no one gave me this challenge but I just decided to do it out of curiosity. would using a mask every single day truly help my skin?
I focused on using single-use sheet or clay masks for the whole month of June. [warning: long post]
A couple points to note first: I have a large face / head. It’s not a self deprecating comment, it’s a fact! So sheet masks that I complain about being small, maybe in fact, be fine for regular-sized face folks.
I used all of these masks at night only, after my routine skincare of cleansing oil, micellar water, and toner. I did not use any serum or other face treatments except for BHA for spots. Here goes, masking each day for 30 days straight:
Date: June 1
Brand: Dermactin-TS
Mask: Skin Firming Facial Sheet Mask
Price: $3 Source: Sally beauty Supply
Comments: surprised it’s a 2 piece mask (top and bottom), medium thickness paper, serum is watery and mask doesn’t stick on well. has a light floral scent. interesting to see the 3rd ingredient is Arbutin. got hives on cheeks and forehead after 15 mins. Skin looked slightly brightened in the morning.
Stash Worthiness: 6/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 2
Brand: It’s Skin
Mask: High-Nutrition Avocado
Price: $2 Source: I don’t remember!
Comments: shape is too wide and too short for my face. smells like a fruit smoothie. The serum is milky and has a good amount (drips). Serum absorbed quickly – noticed the 2nd ingredient is glycerin while the 4th is alcohol. The next morning my skin was quite dehydrated and had scaly dry patches on forehead and cheeks.
Stash Worthiness: 3/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 3
Brand: simply Aqua
Mask: moisture Mask
Price: $1 USD Source: Sasa.com
Comments: I’ve had this since 2014 – I know this because I bought this off Sasa.com and I haven’t placed an order from them since then! This is one of my all time favourite masks – it’s a thin mask that adheres and fits well on my face. It’s drenched in serum that smells like kiwis or some other tropical fruit. The mask comes on a plastic film backing which makes it easier to unfold. The first ingredient is Sodium Hyaluronate (aka Hyaluronic acid), and this thing is only $1 USD!
Stash Worthiness: 9/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 4
Brand: Life Brand
Mask: Anti-aging Facial Sheet Mask with Caviar & Pearl Powder
Price: $1.67 Source: shoppers drug Mart
Comments: These are good basic sheet masks that are readily available and quite economical (3 for $5). The paper is on the thick side and the shape fits my face well. this one provides good hydration – glycerin is the 2nd ingredient. as for the caviar and pearl – they are indeed in the ingredient list, listed at #15 and #16 in a total of 31 ingredients.
Stash Worthiness: 8/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 5
Brand: Just beyond Nature Garden
Mask: Firming by Lemon
Price: $2 Source: Sasa.com
Comments: The sheet is thinner so it molded to my face well. like previous beyond Nature masks, the mouth is too low for my face. I didn’t find there was sufficient amount of serum. It smells like synthetic lemons. Didn’t do much for the skin.
Stash Worthiness: 6/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 6
Brand: Montagne Jeunesse
Mask: 2 stage Rescue Mud Masque For problem Prone Skin
Price: $1.50 Source: Saleevent.ca
Comments: This comes with 2 compartments: mask and moisturizer featuring tea tree and witch hazel. initial application smelled very strong of mint but my skin didn’t burn or feel dried out. The pouch contained a lot of product – probably enough to do 2 full mask – next time I will use half and re-seal the pouch. I also really liked the post-mask face moisturizer that was included. face was very smooth and the 2 blemishes I had were halted – the soreness had subsided and they weren’t as red. very impressed this mask did what it claimed to do!
Stash Worthiness: 10/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 7
Brand: The face Shop
Mask: Real Nature Rice
Price: $2 Source: The face shop store
Comments: Standard sheet mask. Thinner paper so it forms to face – openings aligns well to my face. fourth ingredient is rice extract – mostly moisturizing – my skin was very smooth and soft the next day.
Stash Worthiness: 8/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 8
Brand: A’Pieu
Mask: Tangle Jelly Mask in Grape
Price: $4 Source: Jolse.com
Comments: Comes with a fabric mesh backing to help separate the mask (below). I was expecting this to be a hydrogel mask but it’s a thin cotton mask with a layer of cushy slimey serum finishing on it. The serum is quite sticky so the face adheres extremely well to the face. I found the eye holes to be a bit low and small for my face.
