that being said, this is going to be a rather brief and straight to the point review from me on the Etude House Age Defence Essential Softener.

This is a sample product that I received from BB Cosmetic ages ago but I hadn’t reviewed it yet because I was distracted by all of the other products that I wanted to try. I was also a little bit stumped by how I could possibly give a proper critique on an anti-aging product when, for me, my main use for it would be prevention – however, I did figure it out!

So, without any further delay, let’s go onto the review:

So I won’t say anything about the packaging here because this is the deluxe gift/sample size and isn’t the official packaging. Knowing Etude House though, the quality should be fairly decent and online images of it looks very feminine and girly – though I don’t think the typographic design is mature enough if they are targeting an older audience. It has an almost vintage feel, similar to History of Whoo.

The formula is really light and, though I’m still a bit confused about what a softener is, I assume that it’s like a lotion. There is little to no scent and it absorbs super quickly. This is to be used after cleansing (and toner) as a first step. According to the Etude House website, “This is a softener that provides smooth and firm skin from the inside, keeping skin moist by delivering moisture deep into the skin’s dry insides.” Being from the Age Defense line, I assume that it also has some anti-aging effects.

As you can see from the photos above, it absorbs quickly and leaves no sticky or tacky feeling on the skin. For this product, I mainly applied it to my neck area – which is where the first signs of aging like to pop up. I have one, very deep crease in my neck that I’ve always been wanting to get rid of. I applied this product over my face (for hydration) and neck (to test both hydration and anti-wrinkle) and, surprisingly, I did notice a difference!

Of course, the crease isn’t completely gone but I can see that it has visibly lightened – which is more than I ever hope for. The moisturising part of this is also good but, since my skin is quite dry, it’s a bit too light for me to use at night. I think that it works well under make up though, as it doesn’t affect base foundation.

Here’s the verdict!

THE GOOD

• Light formula
• Absorbs quickly and completely
• Little to no scent
• Visible wrinkle improvement
• Doesn’t affect base make up

THE BAD

• Light hydration (suitable for normal to oily skin)
• Doesn’t completely get rid of wrinkles

WOULD I REPURCHASE?

I’m definitely going to try more anti-aging products (especially for my neck) but I do like this softener and I think I’ll be looking into more of their products. To be honest, I really didn’t expect for Etude House’s anti-aging line to be that good, only because their brand is more catered (and familiar) with the younger audience. Surprises everywhere!

I would recommend this product to people who are younger though – maybe around by age, who are more wanting prevention of lightening of the first signs of aging rather than for complete wrinkle care.

SPONSOR INFORMATION

Thank you so much to BB Cosmetic who sent me this gift for review purposes. They stock a lot of other brands and more products from Etude too, so be sure to check them out.

You can use my code for 8% off your purchase: QAL3F6ZA8YZ.

In addition, they also have a new, permanent promotion where you can also get 10% store credit by leaving a SNS review. Check out the details for this great offer here.

bb cosmeticetude housekbeautykorean skincareskincare