What Exactly is SK-II Pitera Made From? Is It Real? And What Does It Do?
No, the brand didn’t make it up. Pitera is a real ingredient from rice
By Sarah Chen -
Grew up in the 1980s and 1990s? The Japanese skincare brand, SK-II’s Pitera Essence TV advertisements with fair skinned Asian celebrities chanting Mandarin slogans – “神奇水” (shen qi shui), or miracle water – probably haunted you throughout the decades.
And then SK-II and their advertisements went away, drowned by the influx of social media platforms and other more aggressive clean beauty, and celebrity-owned beauty brands in the likes of Drunk Elephant, Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez, and Fenty Beauty.
Yet, growing up with SK-II meant the brand and its prestige, legend status stayed firmly embedded in our heads. Surely you have even heard of this one, “Girl, tell you ah, you better don’t buy SK-II. Once you start hor, your skin will become very good and then you can never downgrade to another brand anymore.”
Alas, the maroon-topped and frosted glass SK-II’s Pitera Essence bottle became a status symbol of middle to upper class households’ spending prowess and money. My atas HDB and condominium friends’ tai tai mothers would display rows of emptied SK-II Pitera Essence toner bottles in their bathrooms.
When asked, they’ll tell you they’ve been on SK-II’s magical Pitera Essence for the past 20 years, and their skin “can only accept SK-II”. Other brands will induce wrinkles and breakouts. So, no choice… have to use SK-II only. Ultimate Asian mothers’ beauty humble brag.
After years of lying in the background of the beauty industry, SK-II has decided its time to introduce its revered Pitera Essence to the younger and newer generation of skincare users.
On the July 13, 2022, SK-II threw a huge online worldwide SK-II World Pitera Day event that saw the brand reintroduce their magical Pitera ingredient alongside four of their latest brand ambassadors, and the SK-II Late Night Portraits 2022 campaign (find it on social media with the hashtag #SKIILateNightPortraits).
Ready to find out what SK-II’s Pitera is made from, and what Pitera does – and if it actually works on wrinkles? Find out more below:
SK-II’s signature Pitera Facial Treatment Essence was first introduced in the year 1980. It was also the Japanese skincare brand’s first-ever product. The key ingredient, named Pitera, was made from rice, and was discovered way earlier in the 1970s by SK-II’s scientists who visited the Japanese sake breweries.
The scientists realised that the elderly sake brewers had immaculate skin on their hands, owing to the concoction of rice fermentation which was highly nutritious. This concoction is what we know as Pitera today.
Is Pitera from rice? Yes, Pitera is made from rice fermentation for sake. To be more specific, Pitera is made of “50 micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals, organic acids, and amino acids”, states the SK-II website. Since it’s fermented, Pitera also contains a particular type of yeast that the SK-II scientists settled on after studying over 350 types of yeast.
So… does the Pitera essence actually work? SK-II’s Pitera Essence’s real benefit and function is to improve the skin’s “natural surface rejuvenation process”. Skin’s natural rejuvenation process? Basically, in layman terms, it refers to the regeneration of your skin’s cells.
A healthy skin (remember, skin is an organ) should regenerate its set of skin cells every month, say 27 days. Too early, you get red and patchy sensitive skin. Too slow, you get dull and congested skin.
Ingredients like the Pitera help your skin to regenerate on schedule – especially if your skin is exposed to environmental stressors such as stress from work, don’t get to eat well, and live and sleep in dry, air conditioned rooms etc.
You’ll find that a lot of premium Japanese skincare brands shell out good money on research and development in this skin rejuvenation process, namely Decorte, Albion, and SK-II. Of course, these products are genuinely top notch and reportedly give some of the best skincare results.
We heard that Pitera is good for wrinkles – is that true? Well, remember that Pitera discovery story where SK-II’s scientists found that the elderly sake brewers had soft, supple, and young skin on their hands? Yes, Pitera is known to be beneficial for wrinkles.
Why?
Wrinkles come about as a result of sun exposure (wear SPF), ageing process and slower skin regeneration, and depleting moisture in the skin layers.
The presence of ingredients that promote healthy skin regeneration, and water-attracting ingredients (humectants) and water in Pitera help with alleviating wrinkles. Naturally, that makes SK-II Pitera good for mature skin.
If you’re new to the SK-II brand and are thinking of dipping your toes into this prestige Japanese skincare brand, take cues from the SK-II World Pitera Day which took place on the July 13, 2022.
On this day, the brand threw spotlight on the entry-level SK-II Pitera Power Kit ($125 on Sephora) which consists of a 20g Facial Treatment Cleanser, 75ml small Facial Treatment Essence, and 15g SkinPower Airy Milky Lotion (in order of use) which should last you for four months.