Finding the best skin care products since 2014. Started with a focus on Korean skincare and grew from there. Skincare tips and beauty tips that work, maybe some hamster butts too
Have you ever accidentally bought the wrong product, but then the product came all the way from Korea and returning it would be way too much hassle so you tried it out anyway, and the product ended up taking you on a journey of discovery?
No? Really? Just me? (more…)
With a huge collection of sheet masks to use, some of them really delightfully obscure and amazing, it can be easy to forget about the less fancy varieties among them. I’ve still got quite a few masks left over from my first Innisfree mask haul that just haven’t been getting any of my attention lately. But I had some time today for an impromptu morning mask session, and the Innisfree It’s Real Squeeze Mask in Rose caught my eye.
Lots of brands have rose-themed sheet masks. The My Beauty Diary Bulgarian Rose sheet mask is a popular option, and I’ve heard good things about Innisfree’s rose offering, too.
Purpose: Innisfree’s It’s Real Squeeze Mask in Rose claims to smooth and brighten skin. It “makes the skin smooth and glow,” according to the back of the mask packet.
Do not use if: You are sensitive to alcohol, fragrance, botanical extracts, or anything else in the ingredients list.
When and how to use: After cleansing and toning (or after all your serum/ampoule steps, the way I like to do), take mask out of the packet, unfold, and smooth over face. Wear for 10-20 minutes as directed or longer, being careful to remove the mask before it dries out on your skin. Pat in remaining essence and finish with a moisturizing lotion or cream.
Ingredients list: Water, glycerin, butylene glycol, alcohol, betaine, citrus paradisi (grapefruit) fruit extract, rosa centifolia flower juice, xanthan gum, PEG-60 hydrogenated castor oil, ethylhexylglycerin, sodium hyaluronate, citrus unshiu peel extact, orchid extract, camellia sinensis leaf extract, camellia japonica leaf extract, opuntia coccinellifera fruit extract, disodium EDTA, phenoxyethanol, fragrance
Notable ingredients: Lots and lots of botanical extracts here. Innisfree’s main distinction is the company’s focus on botanicals, especially those from South Korea’s Jeju Island. You’ll find the same cocktail of botanicals in the vast majority of Innisfree skincare products; that cocktail includes things like grapefruit extract, satsuma peel extract, and white and green tea leaf extracts as well. It’s an antioxidant-rich blend that theoretically elevates Innisfree sheet masks above the typical “water, glycerin, butylene glycol, bunch of fillers, a few humectants, star ingredient all the way at the end, fragrance” inexpensive sheet mask.
Here, the star ingredient is rose juice, and it’s near the top of the list. Along with the other botanicals in the Innisfree rose mask, the rose juice contributes brightening, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory powers to soften skin and restore radiance.
My CosDNA analysis of the Innisfree It’s Real Squeeze Mask in Rose came up nearly clean, with butylene glycol the sole ingredient singled out, getting a lowly 1 as a potential acne trigger. Butylene glycol is pretty much everywhere, so if you haven’t had an issue with it yet, I doubt you will with this mask. Do watch out for the alcohol and fragrance in this mask, however. I haven’t experienced any problems, but the more sensitive-skinned user should patch test a little of the essence in an inconspicuous place first.
Performance
It’s been way too long since I’ve used an Innisfree sheet mask, and now I feel guilty. My 45 minutes with this mask (laid over a My Beauty Diary Puffiness Intensive eye mask to help hide the evidence of a string of late nights and a stolen Skinfood undereye concealer) were incredibly relaxing and an amazing way to restart my day after an unexpected early morning crisis.
Despite a somewhat strong initial whiff of alcohol, which fades quickly, the mask essence here smells lovely. The rose scent is pretty and natural, in my opinion better by far than the fragrance in the My Beauty Diary Bulgarian Rose; it’s not strong at all, and it lingers, which in this case is a good thing. I laid back and breathed in the fragrance and could just feel my muscles loosening up and my mind clearing.
This mask isn’t just good for the mind, either. After I took it off, I was very happy with the hydration and the brightening effect. While nowhere near as dramatic as some other masks provide, the brightening is noticeable and gives a nice boost of radiance. Finally, the very light, watery, non-sticky essence pats in and absorbs quickly and thoroughly, leaving no sticky residue to interfere with moisturizer, sunscreen, or makeup, making this mask ideal for morning use or before big events. My lotion, Biore UV Rich Watery Essence sunscreen, and Hera UV Mist cushion makeup went on like a dream.
