PRODUCT REVIEW: KIEHL'S FERULIC BREW FACIAL TREATMENT ESSENCE WITH LACTIC ACID – BEST EXFOLIATING TONER WITH LACTIC ACID, BEST BRIGHTENING TONER
KIEHL'S | FERULIC BREW FACIAL TREATMENT ESSENCE
This product review was originally part of my blog article titled, Three New Treatment Toners I'm into from Kiehl's, Dr. Zenovia and Ole Henriksen. You can catch the full piece here.
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I love diversifying my skin care with the change of seasons and a change in my mood. And I love, love, love toners.
I alternate between hydrating toners and more active treatment toners in my skincare routine — and often use one of each, one after the other. As crazy as it may sound, it is not uncommon for me to use three different toners in a routine: an antioxidant toner, a hydrating toner, and a treatment toner powered by an exfoliating acid.
I think toners are wildly misunderstood. The funny thing about toners is that not all are created equal — or do the same thing. There are two major types of toners: hydrating toners and acid, or treatment toners. The two are not mutually exclusive; that is, you don’t use one or the other. While they’re both called toners, they have completely distinct purposes and benefits for the skin.
But my favorite toner is an antioxidant toner: NIOD’s Superoxide Dismutase Saccharide Mist. As with everything NIOD offers, the Superoxide Dismutase Saccharide Mist isn’t just some run-of-the-mill skincare product; and it’s much more than a hydrating toner. (NIOD denies that SDSM2 is a toner at all.)
PRODUCT REVIEW: NIOD SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE SACCHARIDE MIST (SDSM2) - BEST ANTIOXIDANT TONER
SDSM2 is enriched with Superoxide Dismutase — a naturally occurring antioxidant found in the skin that’s the body’s most essential antioxidant to fend off cell damage. I use it religiously immediately after cleansing, day and night. Be sure to catch my review of it on the blog here.
Every skincare routine, morning and evening, should consist of a hydrating toner — applied immediately following cleansing. Hydration is a must for skin health, central to a K-beauty routine and IMO essential to a robust and healthy skincare regimen.
A treatment toner, on the other hand, is formulated with any number of beneficial exfoliating acids — usually one or more actives from the class of hydroxy acids — AHAs, BHAs or PHAs. After applying a hydrating toner, if you want to use a treatment toner to exfoliate and boost skin’s desquamation process, you can (and should!).
My latest deep-dive into treatment toners came in the fall in an article titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: Treatment Toners I Love That Make Me Excited For Cold Weather. In it, I featured some of the best exfoliating toners with Glycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid and even Mandelic Acid. You can catch the full article here.
SEASONAL SKINCARE TRANSITIONING: TREATMENT TONERS I LOVE THAT MAKE ME EXCITED FOR COLD WEATHER
One of my favorite products six months later remains the Farmacy Deep Sweep 2% BHA Pore Cleaning Toner with Moringa + Papaya. As far as exfoliating toners go, the Deep Sweep 2% BHA Pore Cleaning Toner is a good, clean formula and among the best Salicylic Acid treatments for face. It’s a safe-for-skin, refreshing, effective treatment toner and a pleasure to use.
As I said in my initial review of it, I’m so impressed by Farmacy’s Deep Sweep BHA toner and really appreciate the pro-skin health approach, making it useful for all skin types, not just those with oily, acne-prone skin who benefit most from Salicylic Acid.
PRODUCT REVIEW: FARMACY DEEP SWEEP 2% BHA PORE CLEANING TONER – BEST SALICYLIC ACID TONER FOR OILY SKIN
But a word of caution…
There are so many things I love about skincare and how skincare products work with the skin. But there’s one entire skincare habit which, while popular, is quite out of control. And that’s exfoliation and the overuse of exfoliating treatments, including acid-powered treatment toners.
Unlike so much of what we do for our skin — including moisturizing, cleansing and protecting from sun damage — the one thing skin does pretty well on its own is the basic function of desquamation.
Every skin cell originating in the lower levels of the skin rises to the surface within 28 days, where it’s freed from the body — like pollen gently floating from wild poppy flowers and disappearing into the air over the horizon.
What Does Desquamation Mean and Why Does Desquamation Occur?
In short, desquamation is a term that encompasses cell regeneration, cell death and exfoliation. More specifically, desquamation is the process by which the skin generates new skin cells and, 28 days or so later, sheds them. Desquamation essentially encompasses the life cycle of a skin cell. A treatment toner formulated with an alpha hydroxy acid like Glycolic Acid can, if formulated properly and at the precise pH level, amplify the cell turnover process.
There’s an excellent, insightful piece on the Very Well Health website titled, Desquamation Process and the Outer Layer of Skin. According to the health site Very Well Health:
Desquamation is the natural process in which skin cells are created, sloughed away, and replaced. The desquamation process happens in the outermost layer of the skin called the epidermis. The epidermis itself has four unique layers. Each of these layers plays a role in desquamation.
Skin Cells are Born
Sometimes called cell turnover, desquamation happens every second of the day, without you even noticing.
