What is Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence?

A lightweight, watery essence built around fermented ingredients, designed to hydrate the skin and help it look brighter and smoother.

Is Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence worth it?

Yes. All 5 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 92%.

What is Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence's Guru Score?

Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence holds a Guru Score of 92%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 5 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence: Guru Score 92%

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

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No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Yay

"I'm pretty picky about my toners, and this is one of a couple of toners I've ended up really loving and repurchased."

Top Pick: fermented skincare product

All 23 takes from No BS Beauty

No BS Beauty Award Show - 7th Annual Awards - Best In Skincare and Beauty

"The winner is the Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence. Not the toner, the essence. The essence is fragrance-free, the toner has essential oils. And I think this is a two-time, maybe even three-time award winner."

10 Years Worth of My Favorite Toners & Essences - These are What I Recommend for Each Skin Type

"It's a watery toner. [...] Super light watery texture. [...] No issues at all with that. I love it. Fourth or fifth bottle. That says a lot because so far I've repurchased everyone I've talked about, but some of these I haven't tried [...] enough, and a lot of the other ones I've tried, it's like, well, I use them once and I like it, but it wasn't like, oh, I need to repurchase it. But this was one I'm like, yes, I need to repurchase that."

Ulta 21 Days of Beauty Top Skincare Sale Picks & Recommendations 💸 March 2026

"The Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence. I love this stuff. This is probably my third empty bottle. I cannot wait to repurchase it at half off. It's normally 38 bucks on the sale. It's going to be 19 bucks. I'm very excited for this one."

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"Here's a nice toner that I really like, the Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence. I'd do a little pH test on that one here and this one I would say it's probably five exactly. So that is right where we want it."

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"Right when I'm done I'm going to use a toner, a nice anti-aging toner. This one is the Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence."

The Only Toners & Essences I've Repurchased - Fragrance Free & Affordable Favorites

"It's got saki ferment, which is great for anti-aging. It's got green tea, another great antioxidant. Aspergillus ferment, allantoin, and then it's got 15 plus amino acids. Amino acids are great for barrier repairing. They're great for dry and dehydrated skin. I love this stuff. The essence is a win-win."

Discover The Ultimate Fermented Toners & Essences For Glowing Skin! Fermented Favorites!

"In my opinion it's great for all skin types. It's got bifida ferment, which is that soothing and hydrating ferment, saccharomyces ferment, and then also rice ferment, so it's got three of the ones I love the most, [...] I listed five that I love and this one's got three out of five. [...] It also contains a whole list of amino acids, which are great for repairing as well. Love, love, love this stuff. I also love the serum version of this and I've repurchased that multiple times as well."

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"The essence version is great. This product's got a lot of goodies in it. It has no scent to it. It has 93% microbio ferment complex with peptides and all that good stuff in there. I've repurchased this multiple times."

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"The Neogen Real Ferment Micro Essence is really wonderful. It's full of amino acids, sake rice ferment, Bifida ferment, Saccharomyces ferment, allantoin, calcium carbonate, sodium hyaluronic acid, and adenosine. It's amazing. This is my repurchase of it, I think I've repurchased it three times now. Be cautious though, because they have a serum version of it which is wonderful, but the essence, I believe the mist version of it has fragrance in it."

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"This one's got Bifida ferment, saki ferment obviously we all know saki ferment from SK-II which is ridiculously expensive. The other nice thing in here we've got several amino acids, we've got green tea and adenosine, a cell communicating ingredient. So this stuff is wonderful. I've repurchased it multiple times and I'm never disappointed. The serum is also absolutely amazing, so if you haven't tried the serum version, this one it's also worth checking out in my humble opinion."

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"It's full of peptides and amino acids, it's really nice for your skin. This is probably my fourth or fifth bottle of it, and the fact that I repurchase this says a lot. Most skincare products I purchase once, I test them, I review them. If I like them I'll finish them, if I didn't like them I'll hand it down to somebody to finish. But for me to actually repurchase it multiple times says a lot because I've got so many other things to try, but I keep finding myself coming back to this one."

Anti-Aging Evening Skincare Routine - How to Fade Wrinkles & Boost Collagen Production in Skin

"I want to mention this because occasionally people get confused there are several products in this lineup. The essence is great, the serum is great, both those don't have a scent to them. However, if you get the toner or I believe there's also a Mist, those two have fragrance in it and the toner has peppermint oil in it. So sometimes people are confused when I talk about this product and mention that it has no scent and that's fragrance. Feel like no, it has peppermint oil in it."

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"Their Real Ferment line is wonderful. Their Real Ferment Micro Essence is great. The [...] essence [...] is great. Some of their products have fragrance in them. It's hit or miss, but the ones that don't have a scent to them are wonderful."

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"I also absolutely love the serum version of this. Neogen has done a great job. When I first got into beauty and skincare, Neogen was almost a no-go zone because almost everything they made was too scented for me to use, and now in the last couple of years they've made some really nice fragrance-free options and this is one of them. This essence is really nice. I mean it's got lots of ferment, bioferment complex, amino acids, things like that. It's wonderful."

