The 3 Root Causes of Accelerated Ageing
Of course, there are many lifestyle and environmental factors that cause accelerated skin ageing. UV damage, diet, air pollution, chronic stress, lack of sleep, and hormonal disruption are among the…
Blog
Discover what’s at the forefront of microbiome skincare and other news from Esse.
Beyond the Treatment: Why Aesthetic Procedures Need Microbiome Support
Aesthetic treatments work through controlled damage. Microneedling, chemical peels, and laser resurfacing all disrupt the skin to trigger repair and renewal. The results can be impressive, but what happens in…
The Truth About Anti-Ageing: Why Modern Life Accelerates Ageing
The skincare industry sells products on the promise that ageing can be stopped. It can’t. Cellular ageing is inevitable, and no product changes that. We’re okay with that. What…
The Skin Microbiome Crisis: We’ve Lost 73% of Our Microbial Defences to Modern Life
Your location determines your skin microbiome. And if you live in a city, you’ve lost most of it. The data Esse’s testing of over 1000 fully sequenced skin…
Conscious Gifting: Sustainable Gift Set for the Festive Season
The festive season tends to blur the line between generosity and consumption. Somewhere between the excessive packaging and products that promise miracles, the meaning gets lost. We wanted to…
Discover Esse’s New Mist Range
The Esse Mist range is an incredible booster product that amplifies your skin routine and improves skincare results. Because our Esse cleansing range doesn’t strip the skin of its…
Live vs Non-Living: Why Live Probiotics Offer Better Skin Benefits
As one of the very first brands to deploy microbiome science in its formulations, Esse has witnessed the encouraging rise in awareness of probiotic skincare recently. As more people…
Shifting your skin’s microbiome
Recent scientific advancements have illuminated the profound impact of the skin microbiome on overall skin health. Disruptions to this delicate ecosystem can lead to various skin conditions, including acne,…
Propionic Acid: The Skin’s Personal Gardener
Discover the benefits of Propionic Acid for skin health. Learn how Esse uses it to support the microbiome, boost hydration, reduce inflammation, and enhance your skin’s natural barrier function.…
Lesser-Known Facts About the Skin Microbiome No One’s Talking About!
Microbiome skincare is all the rage, but with clever marketing behind subpar products, the word “microbiome” risks becoming just another buzzword. In this post, we delve into the fascinating…
How Your Skin Ages: Understanding the Microbiome’s Role
To understand how your skin ages, imagine your skin’s beneficial microbes as soldiers on a battlefield. These tiny, hardworking defenders are your first line of protection, working to keep…
Problem Skin? It’s Time to Fix Your Microbiome
Your skin is the barrier between you and the outside world. It is the largest organ in your body, with its own microscopic ecosystem – called a microbiome —…
Esse Concealer vs. Esse Foundation
Esse Concealer’s matte finish makes it a perfect complement to the Esse Foundation, which lays down a dewy base for the Concealer to build on. Together, this pair enables…
Skin Anarchy Podcast featuring Trevor Steyn
Esse founder Trevor Steyn was recently interviewed by Dr Ekta Yadav, MD MBA MS (Skincare Anarchy). We encourage you to listen to the full version of this enlightening episode…
Nighttime Skincare Routine: Optimising Skin Health While You Sleep
For skin to be more youthful and resilient, it must first be sustainably healthy. We help you to achieve this by rebalancing the microbiome with products at the forefront…
Ageing gracefully with the sun: A dilemma of diminishing returns
One of the major concerns many of us have with sun exposure is that we fear it will make our skin age faster. While there is good reason behind…
Protect Oil: Clinically Proven To Protect And Repair
Choosing skincare products can be challenging in today’s world. In a marketplace full of claims (many of which lack credibility), how do you choose skincare that you can be…
What Does Vitamin D Do For My Skin?
Our skin is the natural factory for Vitamin D, and it needs healthy levels for some key functions. These include: Controlling cell division Vitamin D controls how cells…
Too much sun is damaging to our skin… but so is zero sun
We’re all aware of the risks that come with getting too much sun exposure – increased cancer risks, premature ageing, and chances of hyperpigmentation. But an often-overlooked question is:…
Vitamin D: Supplement or Sunshine?
