Bifida Ferment Lysate: ingredient spotlight and my wishlist for next year, with short reviews of products I've tried

Continuing December theme, it's time to tally up what new stuff I've tried and what worked and what did not work at all. Today I'd like to talk about Bifidobacterium-based skincare products, or products that contain considerable amount of Bifida ferment lysate; I've been using some bifida-based skincare before, but this year I started using it consistently and I'm seeing rather good results. As usual, I purchased all the products myself, and all opinions are my own; YMMV, I only speak from my personal experience. I'm going to briefly review the ingredient itself, glance over the skincare products that I've tried already, and share my wish list for the next year and the reasoning behind it. Hope it'll be helpful to someone!

Bifidobacterium longum. Credit: 2011 Hiroshi Ohno (here)

First of all, please don't expect to have the effects of putting live probiotics on your face though - we'll be talking about lysate, which is not a living bacteria, so your current skin microbiome (nice review of it here) will not be affected directly. Bifida ferment lysate (BFL) is a product obtained by the fermentation of Bifida, but the living bacteria were destroyed in preparation; as usual, the exact chemical composition of it will depend of what species were used on what culture and at what temperature. If you took microbiology in college, you might remember that Bifidobacterium has an unique pathway of carbohydrates fermentation, which means that bifida ferment lysate will chemically differ from other bacteria's lysate products. There is not much research on bifida ferment lysate in skincare, but here is an interesting read on effects of BFL on sensitive skin (keep in mind that the research team seems to be affiliated with L'Oreal; Lancome belongs to L'Oreal, and Lancome Genifique is one of most famous bifida-based products out there); there is another article in Journal of Applied Microbiology that I personally find more informative, but they discuss BFL rather briefly among other fermented products, and mostly as a food supplement.

The whole idea of using fermentation process in skincare has been discussed over and over again, and the opinions differ - what works for some people does not seem to do much for others. If you'd like to check out what professional bloggers are saying, the Klog (theklog) did a nice Q&A with R&D (research and development department; people who actually formulate the products) of Outin Futures, one of Korean companies. R&D Director, G. Choo explained to the Klog that "it’s a huge deal when ingredients are fermented because they are put under a condition where light is virtually non-existent. They are also placed under a very particular temperature of 30-70 degrees Celsius, with a humidity of 70-80%. It’s a very delicate balance determining how long these ingredients should be in this state because continued fermentation can actually cause the decomposition of ingredients. “Fermentation naturally produces amino acids, vitamins, and various antioxidants, which are great for the skin,” says Choo. “The process of fermentation results in a smaller molecular structure, which makes it easier to absorb into the skin.” If you pull up a random review of Su:m 37 or Sulwhasoo products, chances are the benefits of fermented skincare will be discussed at length, so I don't see any need to elaborate on that. I'm not even sure if many people read "the science part" of a skincare products' review; personally I'm enjoying them, but I'm not going to impose on you :)

Let's talk about Bifida-based products I've tried already.

I can't say I'm an expert on bifida-based skincare products, but I've tried a few of them over the years and in most cases they worked for me. I've been using them sporadically over the years, but last 7-8 months I've been using a couple of bifida-based essences on regular basis twice a day at the beginning of my am and pm routines, right after a galactomyces-based product and before a toner. I'm using them all over my face and neck area, including eye area, and I'm quite sure they calm down my skin when I have a flare-up, and help me to fight redness and PIH; I am going to continue using some kind of bifida-based product in my routine next year as well. Those are the products with the highest concentrations on Bifida ferment lysate that I've tried so far, in random order: 

Philosophy Time in a bottle (cosdna) - I tried it a few years ago and I liked it; it has Bifida ferment lysate in top 5 ingredients, but unfortunately it also has some preservatives, fragrance, PEGs and alcohol. As far as I remember it did not break me out, but I did not get any great results from it either, so I never repurchased it.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (cosdna) I had a horrible cystic acne breakout after trying it out. In hindsight I should've expected that my skin will react this way, since Advanced Night Repair was full of questionable ingredients that listed as acne triggers and irritants on cosdna (check out ingredients lists for 2009 and 2014 versions to see how Estee Lauder product changed over the years).

Graymelin Bifida 100% Fermentation Solution is my current favorite bifida-based product. It has watery texture, it absorbs in seconds and does not leave any sticky residue; it's perfect for layering and currently I've been using it am and pm after Galactomyces-based toner or first essence. I already repurchased it.

