💕😌 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💗

[QueenMarceline]

Today is a "boring" day (at least for me, since I'm not trying anything new) I'm doing a porch gift exchange with some friends and I haven't been getting as much sleep as I liked. These eye gels are my "go-to" and probably (definitely) the ones I have the most of, I just re-stocked on a bunch of large bags of these during the 21 day sale when they were 50% off and they seem to make an appearance on the 21 day sale at ULTA at least once or twice a year, which is great for me. I have turned my sister and mom on to these eye gels as well that's why during the sale I also got them each a pack. Today I decided to simply wash my face, put on some moisturizer, serum and then slapped these on. I don't have much time for a routine/makeup (plus, it's a porch exchange and then I'm running errands lol) so I figured these would be perfect to give me a bit of a boost on this afternoon.

Key Ingredients (off ULTA site):

• Hydrolyzed extensin helps skin cells lock in moisture, plumping fine lines and wrinkles and helping to restore tone and firmness
• Ginkgo biloba leaf extract improves blood flow to brighten the under-eye area and help reduce puffiness
• Acetyl hexapeptide-8 helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by calming muscles under the skin
• Coenzyme Q10, a powerful antioxidant, helps fight free radicals
• Icelandic Complex, a proprietary natural blend that replenishes the nutrients that stress depletes

My Thoughts:

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As previously mentioned, these are my most used eye gels so I really do enjoy them. They have an outer "sheet" sticker and an inner (the part that touches your eye) gel-like consistency. The gel is always a bit cool to the touch and it really feels nice against the skin, especially the under eye area. I always use these as a quick refreshment but to be honest, at full price without the discount I usually get them for... I think they're a bit "up there" in price for what they do. They do indeed slightly depuff the eyes but if you have dark circles or want a brightening/tightening effect these are not it. I would describe them as the perfect, mediocre, go-to, reach for when you don't want to think about it type-of-eye-mask. Probably exactly why I like them so much, I'm sure there is definitely better eye masks out there that target fine lines, dark circles, bags-but I don't typically have a very large struggle with those ailments (only sometimes).

I genuinely enjoy the cooling effect, I feel that they "wake me up" in the morning and the consistency is really nice. One of my favorite parts is that they aren't messy, this isn't an eye gel that is drenched in serum or one that comes out sticky, wet and causes a mess. These are truly unique in that sense, they have an outer layer that is a sheet and an inner eye gel with the serum already infused into the "gel-like" padding on the inside of the eye mask. The gel padding adheres very gently but securely to the eye (unlike some other masks that can be slippery). Wherever you place these, they will stay until you take them off. The wear time for these states 10 minutes but I keep them on until the gel stops being cooling and refreshing and leans towards a bit uncomfortable-that's my usual "sign" (which is around the 15 minute mark). After wearing these the under eye feels gently hydrated and very refreshed.

Ps. Please ignore the dog hair on the mask, I was in the bathroom doing my routine and I could not say no to the puppy dog face so I invited her to come hangout in the bathroom with me. Then I just had to pet her, you know? 😂

[elleb810]

@QueenMarceline 

These are must haves!

[QueenMarceline]

@elleb810 Yes they absolutely are ❤️ some of my all time faves

[Shosh85]

@QueenMarceline  Glad to hear you're a big fan of these! These are a favorite of mine as well! 

[QueenMarceline]

@Shosh85 Love seeing how many BIC members are also fans of this great mask 🙂 Clearly, we all have great taste here.

[Shosh85]

@QueenMarceline  Haha! I totally agree! 

[lmaster]

@QueenMarceline these are solid eye gels! I like to use them while I'm applying my eye makeup

[QueenMarceline]

@lmaster That's honestly a fantastic idea especially for eyeshadow palettes that are known for high volume fall-out. I don't know why I haven't done that yet? 😂

[lmaster]

@QueenMarceline it's really perfect!! Less mess for sure

[itsfi]

@QueenMarceline, you know, sometimes, 'boring' mask days are the best!! These Skyn Iceland gels are nice. TSA once went through my carry-on (and specifically, my bag of sheet masks - I *may* have packed more than just a couple) - the agent made a comment that these eye gels were good - hahaha! It's great that Ulta regularly offer these at half off - perfect time to stock up.

[QueenMarceline]

@itsfi Seems like they're quite the hit with some other members here in the BIC. Honestly in my group of friends no one was using these for a whiiiiile and I always wondered why. I love the "sticker" aspect of them. They're honestly great to pop-on in the morning time. I truly don't think I'll ever not be stocked up (overly stocked, lol) on these.

