2019 Newly Reformulated: Missha Borabit Becomes Probio Ampoule

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

I've written about Missha Borabit Long Name Ampoule before - I first received it to try for free from 08Liter and it immediately became an HG product for me. Over the last two years I've bought at least four bottles of the stuff, I've tried to look for alternatives but they just didn't stack up. When I saw that Missha had released a new version of this ampoule now called Probio, I was eager to start it after finishing yet another bottle of Borabit.

What's changed? Right off the bat, Missha notes that bifida lysate has increased from 5% to 50+%. Water used to be the top ingredient in this product. Some ingredients have bowed out (retinol, Chinese juniper extract, GHK-Cu, wild carrot extract, blueberry extract, rice ferment extracts) while others have made an appearance (seaweed extract, Ceramide NP, swiftlet nest extract, new lactobacillus ferment extracts).

I'm disappointed in the ingredient changes. The new additions don't appeal to me much, particularly the swiftlet nest extract. There is such a small amount that I'd consider it negligible, why add in an ingredient from a troubling industry for such little gain? Nice to gain ceramide, but not at the expense of retinol and GHK-Cu.

Color wise, they are similar in appearance. Still translucent tan. The addition of seaweed extract seems to have given Probio more of a gel feel, it's thickened somewhat.

The smell is different. The old Borabit had a whiff of something almost alcoholic, a smell I strongly associate with ferments. The new one is milder.

Borabit on the left, the new Probio on the right.

Borabit is thinner, but much more emollient. Slow to absorb, it sits more on the surface of the skin if you don't pair it with a galactomyces toner. Probio is thicker and less slick feeling, it sinks much quicker into the skin than the ol' Borabit.

Probio makes my face flush a tiny it. The first few times I thought I washed my faced a little too vigorously beforehand, but there can be no denying it now. A bloom of redness will spread all over immediately after I apply it. I also feel a slight stiff sensation all over my skin, not like how some skincare makes my face feel pleasantly alert and firm, more like when I that time I tried that soy sleeping pack, my skin felt numb and unresponsive.

A few days after I started using this, I woke up with more bumps on my face than I've ever seen in my twenties. There were easily two dozen little blips on the surface of my skin, if not more. My skin is generally pretty clear these days, save for the monthly chin cyst, so it's pretty evident when a new product is responsible for blemishes. Especially when there are this many and I just don't really try very many new skincare products these days.

Just my forehead. I think you can imagine how many total bumps there were on my face.

I also don't feel like Probio is as moisturizing and plumping as the older Borabit. What I loved about the earlier versions of this ampoule was how my pores and lines were greatly minimized because my skin would become so smooth and supple.

What it be dramatic to say I feel betrayed? It's appropriate given the timing; the Ides of March was last weekend. Et tu, Borabit? (Though technically all my skincare bottles didn't gather to collude and stab me, just this one, let's go with the spirit of the incident - how could you, Missha?) Instead of even nicer skin, I basically bought a bottle of acne. It's no good. Best Friend who also uses Borabit furthers this sentiment: "Throw the whole brand out."

In short, I'm sorely disappointed by the new Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Probio Ampoule. This is the fourth iteration already. Who keeps messing with a product that is perfectly fine as is? Cut it out. I think I'll go buy a few bottles of the Borabit while it's still available.

The new Probio is now trickling in from South Korea. Yesstyle has it for $38 at the moment.

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