Missha Time Revolution Night Repair I tried the 1st generation of this product (Missha just released the 3rd generation in Feb 2017) and I liked it a lot. It was called Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule (Borabit Ampoule is the latest version) and it had slightly less extensive (but still very long) ingredients list compared to the 3rd generation ampoule (cosdna 1st generation). It worked very well for me, but it wasn't gluten-free (neither is the latest version). Unfortunately I did not notice wheat protein on ingredient list until a few weeks after I started using it, I would've avoided buying the ampoule if I'd notice it right away. I'm always worried about smothering skincare products that contain gluten in them over my lips when I'm asleep and then digesting them. I was extra careful and never applied it close to my lip area; it cleared up some PIH on my skin, and it calmed down and brightened my skin, so I did not want to stop using it, but I decided against repurchasing it.

Dr.Jart+ Ceramidin cream - there are many versions of it, I've tried this one. It has Bifida ferment lysate just outside of top 10 ingredients (cosdna). It worked well enough for me as winter time moisturizer; I moved on to some other creams for now, but I might come back to it at some point. I know it's Holy Grail product for some people; my skin wasn't transformed overnight back when I was using it, but it's a solid choice for cold and windy winter weather, like what we have in NY this week. I've nothing bad to say about it, and I had no adverse reactions to it. 

Swanicoco Refine Ferment Bifida 99% The 1st Essence is what I'm using right now, both am and pm. I decided to give it a try after reading a few positive reviews and I don't dislike it; I just don't think it outperforms Graymelin. They got similar texture, but Graymelin absorbs a bit faster, and it never leaves a sticky residue if I layer it on itself, while Swanicoco starts to get sticky after 2nd or 3rd layer. I'll finish the bottle, but I'm not going to repurchase.

Farmacy hydrating coconut gel mask - I've tried the Deep Moisture version with cucumbers (this one); I liked it; it has nice, clean ingredients (cosdna), but it wasn't the best hydrating sheet mask I've tried, and it definitely wasn't the cheapest.

TOSOWOONG Dr. Troubex Sparkling mask has Bifida ferment lysate in top 5 ingredients (cosdna). I liked it a lot, it was very moisturizing and soothing; it was definitely more affordable than Farmacy mask, and it performed just as well, perhaps even better. Sometimes it seems that TOSOWOONG is rather underrated as far as K-beauty indie brands go; I hardly ever see it mentioned on reddit/instagram and on blogs. They love adding honey to their products; I'm severely allergic to honey, and it kind of limits my choices, but I liked all TOSOWOONG products that I was able to try. I'm going to repurchase this mask.

Shopping list (ampules and essences)

This is my current shopping list (winter 2017) that I arranged in descending order from the highest concentration of Bifida Ferment Lysate to the lowest that I'm comfortable with. I don't think that I can possibly consider anything with less than 50% Bifida as my primary Bifida-based product.

Graymelin Bifida 100% Fermentation Solution comes in 50ml transparent glass dropper bottle, sells for about $16-$20; it has no preservatives, and only one ingredient (100% Bifida ferment lysate)

2Sol Bifida Power Ampoule comes in 50ml white plastic bottle, has only 1 ingredient (100% Bifida ferment lysate), and sells for around $12.

Elizavecca Milky Piggy Bifida 100% also comes in 50ml dropper bottle, sells for about $9-$12; it also has only one ingredient, Bifida ferment lysate.

Swanicoco Refine Ferment Bifida 99% The 1st Essence comes in 100 ml bottle and sells for $55-$60. Ingredients (cosdna): Bifida ferment lysate, butylene glycol, xanthan gum, allantoin

The Face Shop Bifida 97.5% All in One Treatment Ampoule comes in 50ml red glass dropper bottle, and it sells for around $25. It's labeled as 8-free (no paraben, denatured alcohol, artificial scent, artificial coloring, surfactant, benzophenone, talc and mineral oil) toner, essence and lotion in one product. Ingredients are (cosdna) Bifida ferment lysate, niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate, adenosine. The Face Shop has the whole product line that is bifida-based, with toner, emulsion and cream to complement the ampoule; I think there is a men's version of this line as well.

Elizavecca Milky Piggy Bifida 97% (same size and packaging, same price as Bifida 100%; official website here) (cosdna) Ingredients: Bifida ferment filtrate, niacinamide, adenosine, allantoin, propylen glycol, carbomer, thrietanolamine, 1,2-Hexanediol, Aloe Barbadensis leaf extract, Glycin Soja (soybean) seed extract, milk protein extract, Prunus Amigdalus Dulcus (sweet almond) seed extract

Yuri Pibu Bifida Repair Ampoule comes in 50ml dark dropper bottle for about $30-$35; it has 96% of Bifida Fermen Lysate. Ingredient are (cosdna) Bifida ferment lysate, Lactobacillus Ferment Lysate, Angelica Archangelica Extract, Echinacea Purpurea Extract, rh-Oligopeptide-1, rh-Oligopeptide-2, rh-Polypeptide-1, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water, Adenosine, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract.

