💕😌 2024 Masking Challenge 😌💖

[eshoe]

Welcome to the 2024 Masking Challenge! 

This year is going to be a little different - simplified. Easy. Every month will have a new theme, and that's it. Feel free to join in whenever and wherever. Most importantly - have fun!

Spring Fling - Baskets and bouquets, showers of much-anticipated rain...this month's focus is herbal and floral sensory delights 💮

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January	Fresh Starts - Time for a re-set, or morning masking? However you see it, this month is all about new beginnings.
February	Winter Love - Whether it's a mask you adore, or something extra-special to care for dry winter skin, this month is for some soothing TLC.
March	March Madness - Competition is in the air! Find a $ dupe of a $$$ mask that is share-worthy? Or find a dupe that works even better than the original? Details, please!
April	Spring Fling - Baskets and bouquets, showers of much-anticipated rain...this month's focus is herbal and floral sensory delights.
May	Dew Drops - May Day lore says to wash your face in the dew you collect in the morning of the first day of May for radiant skin. This month is for absorbing all of that good-for-you H2O.
June	Summer Sunshine - Ice cream, sunglasses, SPF, check! Once the sun is down (or before it's up), extra care is most necessary. How do you give your skin cooling repair?

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!

2023 Mask of the Week Challenge

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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💗

[ShortErica]

@PrettyPaint I want to say in high school, about every Christmas I'd get a little kit with nail clippers and scissors and all that jazz. So I have one in a bunch of locations including under my sink. I have no idea if they even have a brand. I also use my wonderful pointy friskers from when I was in elementary school sometimes too.

[PrettyPaint]

@ShortErica  My kids better watch out, then, because I may steal their scissors next time I need to cut a mask. I am actually tempted now to try fiskars/kid scissors because I sometimes get a little nervous cutting a mask that's already on my face.

[ShortErica]

Give it a go @PrettyPaint. They definitely have a more rounded tip nowadays than mine do which is more inviting.

[missjeanie]

oh so many masking memories @ShortErica !  I remember trying a jelly mask for the first time and was in awe of this magic goo!  lol.  You've convinced me to grab a sheet mask for post shower today!

[ShortErica]

I'll have to go look and see what you picked @missjeanie 🙂

[lmaster]

Great jelly masking! @ShortErica perfect time of the year for these!

[ShortErica]

I was bad @lmaster and had to stop in Marshalls because I was picking up something that was near the store. I wore a mask and everything but I really didn't need to stop in. Anyway, I saw the Holika Holika aloe gel masks and was so tempted. But I have an unopened box at home still to use + that whole mask no buy thing I'm making myself do. It's good to know they are coming back in stores though because once I do use mine up, those are the best aloe!

[WinglessOne]

Oh, another C week! You know what that means: it’s centella asiatica time! (Again!) 🌱💚 Last night I finished filing my taxes while wearing the Urang Love Cica x Opuntia Mask. And good grief, this photo's lighting makes the sleeve(s) look more mint/seafoam than teal. 

2 "hearts" in X formation for this week's theme.

Notes: 

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Claims: Reduces redness and inflammation; softens skin. 

Ingredients: I like how short this list is, but I wish it was beefed up a bit more. I mean, cica water in first place (makes up 40% of the serum) is fantastic, but I’d also like to see cica extracts in the mix. Urang says 5% of the serum is prickly pear (opuntia humifusa). Calendula and chamomile should provide some soothing action. 

Lichen + Japanese pepper + Korean Pasque Flower = EURO-NApre, a very common natural preservative used in Korean skincare products. Earlier this year there was some buzz about some batches of EURO-NApre containing waaaay too much silver to be considered safe in skincare products by Korean government standards. If that’s true, that puts a HUGE number of skincare products in the “don’t use til further notice” category. This is partly me reminding myself to look all that up again… I recently bought a laptop to replace my faithful 10 year old one and didn’t transfer everything over. But if anyone else hears more about this—including whether or not it was a false alarm (maybe the scientist who uncovered this has changed their tune by now)—let me know! 

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Centella Asiatica Leaf Water*, Water, Glycerin*, Pentylene Glycol, Opuntia Humifusa Flower/Stem Extract*, Sclerotium Gum, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract*, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower*, Citric Acid
(* Organic ingredient / 63%) 

Performance: Whenever I use this type of “combine wet and dry ingredients” mask, I prefer to let the sheet soak in serum for at least 30 minutes before use so it’s fully loaded. So I poured this mask’s serum into the dry sheet pouch an hour ahead of time. The sleeve design made this an easy enough task that it didn’t annoy me. I still wound up with half a handful of serum left behind. I almost saved it in the resealable pouch, but decided to use it on my neck, chest, and shoulders. 