I'm Back... Finally! Skincare Empties & What's Been Going On

"I love this stuff. I'm going to keep this bottle though because I think I should be able to get a little funnel and refill it for travel because this was the perfect travel size for me and I love this product and I have a big bottle of it."

Top Hydrating Essences - Essence to Add Moisture & Glow to Brighten Skin - Sensitive Skin Friendly

"They have a toner in this line, but you don't want that one. The toner has peppermint oil in it; the essence does not. It has no scent at all. In here you've got buffita ferment, saccharomyces ferment, sake ferment, green tea, and then a whole ton of amino acids. It's really nice for your skin, great for hydrating and great for barrier repairing. Lots of good ferments in here, which make it absolutely wonderful. It's also worth noting it's more of a serum than a true essence in terms of texture."

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"This is my second or third bottle of this. It's got some really nice ingredients in here: Bifida ferment, saccharomyces ferment, we've got green tea, and then to top it off we've got several amino acids. This product is really lovely. I really like it. You can just pat it on skin or you can apply with a cotton pad, either way it's very nice. And their serum of this is also just absolutely fabulous, another one I've repurchased multiple times."

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"I love the Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence. [...] The essence version is wonderful. [...] It's a little bit pricey as far as toners go but it's amazing, it's got really good ingredients in it. I'm definitely going to repurchase it. Just make sure you get the essence, not the toner version, the toner has peppermint oil in it, but the essence does not."

2023 NOBSBEAUTY Best in Beauty Awards Show 💚🎉🏆 Fifth Annual

"Neogen Real Ferment Micro Essence won favorite fermented skincare product. The reviewer notes the serum version is also wonderful."

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"I've repurchased this one. It's probably my fourth or fifth bottle I want to say. So I really do love it. [...] In here we've got the bifida ferment, we've got sake ferment, which are two great anti-aging ingredients and skin protecting ingredients. We have green tea extract. And then we also have several amino acids. This has no fragrance in it. However, if you pick up the Neogen Real Ferment Micro Toner, that has peppermint oil in it. So you want to get the essence, not the toner."

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"I love this stuff. I use it kind of like a toner and kind of like an essence depending on what my needs are. So if I feel like using it like a toner with a cotton pad, I will do that. If my skin feels dry and dehydrated, I will just pat it onto skin. Watery texture, absorbs quickly and sets to a natural finish. Feels plumping and seems to help with tone and texture as well. It also contains sake ferment, which we all know from the SK-II brand, which became very popular and very expensive."

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"Their real fermentation micro essence is wonderful, it's one of my two favorites from Neogen."

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"I'm pretty picky about my toners, and this is one of a couple of toners I've ended up really loving and repurchased."

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

✓Yay

"I get asked a lot what dupe is closest to SK-II. There's no perfect dupe, but I enjoyed the Real Ferment Micro Essence, I think it's a very well made essence, and that's my essence pick for this video. It's an absolutely gorgeous formula using bifida ferment lysate, one of my favorite ingredients, plus saccharomyces ferment, lactobacillus, and amino acids. [...] It's not SK-II, but it is a fermented essence and I did feel like it brightens."

Top Pick: essence

All 2 takes from AliceintheRabbitHole

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"The Neogen Real Ferment Micro Essence [...] is one of the best fermented essences I've ever tried. [...] I was seeking a dupe for SK-II and never quite found one, but out of the contenders this was my favorite in the affordable category. It uses a lot of different kinds of ferments, so you really have to know your skin, some people do great with ferments and some very much do not. [...] It's got a lot of amino acids in it and it's fragrance-free."

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Dr. Jenny Liu

324k subs

✓Yay

"The Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence is really nice because it's super light, watery, but really has wonderful ingredients that help to hydrate, balance, and also fermented ingredients that help to kind of improve texture and tone long term as well. [...] Some people call it like the dupe to SK-II, but essentially it's a fermented essence that's really nice."

All 2 takes from Dr. Jenny Liu

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"I really like this one because it's got wonderful ingredients and some people even call it like the more affordable alternative to the SK-II fermented essence. But what the name implies, it's got wonderful fermented ingredients and when you ferment ingredients you're getting the brightening benefits often and then the hydrating benefits and often the ingredients are much smaller so they absorb into your skin more readily providing those benefits that we just mentioned."

Hyram

4.33M subs

✓Yay

"Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence, I haven't used it in a while but that's a really great essence, especially if you're wanting to focus on prebiotic care for your skin, help strengthen the moisture barrier, get some hydration in. I am not a regular essence user but that's definitely an essence that I would use."

James Welsh

1.58M subs

✓Yay

"This absorbs so quickly into the skin. Your skin is bouncy, dewy, looks plump and feels plump as well. This is an essence I happily layer. I'll do a very small amount, then another one, and remember the seven skin method? This was my seven skin method essence. I would layer this up, and [...] especially with [...] drier skin, it just adds that hydration instantly back into your skin. You feel smoother, you feel brighter, you look smoother and brighter. And it still exists."