To understand what is healthy for you, it’s often worth asking yourself: “What is my body designed for?” Through the course of human history, our bodies have acquired Vitamin…
Top Tips to Indulge in Our Limited Edition Pamper Box
You’ve received an Esse Pamper Box, now what? We’ve put together a few tips on how you can use this microbiome-friendly assortment of masks and exfoliators this festive season. …
Why We Love 2023’s Festive Pamper Box
Indulge in some well-deserved self-care and pampering this festive season with our complimentary Limited Edition Esse Pamper Box. Featuring masks and exfoliators that use organic biotechnology, rewilding your skin…
Esse Bakuchiol Serum: Nature’s Retinol
Esse incorporates ‘nature’s retinol’ in its latest launch of Bakuchiol Serum When it comes to anti-ageing ingredients in skincare products, retinoids have been the gold standard for decades – despite…
Esse’s 30-Day Trial & Travel Sets
Just because you’re on the go doesn’t mean that your skincare regime has to suffer! Esse, a leading global skincare brand in organic biotechnology, has released the compact and…
Esse Aesthetics Improves Results
While the desire to retain a youthful appearance hasn’t changed over the years, the use in this pursuit have. Non-invasive procedures such as microneedling, laser resurfacing, and deep peels…
Sun Exposure VS Sun Protection
The dangers of overexposing skin to sunlight have been well documented over the last few years, prompting a rise in the use of sunscreens. And while sun protection is…
Tips for Healthier Skin
If you’ve spent years suffering from relentless skin conditions, from acne to eczema, then you need to start the New Year by rewilding! Your skin holds an ecosystem –…
Skin Detoxing. What You Need To Know.
One of the most frequent questions we get at Esse is ‘What will happen to my skin when I switch over?’. As with any change, there is going to…
Why Rewilding is the Best Defence Against Skin Dryness this Winter
With temperatures dropping across the country, many people will be spending more time indoors, keeping warm with artificial heating and hot baths. Add in the cold, outdoor weather and…
Microbiome Skincare Products: What To Look Out For
Microbiome skincare is not something that involves simply including a single probiotic-based ingredient in a product. Caring for the microbiome is an entire philosophy in product design that needs…
Esse Limited-Edition Gift Set for this Festive Season
For many modern consumers, gift-buying needs to be a conscious action that considers sustainability, ethics and wellbeing – while also bringing the recipient joy! That’s why Esse has launched…
Are We Better Than Evolution?
Humanity has learned an enormous amount over the last few hundred years. We discovered microbes and DNA and evolution. We worked out that we weren’t at the centre of…
FAQs : All The Questions You Need Answered by Esse!
For the past two decades, we have been producing industry-leading skincare products with significant anti-ageing benefits. With more people choosing brands that believe in sustainability and show real results,…
Drivers of Ageing
Ageing is a natural process of life, with the body undergoing significant changes as the years go by. And while we can’t avoid ageing, we can minimise the impact…
Esse vs. Ageing
Old age is unavoidable. We are all going to get old – the trick is to do it gracefully! Just to be very clear – we aren’t ageist. We…
Experience Esse’s Cutting-edge Treatments
Esse, offers a range of professional, customised skin rewilding treatments which incorporate advanced pre- and probiotics, as well as the application of live probiotics. The Esse Experience treatments – which…
Experience the Anti-ageing Benefits of Probiotics
South African bio-clinical skincare brand, Esse, is celebrating a significant milestone in 2022 – 20 years of leveraging biotechnology to provide significant anti-ageing benefits through probiotics and other actives…
Get Your Best Skin Back with Esse’s #30dayrewild pack
If you’re looking for a sustainable skincare regime that brings out your skin’s best version of itself, then you’re going to want to try Esse’s #30dayrewild challenge. It’s simple,…
What to Expect from our Rewild Challenge
We’re excited for you to take part in our #30dayrewild challenge. We’ve called this a challenge because, like all worthwhile challenges, it’ll require full commitment – rewilding is a lifestyle…
3 Ways To Restore Your Skin’s Health By Rewilding
The past few months have given us a lot of time for introspection and re-evaluation, and one of the themes that keeps re-emerging globally is the need to reconnect…
5 Reasons Why Esse’s Festive Pack is The Ultimate Gift
Following the global upheaval over the past two years, and with a sense of normalcy finally on the horizon, many are looking forward to a wholesome celebration with…
Limited Edition Omega Moisturisers
Why are Omegas important for the skin? Our modern diets are deficient in omega oils. These oils are not as stable as saturated oils and they are often removed from…
An Organic Yet Powerful Approach To Managing Acne
We have already discussed how our approach addresses the microbial imbalance created by our industrial lifestyles, so let’s take a closer look at the ingredients used in the Esse Clarifying Range and…
Esse vs Acne