Sidmool Bifida 95 ampoule has only 3 ingredients, cosdna: Bifida ferment lysate (95%), Sodium Hyaluronate, 1,2-Hexanediol, comes in 33ml size (smalles one of all ampoules), and sells for around $20. Considering that there is no preservatives in the formulation, small size might be a good thing about this ampoule, you'll most probably finish it before it expires.

Sidmool Saccaro Ferment First Ampoule comes in 100ml dark dropper bottle (twice the size of Bifida 95 ampoule), sells for around $20, so it's actually cheaper than Bifida 95 if you adjust for the size. Ingredients (cosdna): Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate, Bifida Ferment Lysate, Polyglutamic Acid, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract. Unfortunately, Sidmool did not specify the exact persentage of Bifida ferment lysate in this product.

Bonajour Bifida Galacto Power Ampoule comes in 30ml dark glass dropper bottle and sells for around $35. It contains 50% of Bifida ferment lysate and 50% Galactomyces.

2Sol Springtime Light Ampoule comes in 50ml plastic bottle and sells for about $15. It has 3 ingredients (cosdna), galactomyces, bifida, and lactobacillus, but it's not clear what is the exact percentage of Bifida Ferment Lysate in this product.

The Face Shop Bifida Total Care toner is another product from Bifida line that I'm very interested in. It has fairly clean list of ingredients (cosdna), even though it's not obvious what's the exact percentage of BBL, BBL being 6th on the list. 

Shopping list: multi-function bifida-based products:

There are several K-beauty products that are being routinely mentioned as dupes for Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (cosdna); personally I'm not a fan of it (see above), even though it's routinely referred to as the most famous bifida-based skincare product in Sephora. I would not call either of the K-beauty products that I have on my list a "dupe" for Advanced Night Repair; one might argue they all were inspired by it, but their formulations are quite different, with extra active ingredients being added and questionable ingredients being omitted. As a matter of fact, some of those products are closer to Lancome Advanced Genifique (cosdna). Genifique is also bifida-based, but unlike Advanced Night Repair, it has vit.C (in ascorbyl glucoside form) among active ingredients. Genifique Sensitive Dual Concentrate (official website here) has ferulic acid, madecassoside, papain and Lactobacillus ferment along with Bifida ferment lysate (cosdna); which kind of makes it even closer to K-beauty products than Advanced Night Repair. Unfortunately, Genifique Sensitive is not gluten-free; it has hydrolyzed wheat protein, so I'm not going to try it.

Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Borabit Ampoule is the 3rd generation of this product (Missha released its latest reformulated version in Feb 2017). It comes in 50ml glass dropper bottle and sells for around $25. It has a fairly long ingredients list (cosdna), but it's main active ingredient is still Byfida Ferment Lysate, so techically it counts as Bifida-based ampoule. It's worth noting that it has 2 different forms of vit.C - ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate and sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP), along with niacinamide and retinol; that's an awful lot of actives for such conservatively priced product. Please note that it's not gluten-free.

I underlined all fermented extracts in the list of Borabit Ampoule ingredients; there are so many of them: water, bifida ferment lysate, glycereth-26, juniperus chinensis xylem extract, sorbus commixta extract, Bis-PEG-18 methyl ether dimethyl silane, butylene glycol, niacinamide, glycerin, betaine, grifolia frondosa (maitake) ophioglossum vulgatum extract ferment filtrate, leuconostoc ferment filtrate, lactobacillus/rice ferment filtrate, lactococcus ferment lysate, yeast ferment extract, lactobacillus/soybean ferment extract, saccharomyces/viscum album (mistletoe) ferment extract, lactobacillus ferment, pseudoaltermonas ferment extract, saccharomyces ferment filtrate, hydrolyzed rice extract, portulaca oleracea extract, sea water, chamomilla recutita (matricaria)flower extract, sodium hyaluronate, echium plantagineum seed oil, cardiospermum halicacabum flower/leaf/vine extract, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil unsaponifiables, tocopheryl acetate, ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate,  manikara multinervis leaf extract, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed extract, cassia alata leaf extract, laminaria digitata extract, pogostemon cablin oil, tripeptide-1, tripeptide-10 citruline, hydrolyzed wheat protein, hydrolyzed soy protein, alpha-glucan oligosaccharide, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, beta-sitosterol, panthenol, cholesterol, glyceryl linolenate, glyceryl linoleate, ubiquinone, macadamia ternifolia seed oil, retinol (o.ooo4%), cucumis melo (melon) fruit extract, biotin, brassica campestris (rapeseed) sterol, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, amaranthus caudatus seed extract, acetyl hexapeptide-8, copper tripeptide-1,adenosine, ethyl hexanediol, cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, PEG-11 methyl ether dimethicone, PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, PPG-26-buteth-26, polysorbate 20, carbomer, glyceryl caprylate, triethanolamine, glyceryl polyacrylate, dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, acacia arabica stem bark extract, xanthan gum, carthamus tinctorius (safflower) oleosomes, octyldodecanol, cyclomethicone, dipropylene glycol, hydrogenated lecithin, dextrin, lauryl methacrylate/glycol dimethacrylate crosspolymer, dimethiconol, lecithin, propylene glycol, glyceryl arachidonate, ceteth-24, choleth-24, hydroxypropyltrimonium maltodextrin crosspolymer, cetyl phosphate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, PEG-5 rapeseed oil sterol, ceteth-3, ceteth-5, silica, disodium EDTA, phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate.

