Our Story
We didn't set out to launch a brand.
We set out to find one formula worth making.
essence exists because of a single ingredient most people have never heard of — and because we refused to release anything until we'd built the most complete version of it we could.
Where it started
One ingredient changed everything we thought we knew
For years, anti-aging skincare has repeated the same promises. Richer creams. Higher prices. Longer routines. And most of it never reaches the layer where skin actually repairs itself — it sits on the surface and ends up on your pillowcase.
Then we came across PDRN, an ingredient Korean dermatology has been refining for decades. Not a trend. Not a marketing story. A purified molecule, used in clinical settings long before it ever reached a bottle.
We spent the following months doing one thing: building the most complete PDRN serum we possibly could, and refusing to release anything less.
Built on science
What PDRN actually is — and why it's so rare
PDRN stands for polydeoxyribonucleotide: short, standardised fragments of DNA, purified from salmon. And here is the part that surprises almost everyone who hears it for the first time.
98%
of salmon DNA is structurally compatible with human DNA — which is why your skin recognises these nucleotides instead of treating them as foreign.
Purified, not extracted
The DNA goes through high-temperature purification that strips away proteins and peptides, leaving only clean, standardised nucleotide fragments.
Delivered, not layered
Because it's a lightweight serum rather than a cream, the molecules reach the skin instead of resting on top of it.
Used, not wasted
Nucleotides are the raw material skin needs to renew itself — material it produces less and less of with age.
This is also why PDRN is difficult to formulate well. It demands purity, stability and a delivery system light enough to carry it. Most brands skip it entirely. We built our entire formula around it.
The formula
Everything a routine does — concentrated into one bottle
We had one rule while formulating: if an ingredient didn't earn its place, it didn't go in. What came out is unusually dense — the kind of active list you normally find spread across three or four separate products.
Triple PDRN Complex
Three salmon-derived sources — Sodium DNA, Milt Extract and Salmon Egg Extract — rather than the single source most formulas settle for.
Five Signal Peptides
Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Tripeptide-1, Tetrapeptide-7, Copper Tripeptide-1 and Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, working on firmness and expression lines.
Adenosine
The anti-wrinkle active officially recognised by Korea's MFDS as a functional cosmetic ingredient — a regulatory standard few Western formulas meet.
Dual Collagen & Hyaluronic Acid
Hydrolyzed Collagen, Atelocollagen and Sodium Hyaluronate layered for hydration that holds through the day.
One serum. Anti-aging, firmness, glow, tone and hydration. That's why most of our customers stop buying a separate serum, eye cream and night cream within their first bottle.
Formulated in Korea
Made where this science was pioneered
We could have formulated anywhere. We chose Korea because that's where PDRN skincare was developed, refined and held to a regulatory standard the rest of the world is still catching up to.
Our serum is formulated and manufactured in Korea, then clinically and dermatologist tested before a single bottle ships. Every batch is verified. Nothing goes out that we wouldn't put on our own skin.
No alcohol. No synthetic colours. No unnecessary fillers. Just the actives, in a base built to carry them.
Our philosophy
Aging is natural. How your skin ages isn't fixed.
We're not interested in selling the idea that you should look twenty again. We're interested in the quiet, real version of this: walking past a mirror without bracing. Leaving the house without foundation because you don't feel you need it. Recognising the face looking back at you.
That doesn't come from chasing trends or stacking ten products. It comes from consistency, quality, and a formula that actually reaches your skin. Ten seconds, morning and night. That's the whole ask.
"We'd rather let the science talk than shout about miracles. One serum, built properly, used daily — that's the entire idea behind essence."
The essence team
Our promise
What you get when you choose essence
A formula built around PDRN, not sprinkled with it
Formulated in Korea, clinically tested
Gentle enough for reactive, sensitive skin
60 days to change your mind, no questions asked
One bottle. Ten seconds. Thirty days.
Over 2,000,000 bottles sold, and the formula hasn't changed once — because it didn't need to.
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