Multiple Masking Mania: Clay's the new Sheetmask

Don't you often get that feeling that when something is a true hype, you start looking elsewhere? 

As with sheetmasking, I have been into Asian trends since the beginning of my blog (about 2007) and the occasional sheetmasks has often been a part of my facial routine. Don't get me wrong...I am so happy about the variety of sheetmasks popping up everywhere, instead of waiting for days for my gmarket Korea packet to come in...Sheetmasks are brilliant in moisture and adding a essence/serum really effectively, but when it comes to getting that pure, porepurging feeling...Clay is the word! 

Since I am still lazy to borrow from my own Instagram, ofcourse meticulously taken and edited photos, I had the theme "#spooning for #singlegirls is all about Multiple Masking". So there you go: 4 gorgeous colours of clay-based masks that each have a different purpose for the skin.

Left to Right:

• Lush Don't Look At Me Mask is as fresh as its smurfblue colour. It has a good whopping of citrus juice combined with the base-clay of Kaoline. Citrus Juice is nice for brightening skin and purifying pores, but I would steer away from the sensitive parts of your face. This one went on the nose and chin. It is quite fraganced of neroli essential oil...The blue colour, unfortunately, is a colourant and not derived from any natural clay-source.
• Cattier Paris Pink Clay Mask is the perfect type of clay for purifying sensitive skin. The list of ingredients is short: Pink clay, Organic sheabutter, Organic peppermint extract, Lactic acid (vegetable), Organic Aloe vera but that is enough to purify on a gentle level. The price was under a fiver and the cream-to-clay formula is easier than handling the power version of pink clay.

•  Before Herbana I never heard of Purple Clay before. According to Herbana (here) "Violet clay is a combination of a few natural clays which contains low concentration natural minerals. It is rich in silica and less absorptive than green clays" and I get a similar summing up of minerals from this and this site. Now Herbana amped up the youth-boosting factor for adding argan oil, Rosehip Oil and Aloe Vera gel. It still dries to a dry and violet mask but the effect is incredibly soft. I really like the effect this masks gives me: I feel purified without that overly dry feeling some clay masks can give. This retails for a reasonable € 13 on Etsy, and will make fun selfie/masking/scaring your cat/loved one game.

• You might have heard a lot about NIOD and their Flavavone Mud Mask. Niod often has an incredibly story behind their innovative ingredients, and this one is no exception about their triple faces of 1. Purifying ; 2. Protecting & 3. Responsive Phase. For the whopping amount of € 35 a good story should be behind it, right? Personally, I was not really wowed by this mask. During my most sensitive phase of my psoriasis, it actually felt quite drying and not really helping my skin. The Cattier Pink clay actually worked at that same phase, so I guess price, an elaborate story and innovation are not always an all-cure-for-all. Now my skin is a lot calmer, I find it just ok but not as good as the Cattier or my gorgeous new Herbana. I still like a lot of NIOD's products, especially the Copper serum, but this one did not float my boat.

Just as sheetmasking can be a lot of fun, I think the added natural or unnatural colours of the claymasks can look fun and also have an a beneficial value. Most people would think of claymasks as drying and more suitable for oily/combined skin but the gentlier versions of pink and purple clay can be quite beneficial for dryer, dehydrated and maturing skins thanks to the additional minerals. Closing off the skin from air and other elements, similar as taking a sheetmask, often helps the regeneration/purifying process some more. However, take in mind that clays can draw out the occassional pimple as well so perhaps before a date or special occasion, the sheetmasks would be a tad more smoothing.

Osmia Organics Detox Exfoliating Mask

In my last post I declared my undying admiration for anyone who has the quality of 'great skin' under the 2000-ish pixels of our wonderfully mega-cameras these days:  

[yes, you ms Kruger & your superfood-infused Goopy Gwynneth) 

That will get me discussing my own skin again. Shortly, I peeled and treated my skin from my 20s-acne pot-holed affected skin to a smoother canvas. Hence, not too unhappy about this result. However, larger pores are a hereditary condition and making them tinier & grime-free is a continuous & effortful task of mine. 

Enter OSMIA detox exfoliating mask 

I gotten ridiculously curious about this mask seeing it on my organic-orientated blogger-'sisters' like BeautyByBrittanie, NoMoreDirtyLooks & SeedtoSerum

 But the not-always-organic bloggers have been raving about this mask as well, like on Babble &  Taylor on MyLucidDreams. All of them are proud owners of gorgeous complexion so they must be on to something...