Smells only faintly of grape (I want super grapey!) After removing the mask, there was an abundance of serum left on my face that it took another 15 mins to soak in but doesn’t feel sticky. The next morning my skin was super plumped and it temporarily erased mylaugh lines (the bane of my existence).
Stash Worthiness: 9/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 9
Brand: beauty Friends
Mask: Tomato Essence Mask
Price: gwp (reg $2) Source: Jolse.com
Comments: This is my first ever tomato sheet mask and it smells like V8 juice! I guess, what was I expecting? The sheet is on the thicker side and it fits my face fine. The serum is watery and tingles slightly. There wasn’t much serum left on my skin when I took the mask off. My skin felt a bit dehydrated but exfoliated in the morning.
Stash Worthiness: 7/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 10
Brand: Malibu Glitz
Mask: Aloe Vera Mask
Price: $1.13 Source: ShopMissA.com
Comments: This was one of the Chinese-made masks that came as my “K-Beauty” bundle from MissA which I was annoyed about. also bothersome that this mask has technically expired in early April even though I only received it in late April.
It has a blue non-woven backing (below) since the mask is very thin (0.21mm similar to the Etude house 0.2 therapy Air Mask that I love). Mask has almost no scent.
Forehead too short and eye holes too low. Stayed on skin very well. Serum stung my eyes a little as it evaporated. Skin felt a bit more hydrated the next morning.
Stash Worthiness: 6/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 11
Brand: The face Shop
Mask: real Nature White Tea
Price: $2 Source: The face shop store
Comments: Good conventional mask, fits my face well. good amount of serum. My face looked glowy and smooth in the morning.
Stash Worthiness: 8/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 12
Brand: 7th Heaven
Mask: Moroccan Clay gentle exfoliating Masque
Price: $1.50 Source: Saleevent.ca
Comments: This mask might have gone off because it was slightly separated in the packette, and it smelled like sour dirt and a tinge of rotten fruit. I looked on the packette to see if there was an expiry date but I couldn’t find one. I still went ahead and slathered it to my face! My SO smelled it on me and said it “literally smelled like poop and was the worst beauty product ever smelled” (he requested that I quote him verbatim on the blog). This contains crushed apricot seeds and argan shells but I didn’t exfoliate with it – I just applied it like a clay mask and rinsed off. Skin was quite tight after rinsing off and had some pink splotches on cheeks and forehead. My skin didn’t feel any different the next morning – for better or worse.
Stash Worthiness: 3/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 13
Brand: The Creme Shop
Mask: Collagen face Mask
Price: $1.13 Source: ShopMissA.com
Comments: A basic mask – the paper is similar to the Life brand ones on the thicker side. I found the forehead to be too short and the cut-outs slightly squished toward the center. There was a good amount of serum. I didn’t notice much improvement with my skin.
Stash Worthiness: 6/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 14
Brand: Mediheal
Mask: Platinum V-Life vital Mask
Price: $1.30 Source: Winners
Comments: I’ve used this before since I have a box of 10 masks. now I have 8 left! I really like this mask – the material is very fine and fits my face well. There is a lot of serum which remains even after I remove the mask. In warmer weather, I could see myself skipping moisturizer altogether. My face was soft and hydrated in the morning.
Stash Worthiness: 9/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 15
Brand: Etude House
Mask: 0.2mm Snail Smoothening & Firming
Price: $1.30 Source: IBuyBeauti.com
Comments: I bought a bunch of these after loving the Hyaluronic Acid version. Fits my face extremely well and the paper is super thin. Serum is a milky type and slightly slimy. Woke up with 2 blemishes but I’m not sure if they can be attributed to the mask or the fact that I’ve been eating and drinking crap lately. The rest of my skin felt smooth.
Stash Worthiness: 7/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 16
Brand: Life Brand
Mask: Hydrating Facial Sheet Mask with Hyaluronic Acid & Konjac
Price: $1.67 Source: shoppers drug Mart
Comments: good basic sheet mask with thicker paper – shape fits my face well. face was hydrated and calm in the morning.