New skin cells are created in the stratum germinativum, which is the deepest layer of the epidermis. This layer is also called the basal layer.
Skin cells begin their life as a single layer of thick, column-shaped cells. These cells are responsible for creating every cell of your skin.
The cells in this layer divide. Half of them stay behind in the stratum germinativum. The other cells begin their migration to the skin's surface.
Cells Reach the Surface, Then Slough Off
The skin cells have reached their final destination — the stratum corneum. Once the cells arrive at this uppermost layer of the skin they are essentially dead.
The cells in the stratum corneum are very flat and tightly packed. These flat, dead cells continuously fall away as newer cells push their way to the surface. In this way, your skin is constantly renewing itself.
Where do all of those dead skin cells go? You might be surprised to know that most of the dust in your home is actually made up of dead skin cells.
The entire desquamation process, from cell birth to sloughing away, takes approximately 14 to 28 days.
Because the desquamation process is so efficient and methodical, I don’t believe skin needs or can generally tolerate daily exfoliation — whether chemical or physical. That’s why it’s essential to incorporate multiple toners into your routine. Make a habit of using a toner that hydrates the skin AM and PM and perhaps three or four times per week, apply a treatment toner with an exfoliating acid that works for your skin.
In fact, I don’t use a chemical exfoliant — either a treatment toner or acid-powered serum — more than thrice weekly. Even if skin tolerates excess exfoliation, it doesn’t need it as often as you may think. In fact, our skin doesn’t need us to do anything when it comes to exfoliation.
That said, the kind of exfoliation you can achieve with popular, iconic products like the Sunday Riley Good Genes All-In-One Lactic Acid Treatment or a personal fave, the Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% Bha Liquid Exfoliant, helps to speed up the process of desquamation. Doing so, leaves the complexion free of dead skin. Dead skin cells aren’t doing you any favors.
PRODUCT REVIEW: PAULA’S CHOICE SKIN PERFECTING 2% BHA LIQUID EXFOLIANT – BEST EXFOLIATING TREATMENT
While AHA and BHA-powered chemical exfoliators are the best acid treatments available, they’re not always the most gentle. And sometimes are no more exfoliating than a hydrating toner. The potency and efficacy of an acid toner is dependent on the pH level of the formula and which of the six alpha hydroxy acids are being used; the most potent being Glycolic Acid, the least, Mandelic Acid.
That said, with an acid-powered treatment toner, it’s best to be a bit more conservative. Don’t over-do it and even if your skin tolerates it, remember that it may not even need it. Again, I like to alternate between an acid toner, a hydrating toner and even an antioxidant toner.
With that, let’s take a look at one of my new fave treatment toner discoveries of the last few weeks…
Kiehl's Since 1851 | Ferulic Brew Facial Treatment Essence with Lactic Acid
I always feel a bit nostalgic whenever I talk about a Kiehl’s product. I worked on the Kiehl’s brand for seven years in the early 2000s as the company’s first ever copywriter. So it will always have a special place in my heart. And It’s great to see the brand coming out with cool, new, innovative products that my colleagues and I could never have imagined a decade ago.
The most innovative product I worked on at the time was Kiehl’s Powerful Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate — a Vitamin C-powered brightening serum. Vitamin C serums aren’t that big a deal today but back then, with its initial 10% concentration of Vitamin C, the stuff was legitimate innovation. Vitamin C serums with concentrations of 10% or higher were not possible up to that point due to the instability of Vitamin C in a formula. Even we were impressed!
With its antioxidant potency, Powerful Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate rivaled the industry leader in Vitamin C serums, the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Antioxidant Serum. With its 15% concentration of Pure Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid), the C E Ferulic Antioxidant Serum is certainly the OG Vitamin C serum.
Back in the day, I was fortunate enough to be able to stock up on C E Ferulic at the L’Oreal company store using my gratis, my free quarterly skincare allotment. Over my Kiehl’s career, I must’ve gone through a few dozen bottles of what was at one time the best Vitamin C serum available anywhere. As I write this, I don’t even consider the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Antioxidant Serum all that innovative — or unique.
Innovation is like that. Look at the BlackBerry! Today, using a BlackBerry would feel like you might as well be living in a cave and cooking on rocks.
PRODUCT REVIEW: SKINCEUTICALS C E FERULIC ANTIOXIDANT SERUM – AMONG THE BEST VITAMIN C SERUMS
So I was naturally excited to try Kiehl’s new Ferulic Brew Facial Treatment Essence with Lactic Acid. It’s so full of intrigue, starting with the name. Here’s what the brand has to say about the antioxidant toner: “With ingredients brewed for 120 hours, this 99%** natural formula with Ferulic Acid, Lactic Acid (AHA) & Squalane provides powerful antioxidant protection to visibly smooth and even skin’s texture and tone, reduce fine lines and leave skin with a healthy-looking glow.”
That’s a lot to say that Ferulic Brew is unique and innovative – and wonderfully pro-skin health. In fact, I’ve never experienced anything even remotely similar to Kiehl’s Ferulic Brew Facial Treatment Essence. It’s truly one-of-a-kind.