My order arrived in a beautiful Hummingbird * flower decorated box. I loved the personal note & some generous samples! And that for a company that has gotten quite famous already.

The samples consisted of their famous black soap and this gorgeous Calibration Serum.

It is actually an oil but really suitable for combination skin. I've been using it on my t-zone lately, and I really have less pimples/congestions there lately.

However, I'm not reviewing that one today. So let's direct the scope to the ingredients of the Detox Mask:

Chock-full of good & effective natural ingredients...I'm specifically chuffed about the raw manuka honey (an intensive detoxifyer & moisturizer at the same time) & the raw cocoa powder.

The pretty little mixing bowl is a part of their set: how handy:

Uhm, not putting any public face-mask pictures up: I'll save those for facebook but I'd like to show you how the mask looks when added a liquid to your choice: Thin & chocolat-y:

As for liquid of choice: the standard option is water, but I love to mix it with one of my toners or make a water-&-manuka-honey blend and mix it with the powder.

Verdict:

• thin mask which seems to reach the 'dirt' of the pores easier than a thicker mask
• slightly tightening but not drying (de-moisturizing) effect
• dries fast in 2 minutes: so effective for a quicker mask 

• smells delicious with a small hint of chocolate
• clearer & tighter pores afterwards
• my sensitive skin stayed rather calm (no redness etc) afterwards
• price: midrange (when you calculate shipping in) but will last about 3 months with regular (2 a 3 weekly) facials
• love the personal attention to the order & the generous samples to try out

Conclusion: The raves online are justified: this mask preforms well and does what it says.

Availability: on the Osmiaorganics website for $50.00

Autumn Newbies

Uhoh, reading blogs can be so enabling...

I've been more curious about organic brands lately, thus stumbling upon the organic beautybloggers has given me a million new lemmings for trying out facial oils.

Face oils have already been my skinsaver option for this summer. For Autumn I am eager to try out the wonderfully named 'Glow Serum' from Astor & Bay. This time it has been SeedtoSerum enthousiastically uttering the words "airbrush-like effect" & "instant radiance".

 

Those words gotten me weak in the knees wallet, which as not that bad as the oil is under €25.

I'll keep you updated to see if I will utter similar words of enthousiasm as well.

I also found some sample sizes of Greek brand Apivita:

 

The clay-masks have gotten quite the cult-status on makeupalley.

I do not need clay-masks as much as in summer, less oiliness and I do not have the full-duty sunblock on every day. Still, cleansing up the skin is always a good way to keep it clear and luminescent and a better way for your serums etc do work optimally.

This Works *in transit* Camera Ready

 Disclaimer: finally one of my notoriously lengthy reviews again

 Lately I'd merely touched upon some products in my 'using, used, gonna use..."-category. I like reviewing products more in dept, but if I find out that every blogger has been doing that before, I feel 'meh' about bringing forward my own opinion.

But now: This Works In Transit "Camera Ready" hybrid product!

Mask, Moisturizer & primer in 1

I have a combination of a great enthousiasm and mild suspicion for hybrid products. It amazing to find something that can multitask. However, even if our feminine ability makes it easier to multitask better than our more testosterone-fulled other halfs, it doesn't always mean every task will be done with full precision.

So, the goal of this multitasker: BEAUTY! (what else for this blog)

 

(Actually, it would not be my only goal: I am about pampering, relaxation and other things as well, but hey, This Works has done a lovely way to tag on the cartbox)

But to return to the goals: easing signs of fatigue, boosting hydratations & prepping skin for photo perfect makeup...

haven't I heard this one before about 15 years ago???

YEP

In so many ways it is similar to Clarins Beauty Flash Balm...but I will return to that later.

I like the presence of Argina Spinosa and Borago Officinalis, or argan oil & borage oil that are high on the ingredient list (hence strongly dosed). The rest of the ingredients do not sound bad either, but I would loved Rosa Damescena to be higher on the ingredient list as it's an excellent beautifyer and smells delicious as well.

How to:

For adults only? that makes perfect sense but I once saw this document about child Pageans that worried me senseless. 

source: parentfail

I am deliberately not a mother (yet) for a variety of reasons but I totally question the sanity of parents who make their youngsters look like a Barbie doll on speed and let them compete. I could write whole articles about this phenonemon, but that would be better for University :). The HBO "living dolls" documentary is quite accurate if curious.

Swatches/application:

the blob

 

It takes really long to spread that blob into something that absorbs into the skin.

 

Tadah, photo-ready-pre-primed-perfect....(really?)

