I don’t know about you, but my skin has taken a real beating over the past few months. It was one of the coldest winters on record in Toronto, and even though I’m a tough-as-nails Canadian who’s no stranger to freezing temperatures, this year was particularly difficult to tolerate. Despite my best efforts to keep my face moisturized, the winter got the best of me. As a result, my skin has been feeling dry and looking dull.
Determined to restore my face to its former glory, I made a pilgrimage to Sephora to seek solutions from the beauty gurus who work there.
I asked several different “cast members” (that’s Sephora-speak for “employees”) for their skin-saving recommendations. Of the four people I spoke to, three told me that I needed to try one of the $6 Sephora Collection Face Masks. According to the cast members, the masks were flying off the shelves. I didn’t really need to hear any glowing accolades, to be perfectly honest, because they had me at the words “six dollars.”
There are eight different fiber sheet face masks in the collection, all of which are infused with different active ingredients to target virtually any skin problem imaginable. After taking a quick peek at my options, it was pretty clear to me that I needed to go with the rose face mask, which promised to moisturize and brighten my complexion.
I decided to give my rose mask a go the next morning. The instructions were simple: cleanse your face, wait for it to dry (this is important–if your face isn’t fully dry, the mask won’t stay on properly), and then remove the mask from its package. Carefully unfold it, apply it to your face, and let it sit for 15 minutes. When the 15 minutes are up, peel the mask off of your face and massage the excess product into your skin.
OK, so here’s where the real fun begins. If you’ve never tried a fiber face mask before, you should know that wearing one makes you look like Jason from the Friday the 13th movies. It’s both hilarious and terrifying. I’m so glad my roommate wasn’t home when I decided to try this thing out, because I’m not sure he would have ever let me live it down.
I should mention here that the rose mask has a lovely and subtle scent–it wasn’t floral, per se, but it was clean and light. I noticed on Sephora’s website that a few people found the smell of the pearl and ginseng masks to be off-putting, but I really liked the rose one.
Not only was the smell nice, but the mask itself felt great on my skin. It was really soothing, and I kind of felt like a queen wearing it. A creepy queen who might just whip out a chainsaw from behind her throne, but a queen nonetheless.
When the fifteen minutes were up, I pulled off the mask and was thrilled to see that my skin actually did look brighter. Not only that, but it felt amazing–super soft and hydrated. I also noticed that my pores looked smaller post-mask, which was certainly a welcome surprise.
I guess there isn’t a super obvious visual difference, but trust me, my skin felt so much better after the mask. It was also just a really enjoyable way to spend 15 minutes, you know? I mean, I don’t really have the time or money to go to a real spa, but I do have 15 minutes and six bucks, so why not? I’ll definitely be picking up another rose mask on my next trip to Sephora, and I think I’m also going to try the lotus mask for moisturizing and soothing and a honey mask for nourishing and balancing. Oh, and I’ll probably buy a pomegranate mask for anti-fatigue and energizing because my birthday is in a few days and Lord knows I’ll be in desperate need of an intervention post-night out.
So, for those of you who have tried a Sephora Collection fiber mask, what did you think? Which one did you try? And for everyone else, what do you think of fiber masks in general? Do you have any recommendations for different ones I should check out? Let me know in the comments!