💕😌 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💗

[itsfi]

Went with a green theme, as I continue working my way through the rainbow theme. These also fit into this week's letters of the week themes, with an O for Origins, as well as a sheet mask with an odious scent for my taste, a slightly ocean-scented resurfacing treatment, and an overnight mask that happens to be an oldie (another O) and a love (an L), and some TLC for the lips. 

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The wash-off masks and the Glow Recipe Avocado Melt Sleeping Mask are ones I’ve used before and enjoy. Glow Recipe no longer makes this overnight mask; the new version contains retinol, which my skin can be very sensitive to so it’s not one I’ll likely pick up. The original version is a moisturizing overnight mask for my skin in the cooler months. It makes a nice follow up to Peach & Lily Super Reboot Resurfacing Mask, which I’ve been using weekly on my chin and along my jawline to keep my pores clean and clear. It’s a 10% AHA / 0.5% BHA formulation with a soft floral and lightly oceanic scent; and just look at that color!!! Is it blue? Green? A combination of both? Probably the latter, but to keep to my green color of the rainbow theme, we’ll say it’s more green. lol.  

While it may be a stretch to say the Peach & Lily mask is green in color, there’s no doubting the green color of the Sephora Collection The Seaweed Mask, an one-piece, ill-scented hydrogel mask that is one of the better fitting sheet masks for my face shape and features. That’s rare but this will not be a repurchase for me – the scent on this mask is fortunately, not strong, but sadly, it is extremely unpleasant and it lingers a bit longer than I cared. It reminds me of the stinky smell from the kelp that washes up on the beach and the various rotting organisms tied up in the kelp. Ick. If that weren’t enough to steer me away from this mask again (it is!), the irritation my skin experienced most certainly is.  

The redness eventually went away and I did use Origins Hello, Calm mask to help it along. I initially received a sample of the Hello, Calm before it launched, and after using it, I've picked up a full size and this prom size as well. I know that many are not fond of the scent on the scent on this Origins mask, but it is so much better than the scent on the seaweed mask and the mask is both calming for my senses and my face.

Lip care included the Smashbox Mindful 5 Nourishing Lip Oil in the morning and the LabNo Cicaloe Intensive Lip Balm in the evening, both of which I've used before. The Smashbox Lip Oil isn't greasy, goopy, tacky or sticky; it is actually glides on more like a light balm-gloss than an oil and melts into the lips very easily. I like it as a prep for my lip products when I'm getting ready. The LabNo lip balm includes two ingredients I really like - centella asiatica and aloe - that work together to hydrate and soothe the lips. It actually feels more like a nourishing cream for the lips than a balm, and is one I'd recommend for those with very dry and/or sensitive lips.

Origins Hello Calm™ Relaxing & Hydrating Face Mask with Hemp Seed Oil 2.5 oz/ 75 mL 

SEPHORA COLLECTION Clean Sea Weed Mask 

Smashbox Mindful 5 Nourishing Lip Oil 

[Shosh85]

@itsfi  Boo! Sorry the sheet mask didn't go so well! Thanks for saving me from buying this one - that scent alone would be a big fat NO for me too! 
Have you tried The Creme Shop Sea Kelp Masquerade Eye Mask? I believe that one has brown algae in it and I was just curious if that caused a reaction for you. 🤔

[PrettyPaint]

@itsfi  Oh yikes! Sorry you had a bad reaction. One of my worst reactions to a skincare product was an ingredient that had something to do with the sea, but to this day I don’t remember what the ingredient or product was. Whatever it was, my eyes were swollen shut for a couple of days.

Also, I love that you managed to squeeze the word odious in there. 

[itsfi]

Yeah @PrettyPaint, I always have a little hesitation when it comes to seaweed / kelp ingredients. I seem to be fine with spirulina. So far, it looks like I'm okay with micro-algae, but my skin has a more challenging time with products containing macro-algae. At least, that's what I've gleaned so far, but I haven't really dug deep in my research. I'll just make avoiding similar products the rule and maybe occasionally make an exception if the algae type ingredient isn't the star ingredient or very far up on the list. Ha - yes, I was trying to think of an "O" tie-in and odious eventually came to mind. lol. I feel like I should play Scrabble when I'm sheet masking, or when I'm posting my reviews, as more uncommon words seem to come to mind when I'm doing those things. 😂🤣😂

[PrettyPaint]

@itsfi  Yes! I have a suspicion it may be algae, but I didn't realize there were different types. It's definitely something I should probably do some research on. As a general rule, I tend to avoid putting sea-related products anywhere near my eyes. The rest of my face can generally handle some abuse, but anywhere close to my eyes always makes me nervous. 