VERDICT:

I have been testing it for a week so here it goes 

• Texture: as seen above: a little bit can be used for a larger part of the skin
• Scent: I found it somewhat Nivea-ish on a softer level
• hybridity: it doesn't fully penetrate into the skin which is the perfect element for a good primer. However, by not fully absorbing does mean that the super-moisture element should be compensated by a real moisturizer. For a mask? I have better masks with more intensivity. I didn't find my skin to be better after wearing it for the whole week, so no.
• feel: somewhat balmy and in a way a bit too heavy for summer.
• price: I think €37.21 is quite expensive for 40 ml
• packaging: Hard plastic in a hygienic pump. You cannot really measure out the dosages, though.
• irritation-proof? My skin tolerates it in a mild manner.

Promise-worthy? -erasing fatigue?

• yes, but only in compensation of the necessary makeup.  (I had a irregular week sleep/activity-wise so it was perfect to test this one for it)

           - Boosting Moisture?

• Yes. My skin feels soft after a week. Sidenote that my body is in colloqual terms "not having it" by acting up (flares, etc), something that normally doesn't happen in summer (it's normally my happy-body-time). My face is relatively calm.

                          - Preps skin for Perfect Makeup

• Somewhat, but leave out "perfect". I think there are better primers out there but in combination with the moisture/mask effect I feel it is nice.

 

CONCLUSION:

I discussed the hybridity about hybrid products in the beginning, and I think it's best to refer to it as the title says: prepping for "Camera ready skin" (primer). There has been a reason I haven't rebought the classic Clarins Beauty Balm at that time being: too balmy, didn't really prime & it smelled too herbally. This one smells more neutral, but still it has same qualities that I wouldn't rebuy. Also, I couldn't say I gotten better skin after a week. I stared at the mirror and though: "darn, I need to get that terrible-but-effective Green Peel again" because my tiny acne-scars gotten visible again. 

Availability:

To be found on lookfantastic and feelunique.

Pretty Springy Things

- Something Cheeky

(YSL Creme de Blush 9)

-Something (from) Lush 

[Mumkin]

- Something Glossy 

[Le Metier de Beaute Sheer Brilliance Cannes]

Cannes looks really sparkly in spring-sunlight, but it's quite subtle on lips: 

- Something Mask-y 

Etos (Dutch Brand)

I guess it's more of a no [stop] buy for me lately....

My beauty diary 2-step Winter Bright Pack

This pretty sheet-set ended up in my shopping-cart a while ago. I have been trying a My Beauty Diary 2-step pack before (here), and the words 'Winter Bright' got me in...

Moisture and hydratation has been highly needed this long-lasting winter. I made a photo beginning winter of my hairline for the Phylia [de M] hairgrowth project and a second one last week: Conclusion is that my hair grew and got somewhat restored, but my skin has a bit more redness. It's still quite good after enduring the longer winter-weather, but not as smooth/calm as pre-winter.

That means I have to up my mask-routine a bit more. Something that targets especially for winter could be up for some soothing & brightening.

Shortly, an overview of the Steps:

1: Just like the previous My Beauty Diary 2-step system, it has a sheetmask in one compartment; an Olive Leaf mask. The smaller compartment contains Shea Butter creamy gel.

2: Ingredients of the Olive Leaf Mask:




Ingredients of the Shea Butter Creamy Gel:

 
3. How to use: similar to other (MBD) sheetmasks. The cream should be applied afterwards.

4. Date of production for controlling freshness.

Swatch of Step 2: the Shea Butter Creamy Gel

It has a lighter, fresh consistency which reminds me of Japanese Toner/lotion formulas

Step 1, the Olive Leaf sheetmask, is of a similar shape as most of My Beauty Dairy sheetmasks so I haven't made a photo of that one.

VERDICT:

• The Olive Leaf Sheetmask is quite drenched with liquid, being a moisture-bomb skins often needs for colder winters
• step 2: Shea Butter Creamy gel feels like a normal moisturizer instead of gel, but a thinner one.
• this time I really like an extra cream afterwards for extra hydratation
• Calming effect: yes...my redness around the nose reduced
• Brightening? I think so: my skin looked more translucent, moisturized & calmer afterwards
• lasting effect: until 3 days afterwards I had calmer, better skin with the same skincare regime
• scent sheetmask: somewhat fragant of a enhanced olive flower (bit chemical, but still fresh)
• scent Shea butter cream: neutral, fragance-free

CONCLUSION:
I really like this mask and wanna repurchase 2 or 3 more.