The average-thick cotton sheet was soft enough. It was too long at the chin but stayed folded under. It wasn’t wide enough at the jaw but not terribly narrow. I snipped the mouth hole corners, and cut slits into the eyehole corners to help that material lay flat. 

I tried to place this mask's faint scent the whole 35 minutes of wear. It’s green, slightly peppery, not quite ginger, not quite cumin, almost turmeric…? I liked it! But what is it?! 😂 I still can’t identify a cica note because I’ve never smelled a centella asiatica plant; my nose needs a solid reference. Anyway, after removing the sheet, I spent a minute massaging serum into my skin. I had no pilling or tackiness afterward. 

Results: Very hydrated and happily plump skin, with a mild glow and an almost moisturized feel. Most of my surface redness was gone, and the big angry pimple on my forehead no longer felt sore. I doubled down with a mist of cica water toner and topped off my routine with The Inkey List Vitamin B, C, & E Moisturizer. This morning, my skin’s still pretty calm. 

I have one more of this mask and I think I’ll save it for colder weather. After pondering if the Petite Amie mask is USD $8 worth of like-it, I now ask myself the same about this Urang mask: I like it, but do I $8-9 like it, compared to my less expensive and equally (or more) effective cica masks? Final judgment will happen later this year. 

[itsfi]

Glad to hear this gave you good results @WinglessOne. I like the serum in this mask pack; though my preference for the thinner material when it comes to sheet masks rings true for this one.

[Shosh85]

@WinglessOne  This one sounds nice - glad it could help calm things down! Where would one go to smell a Cica plant? I'm super curious as well 🤔

I've never heard of EURO-NApre, but now I feel like I need to do more research on it! Hopefully it was a mistake 😉

[eshoe]

@WinglessOne I’m just jealous that you have a working Mac. Mine had its WiFi lose all sense when the keyboard got a tiny bit of water on it. I’m tethered and annoyed but at least I can type 🙄

”So I poured this mask’s serum into the dry sheet pouch an hour ahead of time.” That is a beautiful hack, and I want that scent in my next mask. I am curious about the silver you mentioned, also as you mentioned-will have to look that one up. I think it’s fair to say you have exceeded your great masks per month quota😊

[WinglessOne]

@eshoe  Aw, sorry about your Mac. 😞 I resisted buying a new one (a laptop) for years because Apple stopped making them easily customizable a few years ago. I'm still getting used to this one's touch strip above the keyboard—I somehow keep accidentally touching it—and the enormous touchpad. 😂

@Shosh85 I'm trying to remember where I first heard about the EURO-NApre issue... Lab Muffin, maybe? I haven't heard anything more about it, but I also haven't kept track of it, what with all the other worse and confirmed badness happening in the world this year. Anyway, this is the kind of thing I'd love to hear more chemists weigh in on. Yet another reason I wish I knew Korean: it'd be much faster to search for info at Korean sites, news, and journals, without relying on a Korean-to-English translator. 

Apparently you can buy potted centella asiatica from etsy. I'm very tempted to buy one! I wonder if any local nurseries carry it. There might also be 100% cica powder available from a few places, especially those that sell "traditional" medicines... hmm... the lengths I'll go to just to know for certain what something smells like... 🤣 I went through this exercise back when I was first training my nose to identify various notes in wines: I read some wine pros' tasting notes on specific wines, and anything they identified that I didn't already know the smell or taste of, I tracked down just to smell and taste myself. Decades later, I still do it whenever there's a taste/fragrance note I can't identify, like cica. 

[eshoe]

Heading over to Etsy now, @WinglessOne, I’m too curious. Eta: bought the seeds, let’s see if I can get them to sprout.

[emaisgr8]

@WinglessOne  I  ❤️ your X!

[lmaster]

These look really cool @WinglessOne sounds wonderful as well, price point idk maybe a good mask to splurge on once in awhile?

[ShortErica]

@WinglessOne I think @Shosh85 mentioned an $8 sheet mask was a bit beyond her liking and I'm in the same boat. I'll be very curious about your final decision at the end of the year. I'm glad it does give great results.

[emaisgr8]

C is for The Creme Shop Cold brew mask

 

 

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OMG I loved the light coffee scent on this one. The mask itself was humongous. It felt nice and cooling on my face this morning and my face felt more firm afterwards. 

[Shosh85]

@emaisgr8  Love the scent on this one! I'd definitely use it a lot more too, if it weren't for that dang alcohol! Glad you liked too! 😃☕️

[lmaster]

@emaisgr8 love the scent on this one

[emaisgr8]

It really smells good @lmaster 

[ShortErica]

Yay for the scent and results @emaisgr8! I wish The Creme Shop would step it up in the fit department. They are so accessible and it's a bummer that they don't fit a little more nicely.