[itsfi]

@PrettyPaint, it’s amazing what I learn from what starts out as researching a mask or skincare products, or ingredient(s) in it. 😆 I didn’t know of the micro / macro distinction either until trying to figure a common denominator for what doesn’t sit well with my skin. That’s an excellent call on avoiding the eye area - such a sensitive zone. 

[lmaster]

Oh no @itsfi I was excited to see it wasn't the white sheet,,, but the scent sounds...well,,, not for me 😣

[itsfi]

@lmaster, I’ve been lucky that the seaweed sheet masks I‘ve used haven’t had this smell. It makes me wonder what this mask sheet would have smelled like if they didn’t add fragrance to it. 😱😬 

[quspork]

That's unfortunate about the seaweed mask, @itsfi. I think there were a couple other folks in the gratis thread for this collection that mentioned having a reaction to this one as well. Definitely not rushing to add this one to the cart!

[itsfi]

Thanks @quspork! My skin has had a not-so-good history with certain seaweed / kelp / algae sheet masks. I’ll just lay low on trying anything new until I can do a little more research of my own, including checking ingredients lists of products I’ve used to get a better idea of what has worked and what definitely does not work. 

[WinglessOne]

@itsfi  Yikes, that scent... now I'm doubly glad I passed on that seaweed mask. (I originally skipped it because it contains eucalyptus water.) Sorry it was so stinky and irritating! At least the Origins mask helped soothe your skin afterward. 🙂 

[itsfi]

@WinglessOne, I’m glad you passed on this mask. I was hesitant to pick it up because my skin has been hyper sensitive to some, (but not all) kelp / seaweed sheet masks, but I decided to give this one a try. Lesson learned. I also learned that if I haaaaad to choose between a strong scent that dissipated almost immediately and a noticeable one that lingers, I’ll choose the former. It seemed like I picked up the scent every time I moved my head. 😬 As with all things, this one really isn’t for me but it may be someone else’s treasure. 

Hmmm... interesting about the eucalyptus water. Is it just eucalyptus water or are  ingredients like eucalyptus oil or eucalyptus extract also a no-go for you? 

[WinglessOne]

@itsfi  Yeah, I try to avoid as many essential oils as possible. Most of them contain volatile fragrance components my face is sensitive to. Eucalyptus oil is a no-go for my face, but sheet masks made of eucalyptus pulp are fine. Sometimes perfumed water is less irritating to my face than perfumed oil. But my face doesn't like damask rose water or damask rose oil, so I didn't want to take a chance on eucalyptus water. 

I don't remember if eucalyptus extract plays nice with my face... sometimes it seems "extract" is just another word for "oil." Rosemary is an exception: rosemary leaf extract is fine with me, but rosemary leaf oil is definitely not. Anyway, I just avoid eucalyptus everything in products whenever possible. 🤣 Well, except for the pulp used in mask sheets. 

If you haven't yet, I hope you can zero in on which types of kelp/seaweed/algae irritate your skin. Some folks say it's no big deal if your skin develops a sensitivity; "just stop using those products at that point and switch to something else!" Yeah well, it's not a big deal unless you're the one with super painfully inflamed skin that requires hours (or days, or weeks) of TLC to heal. Anyway, sounds like you might need to avoid seaweed altogether. 😞 

[itsfi]

Yeah, me too @WinglessOne, but I don’t know if I want to go through the effort to isolate which type kelp/algae/seaweed my skin doesn’t respond well to. 😬 Fortunately, whatever irritation it brings has subsided quickly, but I’m not looking to test that too much. So far, seaweed / kelp masks are a no go. I’ll cross reference ingredients in those masks at some point. We’ll see if I decide to be adventurous again when it comes to that ingredient in a sheet mask (or other skincare), but for now, any seaweed for me will be in food form, and I’m okay with that. 😉😆 

[haleyvvvv]

Two More Glam&Glow Masks 

111 Skin Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask 

With actual gold, this brightening mask claims to brighten your skin for that glow. I think I've reviewed this mask before, but I have a box and they're expiring mid next year and I'm likely getting another box in a sub box, so thought I'd use for the theme. I was going to use one for my doctorate convocation this year, but alas, that did not happen, so I had an "extra" special occasion one. Friday's mask as Friday is a brightening mask night.