One of the actives that makes it so exceptional is Ferulic Acid. Ferulic Acid is one of the most potent antioxidants used in skincare and also happens to be an ideal stabilizer for notoriously unstable Vitamin C. Ferulic Acid is what made the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Antioxidant Serum possible nearly two decades ago. And, indeed, there’s a small amount of Vitamin C in the Ferulic Brew formula in the form of Ascorbyl Glucoside.
What Is Ferulic Acid and Does Vitamin C Need Ferulic Acid?
For the answer, I turn to the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team. They go in depth on the derivations of Ferulic Acid and its exceptional benefits for the skin — and for stabilizing Vitamin C in a skincare formula. Here are their most important insights…
Ferulic Acid is an “antioxidant that helps defend skin from the signs of sun damage and environmental assault
Improves stability and efficacy of other antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E
Research indicates ferulic acid can help inhibit discolorations
Naturally found in plants, such as bran and bamboo
As a raw material, ferulic acid is supplied as a crystalline powder
Ferulic Acid Description
Ferulic acid is a phenolic antioxidant (a type that intercepts damaging hydrogen radicals) that is naturally found in bran and bamboo shoots, among other plants. Research has shown that it provides its own benefits to skin while also enhancing the stability of other antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, when paired with them.
Of note, ferulic acid plays a significant photoprotective role, which is one of the reasons it’s a welcome addition in sunscreen formulations.
Research also indicates that it has the ability to inhibit certain triggers of skin discolorations, making ferulic acid a nice complement to products that are intended for evening skin tone. In general, it also helps defend skin against environmental assault.
Ferulic acid can be used in the types of high concentration chemical peels available in a dermatologist/esthetician setting, where it is usually combined with other acids, such as lactic, to address signs of photoaging. Ferulic acid’s soothing properties are believed to help reduce potential skin-irritating side effects of such peels.
As a raw material, ferulic acid comes as a crystalline powder that is insoluble in water at room temperature but reaches solubility in higher water temps. It is also soluble in other types of solvents.
Ferulic acid is shown to be most effective at boosting the results from other antioxidants when used in concentrations of 0.5% or greater. It is typically not used above 1%, as doing so can impart an undesirable color to a skin care formula.”
But the Kiehl’s Ferulic Brew Facial Treatment Essence is more than a potent antioxidant toner. With just under a 4% concentration of Lactic Acid, it can deliver a milder exfoliating benefit than most exfoliating toners powered by alpha hydroxy acids. In addition, there’s a small amount of Salicylic Acid at about one percent.
Nourishing fermented Rice Ferment Filtrate is ingredient number two after water — the “brew” part of the formula. There are also several moisturizing, replenishing plant oils, including Squalane and Sunflower Seed Oil.
Regrettably, the Ferulic Brew Facial Treatment Essence is no miracle for sensitive skin. The 99% natural formula is infused with potential skin irritants in the form of fragrant plant essential oils, including two of the worst: Lavender Oil and Peppermint Oil.
Still, I can’t get enough of it. It has the scent of a robust, fresh tea and a silky, almost oily consistency that feels great on application. I’ve used it multiple times in a week and seen no irritation. Ferulic Brew is really such a pleasure to use!
What I like about it: The Kiehl’s Ferulic Brew Facial Treatment Essence with Lactic Acid is packed with antioxidants, including its star Ferulic Acid. I love the slightly oily texture and its fresh herbal aroma.
What I don’t like about it: Regrettably, there are several fragrant plant oils in the formula that can be sensitizing to the skin, among them the two worst violators, Lavender Oil and Peppermint Oil. If you have sensitive skin, you’ll need to find another option.
Who it’s for: All skin types, except sensitive skin.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Kiehl's Since 1851 Ferulic Brew Facial Treatment Essence with Lactic Acid for $54 here.
The Ingredient List of the Kiehl's Since 1851 Ferulic Brew Facial Treatment Essence with Lactic Acid:
sii, Saccharomyces/Rice Ferment Filtrate (4.7%), Dicaprylyl Ether emo|solv, Glycerin 
sii|h 0 0, Pentylene Glycol solv|h, Lactic Acid (3.7%) exf|h|buff, Propanediol solv|h, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Butylene Glycol h|solv|vc 0 1, Sodium Chloride vc, Tocopherol aox 0-3 0-3, Ascorbyl Glucoside aox|sb, Salicylic Acid exf|aacne|so|pres, Ferulic Acid (0.1%) aox|amic, Caramel col, Adenosine cci, Lavandula Hybrida Oil emo, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil/Sunflower Seed Oil emo 0 0, Cupressus Sempervirens Leaf/Nut/Stem Oil emo, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil so|perf, Linalool 
perf, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil perf, Brassica Campestris Extract/Rapeseed Extract, Brassica Campestris Sprout Extract h, Grape Seed aox|emo, Sprout Extract aox, Mentha Piperita Oil/Peppermint Oil perf, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Citronellol perf, Geraniol perf, Limonene perf|solv, Origanum Majorana Leaf Oil
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