Between the 1st and 2nd Maskerade Ball posts, two years have passed. Between the 2nd and 3rd, just 2 weeks. Can you tell I’m going through my skincare stash? Another area in my life where I have too much stuff. The good thing about it is the amount of reviews I’m able to write.
There are not many actives that can make you feel a difference on your skin with a one time use sheet mask, but Vitamin C is one of them.
Sephora Papaya Vitamin C Mask Review
This face sheet is made of a papery material that is packed with serum. The sheet is more suitable for a small face, and I had trouble fitting it on mine. Instructions say to leave on for 5 min, and being a vitamin C mask that’s what I did, because vitamin C can chemically “burn” your skin – however instructions say to not rinse off the mask, so that seems to indicate concentration is not that high and if I ever repurchase I will leave it for slightly longer. The mask did slid a bit down the face but since you’re only meant to use it for 5 min, it doesn’t warrant a readjustment.
When I removed the mask, just after the 5 minutes, I felt my skin looked a it brighter, and red areas looked a bit more faded. I was surprised I noticed such a difference!
This is, however, one of those masks that you use for its intended purpose and nothing more: the ingredients list is nothing to write home about. The only other ingredient worth mentioning besides vitamin C is the hyaluronic acid (good for hydration), and there are a couple of nice antioxidants(Hydroxyacetophenone, Camellia Japonica Leaf Extract). But that’s basically it. I’m not sure the papaya is doing much – supposedly it could work as a chemical exfoliant, so maybe that’s why I noticed such a difference on my skin.
This is good to use right before an event.
Sephora Papaya Vitamin C Mask Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Lecithin, Glycosyl Trehalose, Sodium Polyacrylate, Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Xanthan Gum, Parfum (Fragrance), Sorbitan Caprylate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Carica Papaya Fruit Extract (Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract), Ascorbyl Glucoside, Camellia Japonica Leaf Extract, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate.
Made in Taiwan, 4,99€ each.
Repurchase? Probably, if it is really discounted.
Rating: 7/10.
Beauty Formulas Brightening Vitamin C Mask Review
As I was taking this sheet mask out of the packet I could tell this had lots of a very watery serum. Size was decent for my face, and I wore it for 20 minutes as instructions suggest. It slid down my face slightly, so it needed to be readjusted once. Unfortunately, once I removed it, I didn’t really noticed a difference on my skin.
And I do mean unfortunately. Because the ingredients list is great, and the price is really cheap. This is one of those that the ingredients don’t match the effects… or lack there of. Vitamin C is really high up on the ingredients list, which confirms my suspicion that the serum is really watered down, because I should have been able to see an effect on my skin. And it’s not just vitamin C: it has niacinamide (the superstar ingredient that’s good for basically any and every skin issue) and a whole lot of soothing and antioxidant extracts.
Really a shame that I didn’t see results, but I’m not going to give up yet. And I’m certainly going to try more from Beauty Formulas.
Beauty Formulas Brightening Vitamin C Mask Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Glycerine, 1,2 Hexanediol, Glycereth-26, Betaine, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C), Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Erythritol, Trehalose, Allantoin, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Extract, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Fruit Extract, Morus Alba Bark Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract, Chlorella Vulgaris/Lupinus Albus Protein Ferment, Nasturtium Officinale Flower/Leaf Extract, Zinc PCA, Parfum (Fragrance), Disodium EDTA, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Carbomer, Tromethamine, Xanthan Gum, Butylene Glycol, Ethyl Hexanediol, Alcohol Denat., Polysorbate 20, Ethylhexylglycerin.
Made in South Korea, 1,50€ each.
Repurchase? Yes, I think at least it deserves a second shot.
Rating: 6/10.
Beauty Pro Brightening Sheet Mask Review
The particular sheet had a strong gummy smell when I opened the packet, but that fortunately did not last. The sheet itself was well packed with serum, yet it did not slid down my face for the 15 minutes I wore it. Unlike all the other masks in this list, I felt a slightly tingly sensation on my skin while I used it, which is to be expected with a high enough concentration of vitamin C. And lo and behold, it was the mask that made the biggest difference on my skin: bright, glowing, clear – like I drank 2 litres of water and slept peacefully the whole night (two things that could never happen simultaneously for me because I would be waking up every 30 minutes to pee).
There are a lot of good ingredients in it: aloe vera, hyaluronic acid, other skin brightening ingredients beyond vitamin C (arbutin, licorice root extract), niacinamide and a few soothing extracts.
I thought I had found a mask that I really loved from Beauty Pro, but come to find out this has been discontinued. Currently in Beauty Pro’s line there is a vitamin C mask whose packaging is almost identical to this one – but don’t be fooled, the new mask is completely different ingredients wise. They dropped the skin brightening ingredients (among other good stuff) but added in a lot of citrus extracts. So your skin will be worse off but you’ll smell like a lemon.
Beauty Pro Brightening Sheet Mask Ingredients: Aqua, Glycerin, Glycereth-26, Propylene Glycol, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Arbutin, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Sophora Angustifolia Root Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Butylene Glycol, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, 1,2-Hexanediol, Boswellia Serrata Resin Extract, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Natto Gum, Punica Granatum Fruit Extract, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Pearl Extract, Niacinamide, Disodium EDTA, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Parfum, Sodium Nitrate, Glyoxal, Maltodextrin, Benzyl Benzoate.
Made in Korea, £5 each.
Repurchase? It was discontinued/reformulated, so no.
Rating: 8/10 before reformulation.
Nip+Fab Vitamin C Fix Face Mask Review
This is a gel mask (so not a papery sheet, like the rest of them on this post). Being that it’s a gel, it held on to my face pretty well and did not slid down for the 15 minutes I wore it, but it had a weird shape: the space for the mouth and nose is too big. I noticed my skin was a bit brighter when I removed it.
Ingredients wise, it’s pretty solid. There is niacinamide, quite a few humectants (like the famous hyaluronic acid) and even a peptide is thrown in there (good for boosting collagen production to avoid those wrinkles). It would be a great mask to use once in a while if it wasn’t so expensive. At nearly 8€, buying a serum instead (maybe even from Nip+Fab!) is probably a better choice.
Nip+ Fab Vitamin C Fix Face Mask Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Propanediol, Niacinamide, Isopentyldiol , 1,2-Hexanediol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Trehalose, Polyglyceryl-6 Caprylate, Polyglyceryl-4 Caprate, Carbomer, Arginine, Butylene Glycol, Hydroxyethyl Urea, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Juice, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Water, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Citrus Junos Fruit Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Xanthan Gum, Parfum (Fragrance), Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate.
Made in South Korea, 7,95€ each.
Repurchase? Too expensive for a single use mask, so no.
Rating: 7/10.