[eshoe]

@QueenMarceline a porch gift-exchange sounds fun! 

[QueenMarceline]

@eshoe It actually was 🙂 We had it planned for December but craziness occurred so christmas in mid-January is always fun! Haha

[missy94612]

@QueenMarceline  

Love these eye gels.

[QueenMarceline]

@missy94612 Aren't they fantastic? 🙂

[missjeanie]

@QueenMarceline Love these too.  I think they may have been the first of the 'sticker' type eye gels I used.  Truly my preferred eye gel style these days!

[QueenMarceline]

@missjeanie Yes! 🙂 I really love these, always have a bunch on hand. Really a go-to.

[Mellmars1185]

@QueenMarceline I hope you enjoyed your masking experience! It is nice to have company sometimes! 🐶

[QueenMarceline]

@Mellmars1185 It really was, we ended up going to a friends porch area to exchange gifts. Very fun 🙂

[itsfi]

Alphabet Spotlight: B for blueberries, B vitamins (strawberry), and brightening (maple)

Weekly Challenge: Winter Masking Routine: The Weekend Edit (with a slight nod to last week's mask organization challenge) 

My skin thirsts for more hydration during the winter months. Another masking "routine" I have during this season to get in some extra hydration is to use a sheet mask twice a day on the weekends (if and when my skin can tolerate twice sheet masking sessions), with at least one, but more times than not, both, of those daily masks, being a hydrating, nourishing or soothing mask. 

These are the last of my Kocostar waffles masks - I used the the honey and ice cream varieties last year and meant to use these last year as well, so technically, I guess they could have been part of last weeks' mask clear out / organization theme - well, they could have if I had gone through all three by then. But I did not, so here we are. 😆

The blueberry variety is said to rejuvenate the skin. Strawberries contain 5 of the B-complex vitamins - thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6), and folate (B9) and the strawberry mask claims to "refine skin texture with a boost of vitamins." The maple mask pledges to revitalize and brighten skin. 

tl;dr: the waffle cut French fry grid pattern on each of these soft, medium-thick, gauze-like 100% cotton fiber sheets is heavily coated with a clear, thick gel that feels cooling and refreshing against the skin. There's a lot of gel but it's not overwhelming; at least not for someone with dry, very dry or dehydrated skin, it wouldn't be too much, but I can see that someone with oily or combo skin might need to make adjustments to the amount of serum. While the scent varies from flavor to flavor, the end results are generally the same - skin looks and feel soft, smooth, brightened and nourished, with a supple bounce to it. 

Sheet Masks:

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Maybe it’s just me but I feel like the primary differences, possibly the only differences, between the masks in this collection is the star ingredient and the scent associated with each mask. Everything else, including the results seem to be identical - soft, medium thick cotton gauze-like sheet resembling waffle cut French fry pattern saturated in a clear, thick gel that leaves skin soft, smooth, slightly supple, brightened and nourished after as little as 30 minutes. 

Having used all of these masks, here are my preferences, in order of most favorite to least, with the scent my nose picks up for the particular flavor -

1. Blueberry 🫐 - smells deliciously of blueberries
2. Strawberry 🍓 - fruity, generic berry scent at first; I do smell a faint strawberry scent but it’s discreetly mild
3. Honey 🍯 - an overall sweet scent with a subtle honey twist.
4. Ice Cream 🍨 - I primarily pick up that signature sheet mask scent. There’s another note to it but I can’t decipher what it is.
5. Maple 🍁 - I was expecting a sweet maple syrup scent, and not the slightly floral one I picked up. 
   

I know a few others here have used these waffle masks before and I'd love to hear their takes on whether they had a preference for any of the flavors. The packaging on these Kocostar waffle masks are fun and make fabulous gifts. My dry and dehydrated skin enjoys the thicker gel serum in these masks - cooling, soothing and hydrating - and plenty of it to help quench my skin's thirst. 

What else I enjoy about these Kocostar masks are the waffles (gluten free) I'm inspired to make when I see these masks in my mask library. I've been reaching for one of these masks every weekend for the last few weeks and trying different waffle combinations and recipes afterwards, so that could give another shout out to the B theme, with B for brunch! 😉

gluten free waffles

[elleb810]

@itsfi 

OMG, those waffles! It's near bedtime but I want waffles now. They look delicious and those masks look like a lot of fun for all ages.