Stash Worthiness: 8/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 17
Brand: Montagne Jeunesse
Mask: 2 stage T-Zone peel Off face Masque
Price: $1.50 Source: Saleevent.ca
Comments: My first peeling off mask in years and I probably should have paid attention to the ingredients – it contains peppermint oil which does irritate my skin. It was strongly fragranced with the peppermint oil and also of tea tree oil. It’s a gooey formula to apply and challenging to rinse off my hands after application. On the skin, it stung slightly both from the alcohol and the peppermint – my face was a bit pink but not bad. the best part was the peeling – the mask came off so perfectly in one sheet! and my skin wasn’t irritated afterward – no hives at all (I was expecting some). My skin felt very soft and smooth. The moisturizer included is the same as the Rescue Mud Masque – I wished they sold that individually – it’s a terrific moisturizer!
Stash Worthiness: 9/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 18
Brand: Purederm
Mask: Grape Essence Mask
Price: gwp Source: Korean grocery store
Comments: A thicker mask that fits on the small side for my face. There’s not much serum so the mask doesn’t adhere too well. The main positive aspect about this mask is that it smells like grape soda! My skin didn’t feel any different after using this.
Stash Worthiness: 6/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 19
Brand: The face Shop
Mask: real Nature Aloe
Price: $2 Source: The face shop store
Comments: I use these face shop ones all the time but this particular aloe mask seems better than the others. The sheet feels thinner and sticks to my face better. and there’s a good amount of serum inside. The scent of this mask is probably my favourite out of them – smells like a amazing cucumber mixed with honey green tea – very refreshing. My skin was very calm and soft afterwards.
Stash Worthiness: 9/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 20
Brand: LoveMore
Mask: My Melody Oil-free Moisturizing 3D fitting Mask
Price: $3 Source: Sasa.com
Comments: This used to be my favourite sheet mask because of how well it fit my face. There’s a seam down the center of the mask so it creates a 3D shape once unfolded. The paper of the mask is on the thicker side, but I find that now with the new hydrogels and ulta thin masks, the issue of masks conforming to the face shape isn’t as big of a problem anymore. But how cute is the packaging?!
I noted that this mask is made in Taiwan. This mask has a lot of serum so I wore it for 30 minutes and there was still an excess left on the sheet. My face was very plumped and radiant the next day. I actually had a compliment on how my skin glowed!
Stash Worthiness: 9/10 Repurchase: Yes
Date: June 21
Brand: Life Brand
Mask: Anti-aging Ultra Firming Mask
Price: $2 Source: shoppers drug Mart
Comments: This is a cream, rather than a clay based mask so it didn’t form a hard crust, it just obsorbed slightly into my skin. It smells faintly of raw bread dough… but it’s a fairly old mask in my stash so I’m sure once upon a time it smelled nicer. My skin felt mattified after I rinsed the mask off and in the morning there was a slight temporary tightening feeling. Interestingly, this mask is made in the UK.
Stash Worthiness: 7/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 22
Brand: Nature Republic
Mask: given by Nature Charcoal Mask Sheet
Price: $2 Source: Korean grocery store
Comments: I was expecting this to be a black mask but it was a conventional white sheet. The size of this mask is one of the largest I’ve used which covered my face really well. The serum was quite watery though so the edges of the mask tend to unstick from my skin. I didn’t notice any difference with my skin after using this mask.
Stash Worthiness: 6/10 Repurchase: No
Date: June 23
Brand: Fruits & Passion
Mask: Vitamin B Hydrogel Mask
Price: $5 Source: Sears
Comments: This is a 2 piece hydrogel mask with an upper and lower portion and the mask pieces comes sandwiched between 2 sheets of clear film. I found it challenging to peel the hydrogel off the film so I fumbled around with them for a bit. There is nearly no serum in the pouch and I found the mask had a tendency to pop off my skin so I had to keep smooth it back on. There was a bit of tingling on my skin. The mask is actually a woven material embedded in hydrogel – when I took the mask off after using it, I tried to rip the material but I could not. After I removed the mask, my skin was basically dry so I didn’t
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