I go through phases. Sometimes I’m all about the simple sheet mask; sometimes I just have to have fancier hydrogels or ferment gels. Every phase I go through makes me temporarily forget the benefits of the mask type I’m forsaking. The Innisfree It’s Real Squeeze Mask in Rose reminded me, in the midst of a Hydrogel Masks with Lots of Cachet phase, that sometimes simple things can make for lovely experiences.
Rating: 4/5
Rating scale:
If you want to try this mask out for yourself, you’re in luck: these aren’t difficult masks to find, and they aren’t expensive, either. You can get the masks at the following recommended links:
What’s your favorite rose mask?
At long last, the day has come: Mr. Crazy Snail Lady has joined the Dark Side. I mean the Hydrated Side. The Balanced Side. The…the Bright Side? I don’t know, forget about it. I tried.
His experiment with the Innisfree Green Tea samples I started him on went so well that by the second night, he was asking me what else he could layer on and quite disappointed when I advised him against adding any more layers for the moment. It’s wise to go slowly when going from next to nothing to a full routine. But the Green Tea line has been working out well for him, so it’s time to move up to some full sizes.
He’ll also be getting the rest of my full-size Innisfree Green Tea Seed Serum. I’ve been using (and enjoying) the serum for over a month now, but though I love its light hydration and green tea antioxidants, I’m throwing in the towel and admitting that it’s just not quite moisturizing enough for my normal/aging skin in the dry Southern California air. If I added my Hada Labo back in, I’d feel too sticky, but I do need a slightly more nourishing serum than the Green Tea. Mr. Crazy Snail Lady is a few years younger than I am, with combo/oily skin, so it works out much better for him. I am moving on to the Innisfree Canola Honey Serum. Because, of course, one has to take advantage of Innisfreeworld‘s new member shipping discount.
And while we’re on the subject of hauls, today the mail carrier also brought me a pretty incredible care package from US-based Kbeauty shop Peach and Lily! I won’t go into too much detail about all the things I gasped over when I opened the box (gotta save some of that for the reviews), but take a look at this.
I’ve already washed my face, because there’s no way I’m not going to try out the Hera cushion right this instant. Coming up soon: Lots more reviews, some first looks at recent arrivals, and updates to Mr. Crazy Snail Lady’s journey down the rabbit hole! What exciting things have you hauled recently?
Note from Auntie Snail: I wouldn’t know anywhere near as much as I do about Asian skincare if not for the amazing community over at Reddit’s /r/AsianBeauty. Today, one of those amazing community members, /u/GiveMeABreak25, gives us the scoop on the new My Beauty Diary masks she’s uncovered for 2015!
It all started off as an innocent search for a sheet mask on a slow day at the office.
Since discovering Asian skin care products, I have found my biggest love to be sheet masks. I don’t know where they have been all my life, but now that I have found them, I will never let them go!
Customization is by far one of the greatest aspects of an Asian skin care routine. I typically have a dry, sensitive and…maturing skin type. I rarely have a breakout anymore. However, with the weather changing where I live, sometimes the heat, humidity and extra sweat can contribute to small blemishes for me.
So I knew I needed to stock up on sheet masks in general (Gasp! I am falling to a record low of 30 or so!) but first, I needed my trusty My Beauty Diary Apple Polyphenol Mask for the times when I feel a break out coming on. I logged onto Amazon and began my search. I noticed the box I chose said “New Edition,” which is not unusual for Asian skin care products. Unlike Western brands, Asian companies tend to reformulate or at least repackage their items yearly. Additionally, they manufacture different products for different markets. The boxes that go to US suppliers vary from those destined for other countries.
So off to Google I went to find out if this was a reformulation or just a repackaging. After all, it works so well for me, maybe I should find out what the new edition meant.
Cut to hours and days later and many, many open tabs. I had fallen this time, fallen so hard! I even thought, in all seriousness, “Maybe it’s time to learn another language.” What school had failed to inspire me in, skin care had me contemplating.
Google translate becomes a really handy tool when you only speak/read English. The ability to translate a page is a godsend. Suddenly I am watching videos I don’t understand, reaching for some kind of context and trying to interpret images. What I found stirred me so much, I had to call on the crazy snail lady to share my excitement–I know she too loves some My Beauty Diary masks!
MY BEAUTY DIARY HAS UPGRADED THEIR SHEET MASKS TO HYDROGELS, GUYS!!!
But before I came to that conclusion, I thought they were keeping the sheet masks and adding hydrogels. Who could blame me? One of the promo pages showed side-by-side “twins,” one wearing a sheet mask, one wearing a hydrogel. Plus, when you have translations to sort through like these, who can really be sure???
