I purchased Kanebo’s Inner Balance Moisture Polish from StrawberryNET during their August sales. Maybe it’s just me, but for some reasons, I do not see this sold at Kanebo salons. Anyways, due to the sales, I thought I’d give it a go. 

The essence comes in a glass bottle, and contains some kind of shimmery substance in it, which I assume to be the micro-grained polish. When you spread it on your fingers and hand, you’ll see a very tiny bits of glitter, but when you apply it on your face, it’ll disappear (too small to be seen anyway). With the tiny polish bits, it’s meant to brighten and smoothen the skin.

I’ve been using the essence for over two weeks now, and, to be honest, I didn’t notice much difference to my skin. It does not exactly feel smoother; either the essence is taking a much longer time to take effect, or it doesn’t work at all. My face does look a little brighter than before though, I’d give it props for that. Whitening effect, maybe?

Still, just for a little brightness to the face and nothing else, I don’t think it’s really worth the money I paid for. But then again, I still have quite a lot of it to go, so maybe there’ll be a more significant improvement to the skin if I give it more time (I could just be overly optimistic though).

If you do intend to get this, I’d recommend using the essence sparingly, as it tends to leave a sticky feeling on the face. Give it a few minutes before applying your moisturiser.

At the time of this review, Kanebo’s Inner Balance Moisture Polish 40ml/1.3oz is going at RM252.50, which, in my opinion, is very expensive. I bought mine during the August sales for RM137.50.

I would agree with Paris that it’s more worth it to get makeup at StrawberryNET rather than skincare products as the former’s cheaper than retail prices (the latter could actually be even more expensive). Especially if you get ’em during their monthly sales, which could get you a pretty decent 50% discount or more.

What I like about it: Other than the pretty shimmery bits of the essence, nothing.

What I did not like about it: The shimmery bits doesn’t do anything to my face, hardly any difference after use. Expensive (after-sales price).