Our new Clarifying range takes an evolutionary approach to addressing acne, a condition that affects more than 80% of teens and around 4 % of adults. It is evident…
Esse and the Revolutionary ‘skinimalism’ Trend
The experience of lockdown provided many with a time of self-reflection, and one realisation that emerged during this time was that, when it comes to skincare routines, less is…
Things Industrial Beauty Taught Us That We Should Forget
Industrial beauty is around 100 years old. In the early 1900s, large companies in the US and Europe used the fear of germs to sell harsh soaps to hundreds…
Cleansing The Esse Way
Sebum Science Sebum is the complex mixture of oils produced by sebaceous glands in our skin. Human sebum is very different to that of other mammals. We’re far from fully…
Beauty & Wellness Award 2021
Beauty Insider is one of Singapore’s leading platforms for beauty bargains and deals. After months of careful deliberation, sifting, and testing of over 700+ products from local to international…
Dutch Beauty Awards 2021
It is a great honour for Esse to be presented the Dutch Beauty Award in 2021 for the Resurrect Serum in the category Best Salon Product. ”Organic salon brand…
Good Microbes For Your Skin
There are trillions of bacteria from hundreds of species living on and in your skin. Your skincare goals should always include their well-being, as they are what ultimately determine…
What Are The Skin Benefits Of A Good Foundation?
There’s much more to a quality foundation product than simple coverage. Here are some of the benefits you can enjoy by choosing the right foundation for your skin: 1. Sun…
What is the Esse Experience?
Skin therapists are in a position that demands daily responsibility, as their clients rely on them to provide reliable advice and effective treatments. This responsibility should not be taken…
What Moisturiser Should You Be Using?
There is no denying that as winter sets in, skin feels as though it needs a little more. Cold, dry weather and indoor heating generate a real thirst in…
UK Global Makeup Awards 2021
The winners of the prestigious UK Global Makeup Awards have been announced! The UK is the largest region in the Global Makeup Awards, with over 350 entries. The beauty awards…
Uniform and school supplies for children in rural Namibia
We recently decided to get an outside opinion of how Esse appeals to potential customers and consulted with some clever marketing people. They asked about our social responsibility policy.…
The New Probiotic Ampoule and Exclusion Mask
With the launch of the updated professional treatments comes the addition of two unique new products to the professional trolley for Esse therapists – the live Probiotic Ampoule and…
7 Lifestyle Tips To Rewild Your Skin And Improve Skin Health
Imagine the richness of a thriving coral reef, or the bustling activity of a healthy rainforest. What these – along with most healthy ecosystems – have in common is…
Interview with Trevor Steyn on the Microbiome and Skincare
How did you become interested in the microbiome? When I was younger, I thought that chemistry could solve almost any problem. As my understanding of the biological world expanded, I…
Scandinavian Global Makeup Awards
The winners of the prestigious Scandinavian Global Makeup Awards 2020 have been announced! Esse Skincare received 3 Gold Awards and 2 Silver Awards.
How Skin Compares to an Ecosystem
Any ecologist will tell you that a forest filled with a rich variety of plants is healthier than a commercial plantation containing only one species of tree. The complex…
Green Chemistry meets Wild Science
“Green chemistry, also called sustainable chemistry, is an area of chemistry focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous…
Esse and Plastic Neutral
We’ve partnered with Cleanhub to collect plastic waste in developing countries before it can reach the ocean. Every living thing depends on the ocean. Covering more than 70% of…
Serious About Serums
Facial serums come in many forms and choosing which one is best for your skin can often feel daunting. You’ll hear bloggers and influencers wax lyrical about their latest…
Why Esse Uses Glass Packaging
Choosing which materials to use in packaging is not easy. There are many considerations. In several projects in our history, we have weighed up our options, and the result…
Esse and Carbon Neutral
When we say that we’re carbon neutral – this is what we mean Since Esse started, we have fought hard to hold true to a few basic values. One…
Rewild Your Skin
Rewilding is the science of returning skin to its balanced, wild state through green chemistry and organic biotech. Civilization has long been associated with a sense of “clean” that…
Bakuchiol: Nature’s Retinol Alternative
Dubbed ‘nature’s retinol’, it’s worth investigating the properties of this acclaimed plant-based ingredient and how to incorporate it into your skincare routine. The Bakuchiol used in skincare is extracted…
Resurrect Your Skin With Myrothamnus
Myrothamnus flabellifolia is commonly known as the “Resurrection Plant” and hails from the sands of the ancient Namib Desert. What makes this plant different is not in its physical…
Resurrect Serum – New Life For Sensitive Skin
A serum to address the signs of ageing in sensitive skin It’s important to remember that sensitivity often correlates directly to a disruption in barrier function due to a microbial imbalance.…
What’s In A Drop Of Esse?