My Beauty Diary Found upgrade my beautiful natural key piece super facelift listed I felt people in Taiwan for the first time the beta test mask race with old twins dressing will know plus actual smoke mask every day. Pulls out 30,000 yuan Beautiful funds began to experiment
I still was not convinced that I understood what I was reading. After all, maybe the images of water droplets meant they added extra essence (which would be ridiculous, they are already dripping as is!). So, back to more translating.
Pole wire bare skin hydrogel membrane using Tencel fabric to create the ultimate squirt interleaved layer of ultra-thin water-bearing permeable and efficient structure of the essence, so that the skin effectively absorb the essence of the mask, carefully lift the skin moisturizing Hydra touch, not adding chemical adhesives and natural decomposition in the environment, eliminating the burden of skin-friendly sense of the Earth’s ecology
The ultimate squirt! Interleaved layer! Oh yes, MBD has hydrogels!!
This is such great news, as they are the leaders in sheet masks for me and for many others. They are generally inexpensive, usually low on fragrance, and pretty widely available. But I recently have learned to really like hydrogels as well, so this just combines two great things I love!
I went on a hunt for a buyer because I have not gotten comfortable with any buying services yet, found someone I hope I can trust, and placed a very small order of the Black Pearl variety. I would not recommend this for most people. Stick to a buying service and let crazy people like myself throw their cash at an unknown person in the cyber universe. Better yet, perhaps wait for them to be sold by the company you most trust.
Sadly, it appears some of the standard My Beauty Diary masks, like Royal Jelly and Sake Yeast, did not make the cut. Here’s hoping that changes.
I will be sure to report back to Auntie Snail when I receive my order, presumably with improved and bouncy skin!
~/u/GiveMeABreak25 is not yet a blogger. The sheet mask superhero calls herself “just a regular middle aged mom who works too much and loves to research things most would consider trivial.”
Don’t worry, Hada Labo fans. I didn’t suddenly discover something bad about the famous and bestselling hydrating toner.
The thing is, I just keep discovering other products that, for my purposes, are better.
Here’s why a toner like Hada Labo Super Gokujyun Hyaluronic Acid Lotion can be so useful:
Anti-aging isn’t just about preventing wrinkles. It’s also about mitigating the loss of volume in your skin (yes, I, too, have seen the Juvederm commercials). Volume–that plumpness and firmness that differentiates youthful skin from aging skin–decreases with age (and UV exposure) as collagen breaks down, the natural hyaluronic acid content of skin decreases, and skin begins to lose its ability to effectively hold moisture.
A hyaluronic acid product like the Hada Labo lotion helps minimize the appearance of volume loss by infusing skin with an extra shot of hydration and humectants for a temporary plumping effect. That’s why I used Hada Labo lotion diligently for a long time.
The thing is, the farther down the rabbit hole I fell, the more I discovered other products–serums and ampoules, primarily–that were capable of providing an equivalent amount of plumping hydration, while also adding other key ingredients that my Hada Labo lotion does not. The products in my current routine that do this are:
Taking a look at the rest of my lineup, I realized that my essence, serum, and ampoule had rendered my Hada Labo lotion redundant. It was an extra step in my routine without any compelling actives–I wouldn’t call it a waste of time, but it was a waste of mine.
Yes, Hada Labo does make a couple of lines of products with other actives in them, such as their brightening line with vitamin C and arbutin and their anti-aging line with collagen and a retinoid, but I’ve looked into those, and I still don’t find them as compelling as the products I’m using.
That’s why what’s left of my current bottle of Hada Labo lotion has been removed from my basket and placed in the medicine cabinet. I’ll still draw on it when the weather is just so arid that every drop of hydration matters, and I sometimes put it on my lips before primer or lip balm, but I no longer consider it an everyday must.
How do you keep your skin plump? Do you use Hada Labo lotion?
Note from your Auntie Snail: Glow Recipe provided the product I review in this post. I review it as honestly as I review products I purchased myself. I do not have an affiliate account with Glow Recipe and will not earn any revenue from sales of this mask. You can read my sponsorship policy here.
Two of my favorite perks of being a beauty blogger are the interesting things I get to try and the interesting people I get to meet. These two perks converged when Christine Chang, cofounder and co-CEO of Glow Recipe, reached out to me late last month to introduce herself and offer me a bottle of Lee Ji Ham Vita Propolis Ampoule for review. I took her up on the offer (LJH review to come after my 4-week ampoule testing period is up) and ended up on the phone with her for a quick intro to Glow Recipe. The day after we spoke, my package arrived with two bonus Whamisa hydrogel masks snuggled in next to my LJH ampoule!
Though very new to the K-beauty webshop scene–Glow Recipe launched just last November–the site’s profile has already risen to recognizable status among AB bloggers. In my opinion, its mission and curation standards are interesting enough to merit an interview. Ready to learn a little more about Glow Recipe and the Whamisa Organic Flowers & Aloe Vera Fermented Hydrogel mask?
