Everything you have to know about the Sheet Mask!

If you don’t live under a rock (No offense, Patrick), you shouldn’t be new to the concept of sheet masks which have been prevailing in the fashion industry for the past few years. In fact, it has become a new trend in celebrity selfies: “face sheet mask selfies”.

Known as the “lazy girl’s facial”, it didn’t take long enough for this idea to become a huge trend in a short period of time ever since it landed in the USA from Asia, and for all the right reasons.

If you’re Patrick, the basic structure of this product is a thin cotton sheet soaked in a viscous liquid-based transparent serum formula that claims to “moisturize, brighten, and even treat fine lines”.

Sheet masks are face-shaped sheet fabrics soaked in the nutrition-packed solution called serum. The sheet is made up of the variety of materials including papers, fibers or gel types. … The sheet mask is generally used once and it is individually packaged, making them fast, convenient, and easy to use.

TonyMoly Pureness 100 Green tea Mask Sheet — Green Tea sheet mask

Here are some of the benefits of the sheet masks.

1-Mess-less

Face masks have a history of being tedious and messy when it comes to combining all the ingredients together and applying it to the face with either your fingers or a brush. Usually, when you have to treat yourself to a mask, it involves massaging or applying a cream or any mixture all over your hands, then all over your face, along with every effort to not create a mess.

With these easy peasy babies, the majority of your time is spent relaxing yourself and your muscles and not really taking the caked mixture off your pretty face. If anything, the excess serum which seems to drip off the mask as a safety addition to quality can be simply wiped off using the mask itself.

2-Outcome(s)

The lightweight it carries is complemented by its lightweight on the skin as well. These sheet masks arrive pre-drenched in a plasma or serum which contains various beneficial elements and ingredients such as seaweed extracts, peptides, clay or other components which can enhance the glow of your already perfect skin (What? Love yourself, nonetheless!)

The serum is loaded with skincare benefits. The tissue or cloth-layer of the mask locks the good stuff onto your skin and makes sure that it stays… long enough.

3-Sanitary

The trend of packed water bottles in India was considered crazy until the term “mineral water” was replaced by “Bisleri”. Individual and commercially packaged sheet masks are not at all prone to any risk of contamination; definitely not the way the whole jar of cream can be, just for one application!

Clearly, the fewer bacteria and dirt onto our skin, the better! This also means no more calculating or eyeballing when it comes time to figure out how much product to use or mix.

One mask, one time.

4-Easy and Accessible

This can be a beginner’s best friend when it comes to getting introduced to skincare. It is very easy to apply on the skin and yet is potent enough for the skin care enthusiast

These sheet masks can be the perfect go-to solution for a night out, or whenever your skin needs to come back to normal appearance after a usual day.

5-Boost Hydration
The liquid-based formula come in many varieties with each combination claiming to serve a different purpose—lifting, preventing acne, hiding fine lines—but researchers say that holistically, relying on them only for hydration would be wiser because there isn’t any reasoning that may provide any proof so as to whether they are better than any regular serum or not.

When you put the mask on your skin, you technically increase the water content. the trapped moisture prevents the serum to go waste and even helps in soothing burning.

But, ladies and ladies, these benefits are not the only features. As good as these sound, there are some drawbacks and setbacks to this innovation as well.

1-Don’t Replace Traditional Masks with sheet masks
Even though the name has the word mask in it, the true reason for its use it not the exact application of its meaning. They’re called masks because they resemble the Phantom of the Opera‘s accessory, and definitely not because they have the exact same if not better results as the traditional face masks we tend to use.

Since the cloth sheets are submerged in the serum-based formula, they naturally cannot exfoliate or cleanse deeply.

But, since they are packed with the serum full of vitamins, minerals and amino acids, they won’t dry out the skin like a clay mask formula where the liquid is evaporated.

2-They Don’t Replace Serums for the face

Even after the presence of this product in the market and the ease of access to these, people still prefer serums for everyday use and use these masks as a luxury for special events or on board since there is a lot of scope of dry skin.

They can be expensive sometimes, but mostly, they are pretty affordable.

The daily use can be pricey for some people and since the effect won’t last longer than a day anyway, there’s no use of replacing this with your daily hydrating serum or cream.

3-A big no for Acne-Prone Skin
The heat spike that comes with blockage of pores has its disadvantages as it can increase the bacteria n the surface of the skin which will result in an uncontrollable acne.

If you have an oily skin like me, I highly suggest that you first test the mask or more specifically its serum on the side of your cheek for any reactions because trust me… please do that… please. Yeah. Did I say please?

4-Putting it on Can Be Tricky
Since the masks are manufactured to be one-size-fits-all, there’s a high possibility that it won’t apply to a made-for-it piece on every face.

I suggest you start from the forehead, and then slowly move downwards, pressing it along the skin as it goes. PAt on the cheeks before going down on the chin. Lie down while they work their magic because the excess of serum might need a little care from spilling and dripping.

As for the companies who create these masks, there are so many companies which offer some of the most reliable face masks such as The Face Shop, Innisfree, DearPacker and many others which can be found on both Nykaa and Amazon for reasonable prices.