💕😌 2023 Mask of the Week Challenge 😌💖

[eshoe]

Welcome to the 2023 Mask of the Week Challenge! We love hearing about every masking experience, on or off-theme, and suggestions are always welcome.

Letter of the Week: M

Theme: Mail Call! Masks you have received in Unicorn Mail or have been gifted. Thanks to @Shosh85 for this week’s magically fun challenge! 🦄

This Year's Schedule:

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Mask of the Week Misc. Info & Previous Year's Links:

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To Post:

Each week features a different theme, as well as a letter of the alphabet for coming up with new masking ideas. 

Please include the brand and name of the mask you are trying out, as well as a photo if possible. Any other details are greatly appreciated, including scent, fit, adherence, mask type (hydrating, brightening, exfoliating, detox, sleeping, etc.) as well as your overall experience.

Most importantly: Would you repurchase it? 

Second most important: Have fun and merry masking!

2022 Mask of the Week Challenge

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2021 Mask of the Week Challenge

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2020 Mask of the Week Challenge:

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Skincare-Aware/2020-Mask-of-the-Week-Challenge-PART-1/m-p/4995162/h...

2019 Mask of the Week Challenge:

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Skincare-Aware/2019-Mask-of-the-Week-Challenge/m-p/4497678/highligh...

2018 Mask of the Week Challenge:

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Skincare-Aware/Mask-of-the-Week-Challenge/td-p/3615125   

Thank you @Aaliaa for starting this thread, and giving us a place to share our love for masks💗

[Samtian]

@sister13 That is cool looking! I love the little paw. 

[sister13]

That was unstaged, haha! She reached right out for the little spatula (which is actually from the cleanser but I use it interchangeably)! @Samtian 

[Kim888]

Sounds lovely @sister13 !! A good brightening mask is always great to have on hand !

[sister13]

Yes, and my skin still felt nice and smooth today, though I feel a few breakouts coming around my chin, but I’m sure that is from wearing the mask traveling the last couple days. @Kim888 

[CookieGirl1]

That shade of blue is definitely your color, @sister13 😂.

[sister13]

Lol, like cookie monster! @CookieGirl1 

[QueenMarceline]

@sister13 That looks like such a unique and luxurious mask. I would love to try this out 🙂 Sounds quite nice and refreshing from your description 

[sister13]

Yes, might be one for a warmer season though, or to sit in front of the fire! @QueenMarceline 

[QueenMarceline]

@sister13 Don't forget the hot cocoa and marshmallows. 😂

[Mellmars1185]

@sister13 Hope you enjoyed the mask and i love that you have some helpers!

[sister13]

Thanks @Mellmars1185! They are always interested in what I’m doing trying to stage my makeup or take pics, lol.

[itsfi]

Oh my gosh @sister13, what an amazing masking sesh - love your masking helpers, Tamatoa and Teine! Nice work, cuties! 

This Lovinah mask sounds fabulous. Making a note of your thoughts on this - thank you for the heads up on the slight tingling. I'll be prepared for that when it comes time to using this one - maybe in a few weeks.

So happy to hear that you were able to spend time with family. Hope you are able to get some rest after a long day of traveling!

[sister13]

Well, the day started out great, but we ended up evacuating due to the fires in Colorado in the evening, they were just about 1.5-2 miles away. 😢😢 We were on pre-evac orders in our neighborhood but decided to leave when they closed roads at the corner of our neighborhood and we were especially worried about wrangling the cat in the middle of the night if things changed. We came home this morning and our house is fine and the fires didn’t advance overnight closer to us, but the damage is devastating and we know people who have lost their homes entirely. If only the snow had come yesterday or the day before that for all these poor people who lost homes. 💔💔

(Re: the butterfly mask, yes, I wasn’t expecting the tingling, and I don’t think I’ve tried a cooling tingling mask like that, usually they feel hot to me.) @itsfi 

[itsfi]

Catching up with a few fun masks from last week's letter of the week. All 3 masks could be tied together thematically with Z for zoo animal, with individual Z's for zany (zebra), zazzy (llama) and zen (reindeer).

Zany Zebra: 

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The Creme Shop Cheer Up, Skin! Animated Zebra Mask is a throwback for me (as is the photo). I used this in my very early days on the mask thread so this one has some sentimental value for me - a few of us just had a hoot with this one, with some great back-and-forth conversations about the zaniness of the zebra illustration on this one, with us ultimately  describing the mask as looking like an unshaven stoned zebra with its beady eyes and bearded design. Tagging @Shosh85  and @yankeefaithful for a little bit of nostalgia and a chuckle. 😆 

Not too much has changed from my initial thoughts on the mask - as with many masks from The Creme Shop's animated animal series, this zebra one can make for a decent filler mask, though the price point is a bit on the high side for my liking as far as filler masks go (unless of course you are able to locate it at TJ Maxx / Marshalls or Winners). The lightly hydrated and brightened skin, together with the stroll down memory lane, from this mask made for a nice way for me to head into the end of another year of masking.