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Fit

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I always feel like hydrogels fit my face better, because they're able to stick better maybe? This isn't the best fit, particularly around the nose, but it is much better than cotton or other sheet masks.

Serum

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Watery. Not a ton in the package, but a lot on the mask and the surrounding foils.

Claims

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Brighten, firm and optimize skin moisture levels.
It definitely brightens. Firming, eh, I don't think a single sheet mask really does anything for firming, but it did plump my skin a bit. For skin moisture, the mask was hydrating, but I need to be better about putting on a hydrating serum before, rather than after, to really see. Next time, I still have a few.

Ingredients 

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Niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate and CICA in the middle are probably heavy workhorses here, but also (albeit a bit understudied) hydrolyzed collagen and collodial gold toward the end, as well as lecithin. No overwhelming fragrance, but some was added, unfortunately.

Wear Time 

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Suggests 20 min, I left on for 35-40+ minutes, and the whole gel was still damp, but not a lot of serum left over. A little bit of tack, but quickly patted in. I don't always notice tack because I usually mask at night, but I am trying to remember more.

Overall Grade

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B+. I am very glad I got a box in a subscription box. They are by no means worth their full price ($135 CDN for 5; $27/mask). Truly, do not spend your money on these at full price. If you see them in a sub box or in like a Marshall's for a reasonable price, definitely worth a grab in my opinion. I think they are best during the day before a thing, rather than as a nighttime mask, but we aren't going anywhere these days, so... Maybe if I have to take pictures for something or have to give a conference talk, I would try out during the day. They definitely are a nice reset, and provide a nice brightening, plumping and hydrating effect

Clarins Masque-Serum Liftant 

An even more expensive mask that I also received from a sub box. Liftant or lifting mask shape due to the ear holds for face and neck. Saturday nights are for firming masks.

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Fit

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This is a thicker cotton and wood cellulose mask. It is a thick, but soft mask, that surprisingly fit all right on the top part of my face. The ear loops took some stretching to get over my ears, but wasn't too uncomfortable wearing. The neck was way too big, and I had to fold it over on top of itself a bit. It is VERY scented, which is disappointing.

Serum

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A thin milky serum, that wasn't very present on the mask basally or in the packet, but when I was done wearing the mask, I squeezed a bunch out of the mask.

Claims

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Instant lifting and plumping. Definitely plumped my skin a bit, but firming, not so much. 

Ingredients

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There is a LOT of fragrance in this mask and from my limited knowledge, not too many lifting ingredients. The info online points toward the oat, harungana and chestnut escin as hero ingredients, but I don't know a lot about these ones.

Wear Time

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Says to leave on for 15 minutes. I wore for 30+ and it was starting to feel dry, but when I squeezed it out there was a lot of serum left, but maybe that was mostly in the neck, as that was still more damp. I think these ear looped firming masks are supposed to be worn for longer to see an effect (did I see someone else recently wear one here?), so it is weird that it is marketed for 15 minutes.

Overall Grade

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C-/D. This is not a good mask. It is not worth the value. It could be, potentially, as it really does cover a lot of area and fits well-ish (I can't imagine cutting all those different holes is cheap and contributes to the price), but it contains too much added perfume and there wasn't a ton of benefits. No terrible side effects, so not a complete failure. Just very disappointing.  

[Shosh85]

@haleyvvvv  The 111 Skin mask sounds nice! It's great you didn't have to pay full price to try it! The mask would have to do a heck of a lot to get me pay that much for it! 

[haleyvvvv]

I'm not, opposed, per se, but definitely wary of paying so much for sheet masks @Shosh85. It is A LOT, though, so I'd always hope they're so much better than ones that are $10, which is even a lot.

[Shosh85]

@haleyvvvv  I'm just super cheap 😂 I've never spent more than $6 for a mask and really try to stay in $3 or less category. Although, knowing me and my FOMO, if there's an expensive mask that people are constantly raving about, I'd probably break down and buy it 🤣

[PrettyPaint]

@haleyvvvv  Sorry these didn’t work out too well for you. Those ear loops look very uncomfortable. Congrats on getting your doctorate, but I’m sorry you didn’t get to have the ceremony. 

[haleyvvvv]

Yeah, those ear loops weren't the worst, but they weren't great, I think I took them off halfway through, @PrettyPaint.

Thank you!! In the grand scheme of things its not the worst, but I was looking forward to my silly gown and the whole pomp.

[ShortErica]

I feel like I keep seeing some mid and low level grades - you're due for an awesome one @haleyvvvv!