If you compare Glow Recipe to the other well-known US-based K-beauty sites, you may notice something a little bit different. Glow Recipe doesn’t carry the kinds of Korean skin care brands that US audiences are starting to recognize (often more for cutesy packaging or gimmick ingredients than for real skin benefits). Nor does Glow Recipe offer a large selection. At present, the site’s offerings are limited to just a few brands: Caolion, Dr. Oracle, Goodal, Isoi, LJH, Shara Shara, The Lotus, and Whamisa.
Glow Recipe’s narrow selection is by design. Both Chang and her fellow co-founder and co-CEO, Sarah Lee, bring a decade of experience at L’Oreal in South Korea to their ingredients-focused perspective on K-beauty.
Chang: “Our goal for skincare has not been ‘curiosities.’ We felt a lot of the products [being popularized Stateside] were too trendy, and US customers were buying it once, but were they really buying it again?”
In contrast, Glow Recipe takes a serious approach to skin, with a rigorous curation process and strict standards.
Chang: “Our curation process starts with ingredients. We want to minimize certain ingredients that we prefer not to have in our products, like parabens, synthetic dyes, fragrances, things like that. We know that brands can formulate without them and create beautiful products without them. Not that everything on the site is 100% ‘natural’–greenwashing is rampant and we do not want to do that. But we curate based on ingredients.
“We have a multiethnic panel of people, 15 right now. We refresh it every quarter. They blind test each sample for a minimum of two weeks, up to three. We’re making sure it works on all skin types, because certain ethnicities are a little more oily or a little more dry, and we want to make sure it’s right for US customers. If anyone breaks out or has a problem, we don’t curate the product.”
That strict curation process reduces the legwork that a serious, ingredients-aware skincare consumer would normally have to do before making a choice. Glow Recipe does the work of plowing through the vast universe of currently trending Korean skincare products, weeding out everything except a very small but highly vetted collection of products.
In my opinion, Glow Recipe’s approach helps visitors to the site see the potential long-term value of Korean skincare products, rather than allowing consumers to view K-beauty as just a fad. The Glow Recipe website provides clear, detailed information on each product.
Chang: “US women tend to be practical in their approach to skincare, whereas Korean women have a huge rush to buy it, [following] trends, not testing. They’re okay to experiment and be adventurous, and that is what fuels the industry today. The US market is more practical, a little more cautious. That’s why we had trial kits on our site for a while, and we’re revamping that. We’re mindful that we need to be very clear in our descriptions and extensive in our instructions, because if K-beauty is not paired with the right education, it’s just a fad. The main difference [between US and Korean cosmetics consumers] comes from that practicality, and it forces brands to be clear and bring really value-driven products.”
Of course, trends have value too, especially when they’re based around real advancements in technology. Two of the trends Chang is most enthusiastic about are fermentation and “waterless skincare,” the eschewing of water as a skincare ingredient in favor of other liquids, like botanical extracts, that can deliver not only hydration, but also other skin benefits. It’s a clear rejection of fillers in skincare formulations.
The Whamisa Organic Flowers & Aloe Vera Fermented Hydrogel Facial Mask that Glow Recipe sent me does contain water, but when it comes to fermentation, this mask is king. But is it as amazing as Glow Recipe’s standards might lead one to expect?
Ever since I read The Beauty Wolf’s glowing review of the Whamisa Organic Fruits & Tomato Fermented Hydrogel Facial Mask, I’ve been avoiding the brand like the plague. I’m afraid I’ll fall too hard for the pricey masks and end up with an addiction worthy of a Dr. Drew show. (Okay, I did round out my Shara Shara Honey Bomb AIO purchase with one Organic Sea Kelp mask after The Beauty Wolf raved about it, but you haven’t heard about that mask yet because it’s on back order.) Let’s just say that I was more than a little excited when I got my hands on these Whamisa hydrogel masks.
Purpose: The Whamisa Organic Flowers & Aloe Vera Fermented Hydrogel Facial Mask claims to lift, whiten, and moisturize skin.
Do not use if: You are sensitive to botanical extracts.
When and how to use: Use after cleansing and toning, either in place of or following your usual essence, serum, and/or ampoule steps. Peel the front of the package off and put it down on the counter. Take out the mask sheets in their protective backings and lay them down on the peeled-off label. Now use your hands to scoop up all the excess mask goo still in the tray and spread it liberally over your face, neck, and chest.
After you’ve slathered all the extra goo on yourself, very carefully peel the protective plastic backings from the two mask halves and carefully position them on your face. Now walk quickly to the sofa and lie down as fast as you can. I’ll explain why later.
