If you are dropping by your local beauty or drug store, you must have already found rows and rows of beauty sheet masks, or face masks, from different brands that claim to have moisturizing, relaxing, brightening effects on the skin.
If this is your first time seeing them, you best believe that these sheet masks have been out for a long and have slowly been taking over the skincare world by storm. K-beauty, in particular, has been a significant contributor to the use of Korean face masks as a staple part of their multi-step skincare routine.
Should you store your facemask in the fridge?
Many consider the use of face masks as one of the very last few steps of their night skincare routine– a TLC treatment to the skin after a hard day out in the open with a brand new sheet mask freshly popped out from the fridge.
Yes, you heard it right. Many kinds of face masks claim to have specific effects on the skin and can have more relaxing effects when used and stored the right way.
But what really are facemasks in the beauty world?
What are facemasks?
Skincare face masks are masks applied, placed, or slathered onto the skin and target specific concerns. From acne to redness and dry skin, face masks come in many forms and are cheaper than professional skincare procedures.
Not to say that face masks are direct substitutes to professional skincare (they’re not!), but face masks help alleviate, relax, and calm skincare conditions for some time.
The idea behind face masks is that they trap the underlying moisture and ingredient in the skin, helping the ingredients on your skincare penetrate the skin deeper by either moisturizing, hydrating, or exfoliating the skin.
Most people use face masks as the last part of their skincare routine to seep in the ingredients and make sure that you’re layering over clean and dry skin to make sure what you’re trapping is not dirt and bacteria.
Kinds of facemasks
With the evolution of beauty and skincare, there also has been a wide range and type of facemasks that have come out in the market. In this list, we round up a few of the best and most popular face masks you might want to try on your next beauty run.
Sheet masks
Dare we say that of all face masks, sheet masks have been one of the most popular of the bunch in the past years. They’re relatively cheap and easy to put on and use, as well as easy to dispose of.
As the name suggests, it’s simply a mask in sheet form, like paper over your face made with either fiber, cellulose, or cotton. Sheet masks, when pulled out, are single folded sheets that are wet, cool, and dripping with serum or liquid ingredients. They are placed on the face, lining and matching the holes made for your eyes, nose, and lips.
Sheet masks are the best for people with dry skin, as most (if not all) sheet masks have hydrating and moisturizing effects on the skin. They also induce this relaxing effect physically and mentally because of their cool and wet surface, packed with everything good for your face.
Our pro tip in using sheet masks? Store them over the fridge and let them cool before using. A cool sheet mask after a long day does wonders over the body and mind.
Clay masks
Clay masks are simply masks in clay form, like kaolin or bentonite. Clay masks make a great ingredient in skincare as their grain texture helps exfoliate and nourish the skin and absorb excess oil, dry skin, and prevent acne.
Especially for people with very oily skin, using clay masks once or twice a week helps manage the excess oil on the face.
The difference in applying sheet masks and clay masks is that you would need to scoop a handful of clay into your hand and slather the product thinly over your face while avoiding the eyes and mouth.
This clay mask will harden and tighten for about 15 minutes or more, which you can then wash off with water.
Mud mask
What’s the difference between a mud mask vs. a clay mask, you say? While clay masks are generally for excessively oily and breakout-prone skin, mud masks are for those with drier and more sensitive skin. Mud, by nature, has more water content than clay and is more drying than mud.
Mud masks help in cleansing the skin from dirt and impurities and moisturize and refresh the skin. Mud masks are more hydrating than clay masks and are a skin-healing agent compared to clay, which is an oil-absorbing, drying agent.
Collagen mask
Collagen masks are a type of sheet mask infused with hydrolyzed collagen. Why infuse them on sheet masks?
Collagen is a protein in the body that helps make the skin look firm, healthy and young. Collagen production in the body decreases as we age, thus making our skin look less youthful and showing more ageing signs.
With collagen sheet masks, our skin is infused with the collagen it needs, albeit briefly, to make the skin look younger and smoother and help slow down the degeneration of collagen.
Some collagen mask benefits include skin hydration, making it feel soft and supple, replenishing the face’s natural oils for healthier skin, reducing wrinkles and fine lines because of the extra collagen boost, and helping in healing skin conditions like acne and pimples.
Collagen sheet masks do not just help dry skin. They help dehydrated skin, evidenced by the lack of plump, tight, rough, and dull skin. Collagen mask benefits come a long way, so you might want to add them to your skincare routine once in a while.
Charcoal? In your facemask? Absolutely.
Activated charcoal used in many skincare products is different from the charcoal we use on our outdoor grills. Activated carbon is produced when common charcoal is exposed to high heat, with numerous skincare benefits like drawing bacteria and impurities from the skin.
A charcoal facemask is a black-colored mask with numerous benefits, including improving the appearance of acne, treating insect bites, removing impurities, and making your pores look smaller and clearer. It also helps exfoliate and brighten the skin.
When can you put on facemasks?
Facemasks are usually put on at the very end of our skincare routine to trap all the good ingredients our skin has absorbed in the course of our skincare. Because you generally need to leave facemasks on for 15 minutes or so, putting them last in your routine is beneficial.
If you prefer to splurge and do facials instead of face masks, you might wonder if you can put makeup on after a facial. It is suggested to not put makeup on after a facial since the face is still red and sensitive over the extractions, and putting makeup over freshly cleaned pores defeats the purpose of the facial.