Availability:
I'm glad Sasa still has them for $ 1.70 per piece (here)

Using... Used... Gonna Use

One of my beauty resolutions is actually using up things...it's going all right. 

I will start off with the Using category:

• Using: Sunday Riley Good Genes treatment 

 Marketed as both a serum for 5 days a week or as a mask which has some potent Lactic Acid for that bit of exfoliating

Right now I find it a bit strong (read: stingy) for my delicate skin. I think I will alternate it and use it as a mask.

Talking about masks?

• Used: Glamglow mud mask (sample)

Although I love my sheetmasks, I really like the deep cleansing effect I will get from a mudmask. I have tried a variety from BeautyDIY Glacier Ice mudmask to Fango's various types, and I especially love them in summer when I pile up the sunscreen.

Glamglow has been marketed as the "Hollywood Mask" and the name already suggest "Glamour".

I really liked using this...as you can see from that picture above, it's that mudmasky green colour that would make Kermit envious. Also, it has some grains in it that become effective when you rinse off the mask in scrubbing motions.

Is it more fabulous than my other mudmasks? Not really, but I already have a really good stash. The Borghese Mudmasks each target a different aim, eg whitening or cleansing and are really effective for each cause. The Beauty DIY Glacier Mud is also so gorgeous as you only need a thin layer and it dries so fast. Moreover, Glacier Mud has a variety of minerals that really have an effect on the skin, besides the wonderful cleansing effect.

in the Clay department: Borgese & BeautyDIY

Still, I like it and it gets a 2-in-one action by cleansing(tingling) and scrubbing.

• Gonna Use: My gmarket diary

 

Wow, I purchased this one 1 1/2 year ago when I still was quite attached to Gmarket. I ordered a couple of their agendas then (eg this Alice in Wonderland) and forgot about this one untill I found it again. 

Most of Gmarket (Korean) agendas do not have fixed dates but only days of the week, so you can start and finish your agenda whenever you want.

Moreover, don't you think the "Plans of the Week" are cute? I am going to schedule in "Falling in Love" & "Beautiful Travel" soon.

My Beauty Dairy 2-Step America Soothing Pack

I love my sheetmasks...I once learned that sheltering the skin from the outer elements while doing a masks enhances it's effectiveness, and sheetmasks have this element included by covering the face with a cloth.

My Beauty Diary has already been one of my favourite brands. Trying out their 2-step system was on my wishlist, and I picked the America variety as I normally need soothing and calming the most during this time of year.

There are other continents represented with their properties as well: eg. Africa being hydrating, Asia being brightening and Europe being clarifying.

I can understand why Asia would be connected to brightening (as brightening and having lighter skin is high on most Asian skincare-user's wishlist) but I wonder why America got soothing. Perhaps Obama being reelected and trying to sooth the world economy into better states?

Sasa explains it that the ingedients connected to being soothing are found in (North-)America: "marigold, cotton, mimosa, echinacea plant and Crafts essence". But, the cheaters, there is also "organic bamboo water from the mountains of Asia" being found in there. 

So what is so 2-step about this system. Simply, you use the sheetmask first, and apply their taylored face-cream afterwards.

The quality of their sheetmask is like most of the MBD varieties: although I found that it tore quite easily when I tried to place it differently on my face.

sheetmask: nothing unusual

The second step, applying facecream, wasn't the most handy way for me: (Uhoh)

step 2: cream pours out when making a small tear...not too handy

I think this step is not really necessary when having done step 1 (the sheetmask). I found my face to be calmed and hydrated enough. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful step for the dryer skintypes out there.

VERDICT:

• designed for soothing? Yes, it has a calming effect on the skin and didn't irritate it (and I'm quite sensitive on the field of skin lately)
• scent: a bit of a mild chemical cucumber...I almost wanted to say "an American cucumber" as I smell this type of "cucumber"-scent a lot in American body-products. It is really light and not obtrusive. However, the people looking for a fragance-free mask will probably have to skip it.
• anti-ageing? Not really. Although lessening irritation can also qualify as "youth-defending". However, priorities have to be made with skincare and if your skin gets red/irritated, then diminishing that element is often more important than anti-ageing. However, there are products on the market that do both, such as Ren Hydra-Calm Youth defending serum
• 2 step necessity? Not really to me, but I use the moisturizer separate from the sheetmask and try to remember to make a really tiny tear.
• Hydrating properties of sheetmask? plenty serum/liquid. The mask is still moisturizing enough after 20 minutes of use.
• Size Sheetmask? It is on the smaller side on the width of the face. I'm from North-Europe and I wonder if broader face-types can fully cover the whole width of their face.

