One Thing Skincare Extracts Review

Where I got it

ONE THING is a K-beauty brand that is currently quite popular in China, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and they are now also in New Zealand. The first time I heard about this brand was from a makeup artist in China and then I also saw this on a K-beauty IG store I follow – Jevy. These are sold separately and also as a set which is what I got. These are $22/24 separately but $85 as a set with free shipping.

I did a quick google search about this brand and unfortunately not much blog posts about this brand in English, but there are Korean and Chinese reviews. I had to Google Translate on their website for more information. They also do a lot of other products like fruit extracts, oils, herbal extracts, moisturisers, lip essences, etc. What I got here is probably their best sellers and most popular products from their range.

“ONE THING eliminates unnecessary costs and offers the only 100% ingredient needed for my skin. It is a 100% vegetable product using only EWG grade 1 raw materials, and does not use any chemical additives other than materials. ONE THING supports consumers’ right to know, and seeks to help consumers to make reasonable consumption.” – Google translated from onething.kr.

What I got

This set has 4 products – Centella Asiatica Extract, Artemisia Capillaris Extract, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, and 1% Oligo Hyaluronic Acid. From the website (onething.kr), there seems to be the first 3 products, but not the Hyaluronic Acid, instead it has the Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate. The bottles that I have are 150ml, but the ones on the website are 300ml. I am actually not too sure why they did not list all of their products on their website but I was able to find tonnes of other products online from this brand.

Their packaging is really cute and medicinal-like. The white card box these come in all look the same, except for the text at the back. They are all in clear plastic bottles with a minimalistic screw top and stickers front and back. They come sealed with a sticker over the lid as well as a foil sticker over the hole. The following information was taken from Jevy.co.nz.

Centella Asiatica Extract ($22 for 150ml). A pure extract of Centella Asiatica that helps sooth, repair and hydrate skin. Centella is an excellent antibaterial plant for wound healing, scars, and skin disease. Skin soothing & Regenerative effect: Inhibit inflammation, sooth & rejuvenate your skin. This product can be used on all skin types, and is effective for acne, damaged, and sensitive skin. Wound healing: Support faster wounds and scars healing. Skin elasticity enhancement: It helps collagen synthesis, improves skin elasticity, and promotes blood circulation to eliminate edema. Calm skin irritation: It’s anti-inflammatory benefit calms skin irritation & redness and also strengthen skin’s protective barrier.

Ingredients: Centella Asiatica Extract, Butylene Glycol, Water, 1,2-Hexanediol

Artemisia Capillaris Extract ($22 for 150ml). Pure 100% extract of Artemisia princeps (Mugwort) that helps sooth and balance skin with anti-inflammatory effects. Flushing improvement: Excellent effect on redness improvement. Skin cleansing: To discharge the toxins of the skin and assists skin imperfections such as blemishes and freckles. Skin tone improvement: It is rich in vitamins A, C, niacin and various minerals to enhance cellular function: protects skin cells from sun damage, an evens out skin tone. Strengthen skin’s protective barrier: Helps improve skin dryness and strengthen skin barrier, restoring the skin back to healthy condition. The anti-inflammatory ingredient also calms skin irritation & redness.

Ingredients: Artemisia Princeps Leaf Extract, Butylene Glycol, Water, 1,2-Hexanediol

Houttuynia Cordata Extract ($22 for 150ml). Houttuynia Cordata is a plant that is rich in quercitron, which is excellent for skin detoxification, and is rich in polyphenols, amino acids, and fatty acids. Skin detoxification effect: Removes toxins in blood vessels and has great effect on trouble-prone skin. Aging prevention: Rich in polyphenols, amino acids, and fatty acids, which are great for antioxidants, and are effective in preventing skin aging. Prevention of hair loss: Use as a scalp care mist! Rich in Houttuynia Cordata Extract, which is effective in preventing hair loss. Calm skin irritation: Its anti-inflammatory benefit calms skin irritation & redness and also strengthen skin’s protective barrier.

Ingredients: Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Propanediol, 1,2-Hexanediol

1% Oligo Hyaluronic Acid ($24 for 150ml). A 1% of low molecular weight sodium hyaluronic acid to replenish and lock in the moisture for long-lasting hydration. Target dry skin: Amazing moisturizing power, contains low molecular weight pure hyaluronic acid 1% to ensure penetration beneath the skin surface. Improve skin elasticity: Hyaluronic acid helps retain skin firmness, radiance, and elasticity while fighting free radicals that can cause wrinkles and signs of aging. Wrinkle improvement: Helps improve the look of fine lines and wrinkles while plumping your skin.

Ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid (1%), Butylene Glycol, 1-2 Hexanediol, Water

For more information on Butylene Glycol, check out this article by Michelle of Lab Muffin. Also check out Paula’s Choice for information on 1, 2-Hexanediol. Finally, Propanediol is similar to Propylene Glycol and also talked about by Michelle of Lab Muffin here. These are basically preservatives or solvents for enhancing the absorption of the product. These are all low-irritant ingredients and nothing to raise alarm bells on.

How I find it

Centella Asiatica Extract. CA has gained so much popularity in the Western world in skincare, but it has been used for many years Korea. It is know for soothing properties, it’s ability to repair and hydrate the skin. You may have also heard it’s other name as Tiger Grass. This extract smells slightly herbal and it is so soothing. You can use this as a toner with a cotton pad and just swipe, but I like to soak cotton pads with this extract and put it on my irritated areas and let that sit for about 5 minutes. It soothes any burning sensation and any stinging sensation immediately. I love using this every day in the morning when I use Tretinoin in the evening.

Artemisia Capillaris Extract. Also known as Artemisia princeps, or Mugwort (now that’s more familiar!) It’s another popular k-beauty ingredient that helps sooth and balance skin with anti-inflammatory effects. It is rich in vitamins A, C, niacinamide and various minerals. Personally, I am not very familiar with this ingredient, but I have seen it used in I’m From products – mask, cream, essence, sheet masks. I think this one and CA are really quite similar and you could actually go with either one of these. I would say the CA is more of a popular product because it is more studied or tested for it’s benefits and efficacy. The texture, colour and scent of this is also really similar to CA as well.

Houttuynia Cordata Extract. This is a new one for me, but in Chinese (魚腥草), it literally means fishy-smelling grass. I was expecting the worse when I tried it on my face, but surprisingly it smells fine. It definitely has that chinese herbal medicine smell, but it’s not strong. This is a plant that is rich in quercitron, which is excellent for skin detoxification, and is rich in polyphenols, amino acids, and fatty acids. This ingredient apparently have a long history of use in Chinese Medicine and commonly ingested. As a skincare product, this helps with anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial so this sounds great for inflammed skin like acne-prone or breakout-prone skin. I apply this product with a cotton round or a reuseable cotton round and just sweep it all over my face. It soothes my skin and lightly hydrates it.

1% Oligo Hyaluronic Acid. If you haven’t heard of HA, you must be living under a rock like my husband, or my sister that has no interest in skincare whatsoever. But what does the term Oligo means? That certainly doesn’t sound like much. Oligo means “too little” in Greek. It is 1% of low molecular weight HA to penetrate deeper into your skin. Basically, HA comes in different forms an sizes and it has a molecular weight of 4000 to 8,000,000 daltons. High molecular weight HA will sit on top of the skin because it cannot penetrate the skin – this doesn’t mean that it’s not hydrating the skin, it helps to draw moisture in from the atmosphere or from other skincare products you use on top. This weight holds the water to the surface of the skin and gives you that immediate, but short-lived hydrated feeling. Lower molecular weight HA can penetrate into the skin and hold moisture where it needs to plump up the skin from the inside. Therefore it is ideal to have different molecular weight HA in a formulation to attract moisture and keep it in. This provides longer-lasting hydration and moisture and provides anti-aging benefits. However, most HA products out there does not disclose what weight their HA are and therefore we have no way to find out.

Sorry for the long explanation above, but it gives a bit of background to why this product would work amazingly to hydrate the skin with this low molecular weight HA. This would be absorbed into the skin and I would use another HA product to hydrate the upper layers of the skin and then seal it in with a moisturiser.

Overall

Sorry for this long post, but I needed to cover 4 products in one go. I tried all of these extracts for a good 4-6 weeks and I combined some of these within my skicnare routine. For example, I used CA as a spot treatment every second day, then I used the Houttuynia Cordata Extract on top for anti-inflammatory benefits. Then I also used the HA for hydration. All of these extracts are so water-light I have no problems with layering these products on a daily basis. My skin felt really hydrated and soothed everytime I use these products and in the long-run I can see my inflammed areas (chin and jaw) have calmed down significantly. I can feel the immediate soothing effects of the CA extract when I apply it over my cheeks when I’ve just used an AHA mask. My skin doesn’t feel stinging anymore or sensitive, but the redness does takes a little time to reduce. I usually don’t have sensitive issues, but when I do, it is mainly around my eye area and cheekbone area (flaking too). The CA helps a lot and after that, I use the Oligo HA to hydrate the skin.