The Esse probiotic skincare range includes a multitude of carefully selected natural ingredients that are proven to have a positive impact on improving skin barrier function, hydration and the…
Why Does The Skin Detox When Moving To Organic Products?
Why does the skin detox when moving to organic products? I’ve heard this question so many times over the last 12 years since I’ve switched to organic skincare. It’s…
Skincare Myths Debunked
Since the beginning of time, society has formed beliefs about their experiences and the world around them. A notorious belief and misconception that comes to mind is that the…
Nanoparticles – The Lowdown
Nanotechnology is the study and application of extremely small particles (smaller than 100 nanometers – about 40,000 times thinner than a hair). In skincare, nano ingredients come in two forms: nanoemulsions –…
A Guide To Sensitive Skin
Skin sensitivity is a leading skin concern throughout the modern world with more than half of women claiming to have sensitive skin.
Sleep and Skin Health
Six reasons a healthy sleeping pattern will give you great skin Skin health and sleep quality can be strongly linked. Lack of sleep elevates cortisol levels in the body, increasing…
Invest in yourself
Why a good skincare routine need not be complicated Have you had enough of hearing how the latest skincare fad is the only thing that will rescue your skin? What…
7 Steps To Great Skin in 2020
“A change is as good as a holiday,” and who would say no thank you to that? As 2020 gets underway, we’d like to challenge you to make some changes…
Esse Awards in 2019
With the year fast drawing to a close, you might have missed some of the highlights. Here is a summary of all the awards Esse was honoured with in…
Moisture and Ageing: How the New Hyaluronic Serum Works
While ageing can’t be stopped entirely, it can be slowed down with a healthy lifestyle and anti-ageing skincare products. Maintaining adequate moisture in the skin is key to minimising…
Hyaluronic Acid
You have about 15 grams of Hyaluronic Acid (HA) in your body and one third of this is degraded and resynthesized every day. It is one of your body’s…
5 Benefits of Hydrated Skin
Drinking plenty of water is a key proponent in keeping our body and organs happily functioning, and hydrated skin is just as important for a healthy complexion. Here are…
How To Know If You Have Dehydrated Skin
Many people suffer with dehydrated skin but often it is not always evident. It is important that you resolve this issue by feeding your skin with the right hydrating…
Esse Sunscreen: A Solution for Sensitive Skin
We hear it every day from the skincare experts – too much sun is not good for your skin. That said, if you have sensitive skin you will struggle…
4 Reasons To Use Natural Sun Protection
As winter turns to summer and that holiday vibe kicks in, we all gravitate to outdoor spaces where the sun shines and makes us happy, which calls for sunscreen!…
Esse Sunscreen: An Athlete’s Bestfriend
The Esse Sunscreen is one of the first of its kind and may swiftly become part of many outdoor athlete’s arsenal – we heard why from ultra-runner Riana Henning.…
The Value of Using a Microbiome-friendly Foundation
Here’s what your basic skin care routine probably looks like: cleanser, toner, serum, moisturiser and, finally, foundation. Perhaps you even include products to promote a healthy skin microbiome leading…
Everything You Need To Know About Our Foundation
This organic, microbiome-friendly foundation provides medium coverage and is available in ten shades. Below are just some of the benefits you can expect. SKIN ILLUMINATION Layer to achieve light…
Why the Esse Foundations Are Perfect for Sensitive Skin
A first of its kind Our very first foray into colour cosmetics came about as a result of your nudging. We were constantly reminding you about the need to…
Can You Change Your Microbiome?
An unhealthy skin microbiome results in unhealthy skin and increases the rate of ageing but you can shift your skin microbiome toward a diverse, balanced state. Learn more from…
What Does My Microbiome Do For Me?
We know gut microbes aid in digestion and deliver nutrients. They also produce vitamins, maintain blood pressure, and affect your mood. Because we rely on so many partnerships, we…
What Will Probiotics Do For My Skin?
Probiotics are immensely beneficial. They out-compete pathogenic microbes, improve barrier function, produce moisturising factors, maintain skin pH and reduce sensitivity and inflammation. All these factors reduce the rate of…
What Is The Hygiene Hypothesis?
