Boscia Sake Balm

Last winter, during one of Boscia's generous GWP promos I placed an order for a few things I'd always been curious about: this 50g/1.75oz jar Sake Balm and Sake Treatment Water, which I'll review next.

Sake-based or sake-infused skincare has been around in Japan for a long time, and within the past couple of years it's enjoying a revival in popularity. This Sake line is Boscia's effort to bring the bandwagon to North America, at least in my humble opinion anyway.

This Balm is nothing like its name suggests. It's really a jelly-like gel-cream and nothing balmy at all. It smells slightly of alcohol, I mean, it's sake-based, go figure. But it goes on super light and absorbs instantly. A little bit goes a long way, which is to say it's quite a potent moisturizer.

I actually had 2 of these gigantic jars and gave one to J. to try when she ran out of her favorite FANCL BC Night Intensive Cream. She stuck with it for more than half the jar only to give it back to me complaining how it made her skin oily the next morning. I'd just ran out of the Clarins Super Restorative Night Wear that was my night moisturizer, so I decided to try it myself and see if J. was right.

Well, to my disappointment, J. was right. This Sake Balm, light as it is, turned my face into an oil-spill every morning. After about 2 weeks, I was just about to give up when I ran out of Aqualabel Aging Care Royal Rich Essence, my nightly essence/serum. So I decided to give the balm another chance, this time layering over the Sake Treatment Water, my then day serum that wasn't doing a thing for me either (more on that in its own review). I mean, here I am putting together two products that were useless on their own, what could go wrong, right?

Actually, it couldn't have gone more right! The difference was night and day. My face was no longer oily the very next morning. That said, when rinsing with water, my usual morning routine, my skin had an odd but noticeable smoothness, almost slick. I was repulsed at first, only to realize I was already well-acquainted with this feeling--it's how my skin feels after using a peeling gel, soft and smooth, almost slick. The only problem was that I hadn't use a peeling gel. I'd only used this Sake Balm over the Sake Treatment Water the night before. What what what?!?

Okay, mind blown but skeptical. Super skeptical. Come on, this blog's been around since 2007. That's almost 10 years folks, and I'd been playing with skincare and cosmetics for years before. That was why I decided to blog. It's a way for me to document all my trials and mistrials. Point is: I don't believe in skincare miracles. SK-II has thousands of people vouching for how it had changed the texture of their skin. But other than taking a huge bite out of my pocket, it didn't do much for me until I accidentally introduced Astalift Jelly Aquarysta into the mix. The trio of SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion, Facial Treatment Essence, and Astalift proved quite expensive. After a while, I got bored of the products and the resulting effect on my skin wasn't great enough to keep me paying so much.

Anyway, I kept on using this combo of the Balm over the Treatment Water for another two weeks. During that time, I never woke up to an oily face again, only the odd slick-smoothness as if I'd peeled my skin the night before but didn't. In fact, my skin had became so smooth and slick, it stopped feeling like my face! Every morning, I felt like I was I washing someone else's face. Creepy, right? Yup, totally creepy.

So I tried the combo on my neck and decolletage, just for the hell of it. The skin on your face, neck, and decolletage are different, you know? Well guess what, the next morning I woke up to a slick-smooth neck and decolletage too! What what what?!? Okay, mind blown and no longer suspicious. I'm going to say it, folks: the combination of this Sake Balm and the Sake Treatment Water has changed the texture of my skin.

It kind of made sense once I looked at the ingredients: glycolic acid, an AHA, is the 2nd on the list for the balm and rice ferment filtrate (sake) is the 4th on the list for the treatment water. When used together they make a great exfoliant, at least for my skin. And this is just my skin, mind you, and I can't say if it'll work the same for yours. But do I recommend it? Hell yes! Try it. Try it now! If you decide to give it a go, I'd recommend using it at night and wear an SPF50+ during the day.

It's been two months since, and I haven't stopped using both products on my face, neck, and decolletage at night (with dabs of YuSkin A wherever needed). The initial repulsion to the slick-smoothness has now been replaced with addiction. Now now, I still have all my pores; they haven't gone anywhere (ha!). I still get a pimple every now and then, especially during that time of the month. Since moving home a month ago to a super dry climate, I still get flaky dry spots during the day because my current daytime routine of Caudalie Premier Cru Cream and Eye Cream just doesn't cut it. But the skin on my face, neck, and decolletage has become baby-like, slick and smooth. It feels so nice, and daytime moisturizer, sunscreen powders, and whatever else just glide on like a dream.

Will I be repurchasing? YASSS. I may still get bored of it after a while, but for now I'm hooked.

Boscia Sake Balm:
Water (Aqua), Glycolic Acid, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Dipropylene Glycol, Isododecane, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, PEG-240/HDI Copolymer Bis- Decyltetradeceth-20 Ether, Lactobacillus Ferment, Dimethicone, 1,2-Hexanediol, Adenosine, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Cellulose Gum, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, PEG-10 Dimethicone, PVA/MA Copolymer, Sake TRX Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Xanthan Gum.
***List of ingredients from Boscia.