CONCLUSION:

It's a lovely mask and it's quite soothing. It's scented lightly. I personally think the 2-step is a bit gimmicky, but the extra face-cream (somewhere between lotion and cream) is nice and penetrates easily. I think the quality of the sheetmask itself is a bit thin and I think it could have been designed a bit wider for the Asian market. Nevertheless, I think My Beauty Diary has delivered a wonderful mask that keeps it's promise of soothing, and the names attached to the use to the continent is really cute.

AVAILABILITY:
I bought my package on sasa (here) for $18.70

Finished Finesse

On the things I used up lately:

1. Shills Oxygen Mask:

This Korean copycat brand probably has been staring too much at Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energysing Mask because the concept is almost the same. But that was the reason I bought this one, as I like the Bliss Oxygen mask but I wasn't too fond of the price. Shills retails around $13 whereas Bliss is $54.

I have been having this mask in my beauty-cabinet since buying a lot of Shills from sasa.com. Lately I have been using it more and I like it as much as the Bliss: it's easy, its fun (when the foamy bit starts to work) and it's fast (also 3 minutes). It might be coincidence, but if I use this the night before I can see my skin being clearer and more radiant the next day.

I would repurchase: too bad it isn't on sasa anymore.
 
2.  Vapour Atmosphere Soft Focus Foundation 120.

I am quite happy with the sample of the concealor I got in 020 (here), so trying out this *raved about* foundation was the next step.

It wasn't all perfect. First, as you can see, the colour has been quite dark. I didn't expected that as the colour beneath it, 115, claimed to be for fair skin, and this one for medium. It looks more like a medium-dark to me.  I thought the 120 would match the 020 concealer number? Secondly, the shimmer is too high for the whole face. Remember Mac Strobe cream? Only this over the whole face mixed with some foundation.

I guess this foundation will work for some people, but I prefer focused dewiness over total shimmer in a foundation.

3. L'Oreal Professionel Age Densiforce Omega 6 hairmask.

Another hairmask, and another one from L'Óreal Professionel.

I like this mask a lot, only the chemical rice-based scent will keep me from repurchasing it.

The beauty of this hairmask is that it is actually as thin as the usual conditioner, but works enough to qualify as a hairmask. As it targets for ageing hair, often thinner hair, the lighter consistency means it bring in more volume than the average hairmask. My hair was somewhat bouncier and with more volume than the average mask, without compromising too much on the moisturizing/repairing factor.

Right now I prefer the L'Óreal Professional Nature Mask Omega I reviewed here, because it gives my slightly damaged hair more moisture (although this one is better in volumising), and the scent of that one is so much better.

Biotherm Skin Vivo Reversive Anti-Aging Expansive mask: A Non-Asian Sheetmask

A couple of months ago I received this Biotherm Skin Vivo Sheet Mask as a freebie after buying some goodies from Burberry Beauty.

I have tried my share of sheetmasks and brands, probably not as much as some of the beautybloggers I follow but I have tried the known & lesser known brands

Sheetmasks strike me as a typical Asian-brand product. Even when they market for the Caucasian market, such a SKII or Shiseido.

Biotherm is (I think) a French brand. So let me see how this one lived up to my, rather elaborate, experience in sheet-masks.

The instructions are quite clear: both in written and animated language.

Opening the package: quite the familiar formula:

I was surprised that it was quite wide: normally sheet-masks that target specifically for an Asian market will have a wider size, but this one sized up 9" at the largest part:

It also has the option for closing the eyes by the sheet and let you get fully rested (and moisturize the eyelids too)

Verdict:

• It was reasonably moisturized, but not completely drenched as some sheetmasks can be
• It didn't irritate my skin!
• Thick enough: doesn't tear
• It has a slightly scented base, but not hindering
• I loved the after-effect: I didn't put any other nighttime-care after having this masks and I woke up quite fresh.
• Anti-Ageing: not sure, as I only tried it once but my skin look fresher and slightly younger afterwards.

Conclusion:
I think Biotherm took notes from the Asian brands and incorporated the instructions (Asian brands often use pictures/animations). I kind of have the feeling it is a bit of a copy from another brand: but they did a good job on it.
I would repurchase this if the price was similar to their Asian ones: I found a single one over here for $4 but I estimate the retail price will be more expensive around $25 for 10.