Ingredients list: Water, camellia sinensis leaf extract, chrysanthemum sinense flower extract, lactobacillus/aloe barbadensis ferment filtrate, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, ceratonia siliqua gum, xanthan gum, lactobacillus/chrysanthemum sinense flower ferment filtrate, lactobacillus/nelumbium speciosum flower ferment filtrate, lactobacillus/dandelion leaf/root extract ferment filtrate, scutellaria baicalensis root extract, paeonia suffruticosa root extract, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root extract, alpha-bisabolol (LOL), aniba rosaeodora (rosewood) wood oil, citrus aurantium bergamia (bergamot) fruit oil
Notable ingredients: Okay, so the first thing you should know about these ingredients is that CosDNA did not flag a single one of them for either acne or irritation. Not a single one. And it’s not because CosDNA didn’t recognize them, either. The site knew what the vast majority of the ingredients were and apparently doesn’t consider a single one of them unsafe for skin.
The second thing you should know about these ingredients is that a significant number of this mask’s calming, brightening, whitening, tightening, and hydrating plant extracts appear here in fermented form. In skincare, fermentation may provide benefits similar to those offered by fermented foods. Namely, fermentation breaks the ingredients down into smaller and more bioavailable components that may be more readily absorbed and utilized by skin.
The third thing you should know is that the vast majority of the ingredients in the Whamisa Organic Flowers & Aloe Vera Fermented Hydrogel Facial Mask were organically grown. The anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, penetration-enhancing ingredient alpha-bisabolol (LOL) is even certified organic and environmentally friendly by Ecocert. That’s the eco-conscious icing on top of this fermented flower cake.
Performance
As soon as I opened the package, the smell hit me. But not in a bad way. No, the Whamisa Organic Flowers & Aloe Vera hydrogel mask smells absolutely divine. Citrusy, faintly herbal, crisply floral, it’s a fresh and natural fragrance that I would love to bottle and wear as my signature perfume. And I don’t even wear perfume.
The mask comes in two pieces, like most hydrogel masks, but unlike many, the mask sheets are gel all the way through, with no supportive inner mesh. They’re on the thin side–not as thin or Saran Wrap-y as Leaders coconut gels, but thin enough to make putting them on a challenge. Be careful when handling the Whamisa mask, as the gel sheets are quite slippery.
I felt a little sad when I discovered that while this mask fits me perfectly from the eyebrows on down, the forehead is way, way too short. I know I have a pretty high forehead, but this was ridiculous (though maybe I’d just applied the upper half of the mask a bit too low). Luckily, the mouth cutout had made it into the package, so I popped that onto the top center of my forehead to get a bit more coverage.
Remember when I said to lie down quickly after applying this mask? This mask is very, very slidey at first, especially on skin that’s heavily lubricated with extra mask goo. The mask began trying to slide down off my face immediately after I put it on.
After about 15 minutes, however, the slidey feeling passed. The extra goo had mostly absorbed, and the mask itself had warmed up and begun to adhere snugly to my skin. I stayed on my back, though, since I wanted to let gravity pull as many molecules of the good stuff into my skin as possible.
I wanted to keep this mask on as long as I could, because the Whamisa Organic Flowers & Aloe Vera hydrogel feels incredible. It has this intense cooling, soothing, refreshing sensation that persists long after the mask isn’t refrigerator temperature anymore.
At the 45-minute mark, the mask had thinned significantly, and I started gently tapping my face, hoping to encourage just a bit more melting and absorption. Amazingly, that cooling, refreshing sensation remained as strong as ever. I tapped and patted away and didn’t want to take the mask off, ever.
I finally made myself take it off after an hour and five minutes. I was very sad about this.
So now let’s talk about the results.
My exact words when I looked in the mirror were:
“Wow. WTF?!”
There are literally no words in the English language available to adequately describe how even and bright and firm my skin looked right after I removed this mask, or how deeply and totally hydrated and plumped and refreshed and rejuvenated it felt. I don’t sleep enough. I don’t eat enough, or as healthily as I should. I’m usually more stressed than is healthy. But this mask. This mask. This mask made my skin look like it belonged to a pampered noblewoman who gets up at noon for her first massage of the day, follows it up with an invigorating hour of hot yoga, and then eats a perfectly balanced and healthful lunch in the bathtub while being gently lathered up and scrubbed by konjac sponge-wielding fairies. Even my skin texture looked more refined, especially on my forehead.
The next morning, after a solid 4.5 hours of sleep, all the brightening, plumping, and skin tone perfecting effects were still very much in evidence.