Manyo Factory Bifidolacto Complex comes in 50ml dark glass dropper bottle and sells for around $35. It was renamed and repackaged recently (it used to be sold as Bifida Complex in square bottle, the new bottle is round), so you might want to make sure you're purchasing a fresh bottle (here's the link to the official website); it has no preservatives, so the fresher, the better. Ingredients had not been changed (cosdna): Bifida Ferment Lysate, Lactobacillus/Pumpkin Fruit Ferment Filtrate, Niacinamide, Butylene Glycol, Copper Tripeptide-1, Aureobasidium Pullulans Ferment, Panax Ginseng Callus Culture Extract, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Glycerin, Physalis Alkekengi Fruit Extract, Caffeine, Hydrolyzed Algin, Red Ginseng Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Adenosine, Methyl Gluceth-20, Epigallocatechin Gallate.

Neogen Real Ferment Micro Essence comes in 150ml/5oz glass bottle, and sells for $38 on SokoGlam. SokoGlam says that "A deeply hydrating and brightening essence that contains more than 93% naturally fermented ingredients, including bifida ferment lysate and 28% saccharomyces ferment filtrate, to deliver instant moisture and skin-plumping benefits. This fragrance-free fermented treatment is also formulated with 17% birch juice to add hydration, and 9% rice extracts to illuminate skin from within (here). It's not stated anywhere what the exact percentage of Bifida ferment lysate is in this product. Ingredients (cosdna) Bifida Ferment Lysate, Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Betula Alba Juice, Rice Ferment Filtrate (Sake), Aspergillus Ferment, Glycerin, Dipropylene Glycol, Methyl Gluceth-20, Water, etaine, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract Ethylhexylglycerin, Trehalose, Lactobacillus, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Cator Oil, Caprylyl Glyool, Trideceth-10, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Tromethamine, 1,2-Hexanediol, Tropolone, Allantoin, Butylene Glycol, Coptis Japonica Extract, Arginine, Hydroxypropyl, Methylcellulose, Hydrogenated Leoithin, Caloium, Carbonate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Adenosine, Niacinamide, Dextrin, Glycine, Serine, Glutamic Acid, Aspartic Acid, Leucine, Alanine, Lysine, Tyrosine, Phenylalanine, Proline, Threonine, Valine, Isoleucine, Phenoxyethanol, Histidine, Methionine, Cysteine

So what products are the most likely to make it to my shopping card?  

Elizavecca Milky Piggy Bifida 100% is on its way to me already, and I'm quite sure I'll end up trying at least a couple of The Face Shop Bifida products, most probably the ampoule and either toner or emulsion. The Face Shop belongs to LG Household & Health (here), along with Su:m37, one of my favorite K-beauty brands, and The History of Whoo, that I've been trying a lot this year with great results; if they are sourcing their fermented ingredients from the same factories, there is a good chance my skin will like The Face Shop products as well.

Yuri Pibu Bifida Repair and Manyo Factory Bifidolacto Complex are definitely going to end up in my shopping card sooner or later. I never tried anything from Yuri Pibu, but I swatched some  of their products in Soko Glam pop-up store in Manhattan; I remember liking them better than many other indie brands that Soko Glam had in stock, so I think I might give their ampoule a try. Bifidolacto complex is currently ranked #1 on Hwahae, which is a Korean version of Makeup Alley, according to reddit. I've had uneven experience with Manyo Factory (check out my post here), but I think I should try a few of their products before dismissing the brand completely - I might just end up liking them, right?

I'm going to try at least one of Sidmool products as well; I really like the brand, I had great experience with all products I've tried so far, and I want to try more.

I'll keep you updated...