I was intrigued that the ingredients list for Dotted Zebra Watermelon Jelly Moisturizing Mask  (oooh, another z, for zzzz's 😴) contained only 14 ingredients and picked it up thinking it might be a dupe for Glow Recipe Mini Watermelon + AHA Glow Sleeping Mask 1 oz/ 30 mL  Glow Recipe Watermelon + AHA Glow Sleeping Mask 2.7 oz/ 80 mL but it is not. At least not based on my initial use of it. It has a lightweight, thin, slightly creamy, jelly consistency. In that sense, it felt slightly creamier than the Glow Recipe version of it. Unlike the Glow Recipe, this one does not contain AHA or any other exfoliating acid, which I thought would make it more ideal for those with sensitive skin and or those who want or need to take extra care to not over exfoliate. Also unlike the Glow Recipe mask, was the fragrance on this mask, or, at least the jar I have doesn't smell at all like the watermelon goodness in the GR mask. 🍉 This one smelled of plastic. My skin did feel moisturized the next morning, but no more so than with other sleeping masks. For a first impression, I'd consider it lackluster. I'm open to giving it another try, maybe near the end of winter / beginning of spring. If it doesn't work out then, I'll look to re-home it

Ingredients for Sleeping Mask: 
from Ulta:  
Water (Aqua), Watermelon, Glycerin, Fruit Extract, Xylitylgucoside, Anhydroxylitol, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Copper Gluconate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cucumber, Oat, Aloe Vera, Citric Acid, Fragrance.

Zazzy Llama:  

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Similar results from The Creme Shop zebra mask can be had with The Creme Shop Brighten Up, Skin! Animated Llama Face Mask - lightly hydrated and brightened skin in a far less zany looking design. Given the mask's brightening claims, I expected a little more zazzle both in the results and the animated design. Neither are deal breakers as this mask also falls into the filler mask camp. With the exception of a few masks (i.e., cica mend tiger, the hydrating and cooling arctic fox and the deliciously strawberry scented "clarifying" unicorn mask - a different unicorn mask from the one @Samtian posted about below ⬇️), the vast majority of the masks from this brand's Animated Animals series are more fun than anything. They make a nice gift for those new-to-sheet-masking as a fun starter mask as well as for a little whimsy for those maskers-for-life (a new phrase inspired by @lmaster's marvelous "in it for life" sheet mask motto). ​

Zen Reindeer:

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I had a few last-minute Target runs a few days before Christmas (eek!), one of which had me going inside the store to pick up something not available for curbside pickup. That supposedly quick little errand brought me in contact with this holiday themed Fantasy by masque bar Reindeer Calming Sheet Mask, which scored a Z for zen based for its star ingredients - propolis and lavender. The sheet design is very cute. Adherence was fine; it didn't peel or lift away from my skin during the 30 minutes I left it on but it didn't adhere as well as most sheet masks. Except for an extra inch at the length and the antlers up top, fit was quite good - I has happy that the openings for the eyes and mouth were wide enough all around. I wondered what the scent would be like on this one and to my surprise, it was very faint, with a clean, fresh scent. I don't know about the calming effect of the sheet itself but it was nice to have a little breather with a festive mask. My skin was lightly hydrated with zero tack or stickiness.

[elleb810]

@itsfi 

Those masks and your pic are just so flippin cute! It's like a Christmas card - how perfect for the seasson. And that zebra one cracked me up!

[itsfi]

@elleb810, a lot of the masks from The Creme Shop’s animated animal series make for fun filler masks. The designs on these masks seem to have improved over the years too.

[elleb810]

@itsfi 

There are so many of them. I'm all for options but where to even begin. Are there any ones you think are really good for very dry winter skin?

[QueenMarceline]

@itsfi Hahah! These are awesome.

[itsfi]

@QueenMarceline, I agree. Hydrated skin and a good laugh for all. That's a winning combination! 😁 

[QueenMarceline]

@itsfi Absolutely! Wish my Target had great finds like this, although they probably do...  but I'm not allowed there unsupervised 😁😂

[itsfi]

"but I'm not allowed there unsupervised 😁😂" ~ @QueenMarceline 

Hahaha! I love this QueenMarceline! 💖 😂🤣😂 That place, like others (ahem, Sephora!!) just pulls you into its fun and fabulous vortex, doesn't it?!!! I consider it a victory if I leave with what I went into the store to pick up in the first place. The stores in my city close earlier these days so no more meandering aimlessly down the aisles after work. That's helped to curb picking up things here and there. I can't say I haven't found other places to pick up things here and there though ... 😉😆