Are we all too clean for our own good? Being overly paranoid about cleanliness puts you at a disadvantage. Early exposure to ‘dirt’ is a good thing, so let…
Is it good to have high microbial diversity on skin?
Our adoption of a western lifestyle has resulted in a vast reduction of microbial species on skin. Research suggests that diversity is a good thing as opposed to the…
5 Things Probiotics Do For Your Skin
Probiotics are vital They protect you from pathogens (like armour for your face) They improve barrier function They maintain calm and reduce sensitivity They manufacture moisturising factors They maintain…
Do I have the same microbes everywhere on my skin?
There are different bacteria living in the different ecosystems of your body. The microbiome of an oily area like the face is very different to that of the dry…
Why is all this microbiome stuff happening now?
Advances in science now allow us to “see” DNA and we can now study ecosystems that were previously too small to study. The Polymerase Chain Reaction, discovered by Kerry…
What Are Microbes And Probiotics?
All single-celled organisms are microbes, this includes viruses. A microbiome is the sum of all the single-celled organisms living in and on a body. All living things have a…
What Is The Perfect Skin Microbiome?
This is a really tough question. The skin is now viewed as an ecosystem so how would you answer the question: What is the perfect ecosystem? Is it a…
Anti-ageing Probiotics
Your army of little helpers Skin probiotics are safe and natural and they work. They protect, moisturise, maintain skin pH and reduce inflammation. Lump all of these benefits together and…
Probiotics Strengthen Barrier Function
Remedy Sensitivity – Probiotics strengthen barrier function and protect you from pathogens so they automatically guard your immune system from exposure to unnecessary triggers. Apart from acting as a…
Probiotics Balance pH
Acid mantle integrity is key to effective barrier function It is not intuitive to think that something as seemingly inconsequential as pH could have a mighty impact on ageing, but…
Probiotics Moisturise
Hydrate from within You may not know this, but live Lactobacillus probiotics on (and in) skin can produce the coveted skincare ingredient Hyaluronic Acid. Right there in the stratum corneum…
Probiotics Protect
Boost your skin’s armour Probiotic microbes can help to safeguard your skin against pathogenic microbes. When prolific and healthy, your skin microbes construct a biofilm in the outer layer of…
Is Sunscreen Anti-ageing?
There is no doubt that long-term exposure to high levels of UV accelerates ageing Does this mean that you should do whatever you can to get your sun exposure to…
Skin pH – It Matters
Make sure you ✓ the pH box before you put a product on your skin. pH is a measure of how acidic or basic a product is, and it is measured…
Probiotic Definitions and Skin
Get started on your probiotic journey by understanding various definitions that are used. A MICROBE is a single-celled, microscopic organism. This includes bacteria, viruses, yeasts and archaea amongst others.…
Probiotics and Skin Immunity
Your skin has an immune system, and it is vital in that it protects you from pathogens Keratinocytes, the most common skin cells in the epidermis (the outermost layer of…
Protect Oil: Announcing An Addition To The Esse Sensitive Line
The Protect Oil launched at the end of May 2018 and follows the Sensitive range’s mandate to remediate and protect sensitive skin. Esse Skincare showcased a new oil…
Esse Wins Prestigious Award
Esse’s Nourish Moisturiser was recently announced the winner of the ‘Best Day Cream’ category at the Organic Beauty Awards in Sweden for presenting a moisturiser with beneficial probiotic extracts…
Microbes & Your Skin
TRILLIONS of microbes, from thousands of species, call your skin home. Normally, they get along just fine, and they provide the building blocks that make your skin healthy and…
The Future of Skincare
Human Microbiome Project In 2003, the Human Genome Project declared that the sequencing of the human genome was complete after 13 years of intense research. It cost $2,7 billion.…
Save the Rhino
Any student of the natural sciences understands this conundrum: all species on the planet contain potentially valuable genetic information but large species are always the focal point for the public.…
4 Ways To Deliver Probiotics In Skincare
Probiotics are the latest trend in skincare, but probiotics are live microbes that have a beneficial effect. How are probiotic ingredients used in skincare products when most skincare products…
Diversity in Skin Systems
Just as diversity is important in environmental ecosystems, so it is important in the mix of microbes found in the skin. A diverse microbiome equals healthy skin. …
Learn To Love Your Microbes
Your skin is an ecosystem, and in the same way that your gut needs symbiotic microbes to function optimally, your skin needs microbes to maintain peak health. That is…