Conclusion
I’m doomed. Seriously, I’m doomed. In everything except fit, the Whamisa Organic Flowers & Aloe Vera Fermented Hydrogel Facial Mask blows my Holy Grail Banila Miss Flower & Mr Honey straight out of the water. Literally, I need a new rating scale to accomodate this mask. I’m just sorry I waited so long to try it out. Also, I’m seriously considering increasing my workload a bit just so that I can keep a comfortable stash of these in the house.
Rating: 8/5. If there’s a heaven, they’re handing these out as welcome gifts at the gates.
The Whamisa Organic Flowers & Aloe Vera Fermented Facial mask is available at Glow Recipe for $9 apiece. I’m not usually one to find enough value in a mask to justify anything more than $5 for one (sorry, Missha Terribly Underperforming First Treatment Essence Mask), but I completely believe that this one is worth every penny, and that everyone should have at least one on hand for special occasions.
Have you tried a Whamisa mask yet? Are you planning to?
When I chose the masks I used in my 7 Masks 1 Goal whitening experiment, my criteria were simple. I wanted the masks to contain niacinamide, and I also looked for licorice root extract, two lightening agents that have been proven to produce results on excess melanin and hyperpigmentation. It seems the combo isn’t terribly common in sheet masks or even hydrogels, however, as out of my 100+ mask stash (well, now 200+, but that’s another story), I could only find five that provided both. And just because a mask contains two ingredients I want doesn’t always mean it won’t contain any ingredients or cause any issues I don’t want. Case in point: the Naexy Genius Luminant Mask Pack that I used on Day 3 of my week of whitening masks.
A lot of my more random masks come from Memebox. What can I say? Memebox runs a lot of sales, and I have a lot of whims, so it usually works out well for both of us.
The Naexy Genius Luminant Mask Pack is a two-step treatment with an ampoule and the mask. Like the May Island Donkey Milk Mela-Tox mask pack I mini-reviewed last time around, this one doesn’t provide ingredients for the ampoule. For that reason alone, I already knew I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending this mask, even if it worked well, but as it turns out, I found other reasons for not recommending it, too.
Mask essence ingredients and CosDNA analysis are available here.
Performance
I didn’t see any red flags when I first opened this mask up and applied the ampoule step. The ampoule is a slightly stiff, clear gel with a pleasant if slightly perfumey smell; it comes in a generous amount, so I did two applications of the ampoule before moving on to the mask. It was when I cut open the mask section of the package that I knew I was in for some trouble.
If you look at the CosDNA ingredients list I linked above, you’ll see something unusual about this mask’s formulation: the placement of fragrance in the ingredients. It’s not at the end of the list, where you’ll typically see it. Instead, it’s somewhere near the middle.
I’m not sensitive to fragrance, nor am I an anti-fragance-in-skincare person at all. In fact, I enjoy it when my face products smell nice. They’re going to be right on my face and next to my nose, so if they provide a nice olfactory experience, it’s all good with me. But there’s a difference between “making your product smell nice so that it’s more enjoyable to use” and “putting so much fragrance in your product that it becomes like a long elevator ride with a lady who bathed in cheap perfume, x1000.” The Naexy Genius Luminant Mask Pack fits in the second category.
The fragrance itself is seriously awful, a mix of baby powder and drugstore $2 designer perfume knockoff, and it is completely overpowering. In fact, it’s hard for me to even want to talk about any of the other characteristics of this mask, because I cannot get past the fragrance. I wore this mask for about 30 minutes. By the 20-minute mark, I had developed an intense, throbbing headache that got worse and worse until I finally tore the mask off, despite the fact that it still contained plenty of essence left for my skin to absorb.
Fragrance aside, this would have been a decent mask. It’s very saturated and drippy, fit my face nicely and adhered well, and the brightening and skin tone evening effects I saw after removing it and popping a few Advil were actually excellent, but the fragrance issue completely ruins it. In fact, I’m not going to make buying this mask any easier for those of you who still want to try it. You’ll find no links here. Just avoid this: there are masks that deliver equivalent results, without the horrific fragrance problems. Putting so much fragrance in the essence was a terrible idea, and this mask is an utter loser.
Syn-ake! I’ve heard plenty about this ingredient but never quite came to a decision about whether I found it compelling or not. Syn-ake, or dipeptide diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate, is synthetic snake venom that’s said to work like topical Botox, temporarily reducing muscle movement in the face and therefore helping to prevent future wrinkles and smoothing out existing expression lines.
Most of you people don’t know me in person, so you aren’t aware that I have a very mobile face that’s always making one ghoulish expression or another. For this reason, Syn-ake seems like it might be a good fit for me. Theoretically, it should help minimize certain lines I have from expressions I make too frequently, and it might also calm down my facial expressions in general so that I’m not as frightening to small dogs and children. This mask contains 100ppm of syn-ake. I don’t really know what that means, but the ingredient is quite high up in the ingredients list, so that’s good. Ingredients list and CosDNA analysis are here.
Performance
By the way. This is a black mask. A black hydrogel mask.
Can you do something for me? Can you go turn off all the lights and light just one candle for a little eerily flickering illumination? Are you ready?
Mwahaahaaa. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. But at least I only linked the image instead of embedding it in the post, right? Now you can close that tab and continue reading without my horrifying black hydrogel mask face glaring vacantly at you from the middle of the page.
From my notes as I wore this mask:
Good God it’s a black mask. I look like a nightmare.
Compared to many other hydrogel masks I’ve tried, this one wasn’t the best-feeling or best-fitting. The gel material is a bit thicker and stiffer than I’m accustomed to, and the stiffness made it very resistant to molding around my nose and chin. In fact, even after the mask warmed up a bit, it never seemed to get really moist or to fully adhere to the contours of my face like most other hydrogels. The fit is actually quite a disappointment.
The results are not, though, and that’s what really matters, right? The brightening effect of this mask was strong and noticeable, but what I appreciated even more after I removed the mask at 45 minutes was how smooth, plump, and firm my skin looked and felt. Since I’ve pretty much already achieved my main skin brightening goals, I’ve become more interested in anti-aging effects like plumping, firming, and lifting. The Botanic Farm Syn-Ake hydrogel mask definitely delivers on those counts. It isn’t the best hydrogel mask experience around, and even its good results are not out of the ordinary for a really good hydrogel mask, but it’s something I am seriously considering restocking for future use.
I purchased this mask from Memebox, but the product appears to have disappeared from their website. That’s not a good sign, as products that are temporarily out of stock typically aren’t totally scrubbed from their site. I couldn’t find it on any of my trusted K-beauty webshops, either. If you run across this mask out in the wild or know where they can be purchased, please comment here and let me know!
So…what’s the worst mask you’ve ever tried, and what’s the scariest-looking one?
…and he’s loving it!
My other half will be hydrating his skin and protecting it from free radical damage with the Innisfree Green Tea line.
Some COSRX will get in the mix eventually, too.
I’ve always thought it’s awesome when men care about their skin. Now I think the already awesome Mr Crazy Snail Lady is even more awesome.
What do you think about men and skincare?
For over a year, I used My Beauty Diary sheet masks almost exclusively. I tended to stick to the very popular, tried and true varieties, like Black Pearl and Imperial Bird’s Nest. And then I got bored. And then I started mask hauling, experimenting with different brands, trying out hydrogels, and getting generally lost in a whirl of new experiences. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a single bad thing to say about the MBD Black Pearl, MBD Imperial Bird’s Nest, or any other MBD sheet mask I’ve tried, but the brand was starting to feel stale to me.
And then I stumbled across the My Beauty Diary White Truffle Fantastic Whitening Mask on Amazon. I’d never seen or heard of these before, and something about them (coughadorablefancypackagingcoughcough) just mesmerized me. I felt like I was seeing my familiar old partner in a totally different light, and I liked it.
Of course, pretty packaging won’t make these more premium My Beauty Diary sheet masks worth the extra cost if the masks themselves aren’t good. And that’s why you’re being smart and reading a review before you plop a box into your cart!
Purpose: The My Beauty Diary White Truffle Fantastic Whitening Mask claims to brighten and clarify skin, increasing its radiance.
Do not use if: You are sensitive to glycols, plant extracts, or anything else in the ingredients list.
When and how to use: Use after cleansing and toning, either in place of or following your usual essence, serum, and/or ampoule steps. Tear open mask packet and pull out mask. Like the My Beauty Diary Platinum Mandelic Acid Brightening Mask, the My Beauty Diary White Truffle Fantastic Whitening Mask is a super-thin sheet protected by two backings, one of them made of perforated white plastic and the other made of a stiff blue paper. Peel the white plastic backing off and carefully apply the mask, blue backing facing out. Press down around the contours of your face to get the mask to adhere, then carefully peel away the blue backing and adjust the mask’s fit as needed. Wear until the mask sheet begins to dry out and turn white (I swear this is what the instructions say), then remove and discard. Massage in remaining essence and seal in the hydration with your usual night cream or sleeping pack.
Ingredients list: Water, butylene glycol, glycerin, propylene glycol, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, sodium hyaluronate, ananas sativus (pineapple) fruit extract, citrus medica limonum (lemon) peel extract, cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract, triethanolamine, soluble collagen, lecithin, styrene/acrylates copolymer, dimethylsilanol hyaluronate, phospholipids, cereus grandiflorus (cactus) flower extract, morus nigra fruit extract, rosa canina fruit extract, tranexamic acid, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, hydrolyzed yeast protein, laminaria digitata extract, citric acid, polysorbate 20, methylparaben, tuber aestivum extract, propylparaben, xanthan gum, carbomer, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide
Notable ingredients: Looking at the ingredients list, it appears that the My Beauty Diary White Truffle Fantastic Whitening Mask tackles its whitening task from several different angles. Near the top of the ingredients list, pineapple fruit extract contributes some gentle enzyme exfoliation, which may help skin appear smoother and therefore brighter, while lemon peel and cucumber extract provide natural vitamin C. There’s more vitamin C here in the form of sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP), a gentle and shelf-stable form of the ingredient, but while SAP mostly behaves like other types of vitamin C, not much research exists to support its brightening claims. It is, however, an antioxidant, and we could all use more of those. Morus nigra (black mulberry) fruit extract and the mask’s titular tuber aestivum (white truffle) extract are also used for skin lightening purposes.
This mask also contains tranexamic acid, a melanin-inhibitory ingredient that sometimes shows up in Japanese and Taiwanese skin care products. As an ingredient that can inhibit melanin production, tranexamic acid seems more suited to long-term use than to a single-use sheet mask, but as my 7 Masks 1 Goal experiment showed, consistent and regular use of sheet masks with the right ingredients can indeed produce real effects.
My CosDNA analysis of the ingredients turned up no serious cautions. As usual, butylene glycol scored a 1 as a potential acne trigger and triethanolamine, a pH adjuster, scored a 2, while carbomer gets a 1 as a potential irritant. All three of these ingredients are extremely common, especially in sheet masks, so if you haven’t had a problem with them before, you’ll likely be fine here as well.
In fact, a look at the ingredients in the My Beauty Diary White Truffle Fantastic Whitening Mask suggests that it may make a good brightening choice for people with dry/dehydrated or sensitive skin. There’s no alcohol in this mask and no fragrance either. Ingredients like soluble collagen, lecithin, and phospholipids help strengthen the skin barrier, and aloe barbadensis leaf juice, well known for its soothing and anti-irritation properties, is right up near the top of the list. Keep this mask in mind if you normally have problems with alcohol, fragrance, or general irritation from sheet masks.
Performance
This may well be the mask that rekindles my relationship with My Beauty Diary sheet masks. I’ve finally gotten a handle on applying these ultra-thin mask sheets with the double backings; I was able to get this onto my face without any problems or embarrassing mishaps and enjoy the full benefits of it on my first try.
Like most other My Beauty Diary masks, the White Truffle comes absolutely dripping with the thin, clear essence. There’s plenty in the packet to squeeze out and apply to your face before you even take the mask out, and there will be plenty left to apply to your neck, upper boobie area, and arms afterwards.
The directions of the mask are unusual in that they specifically instruct users to leave the mask on until it begins to dry out, rather than for a certain amount of time. Despite the copious amounts of essence, it won’t take too long with such a thin, gauzy mask sheet: I was able to wear this mask for about half an hour before it was ready to come off.
The results are on par with what I expected from a somewhat gentle-sounding ingredients list. Brightening was noticeable, though not as intense as some other masks, particularly those that rely on ingredients like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide to produce a temporary whitening effect. What was really impressive about this mask was the way it smoothed my skin and created a translucent effect that was still going strong today, the day after I used it. Right now, late in the afternoon, my cheeks still feel very silky and smooth, and that smoothness itself imparts a more radiant look.
Conclusion: This mask is more than solid, it’s really excellent. I’d almost forgotten how effective and high-quality My Beauty Diary masks can be, but now I remember. The brightening effect is there, and the translucent effect takes the White Truffle Fantastic Whitening Mask a step above even my old favorite MBD varieties. I do wish this mask had niacinamide in it, but then again, I wish everything had niacinamide in it. I’ll live. And I’ll definitely be purchasing another box, this time to assess the results that can be achieved by using this variety on four or five consecutive nights.
Rating: 4.5/5
Rating scale:
This is one of the more rare and premium My Beauty Diary varieties; I didn’t see it until recently. If you want to try it out, you can use my affiliate link to get a box of 4 for$17.93 with Prime shipping from Amazon.
Have you tried any white truffle skin care products before? What did you think of them?
I was first diagnosed with major depression at 21, though I think I’d been struggling with it for at least a few years before then. I’ve had my ups and downs and tried various treatments. When I first started learning about Asian skin care products, I had no idea that an elaborate Korean-style beauty regimen would become one of my most reliable weapons against depressive episodes.
Fifty Shades of Snail 