Skin Health Magazine Issue #5 / Autumn-Winter 2017 | Page 7

I f you are on any type of social media, we with your complexion reaping the rewards in are pretty sure you will have seen someone record time. After using a sheet mask just once, – be it a celebrity or best friend – sharing we can confirm from personal experience just a picture of themselves with their face swathed how incredible the skin looks. Smooth, plump, in a white, slimy mask that makes them look, radiant, juicy, clear and calm are just some of shall we say, a little scary. the ways we would describe our skin after a These strange-looking products are sheet sheet mask session. masks, one of the most popular and exciting Unlike traditional face masks, w hich must be skin care technologies to have graced our rou- washed off for skin to feel the real benefit, the tines in recent years. After starting life in Asia, residue left behind once you have peeled away where all great beauty innovations begin their a sheet mask can be massaged into the skin like journey to worldwide a serum, so not a drop stardom, the global is wasted. You can In as little as 15 minutes, sheet mask market is even decant any lefto- set to be worth around liquid hiding within they deliver a bottle’s worth ver $336.7million by 2024, the packaging into an according to Transpar- old bottle or jar, so you of actives ency Market Research; can continue to apply that’s a lot of sheet mask selfies you’re going the same concentrated elixir to your skin over to be exposed to in the next few years. But the subsequent days. what makes sheet masks so amazing that people So how do you get started? The options truly want to snap a picture of themselves wearing are endless, with everything from brightening, one? anti-aging and blemish-reducing formulas avail- Their unusual and slightly freaky appearance able for your delectation. We love the Dr Bragi once on the skin is one reason sheet masks Intensive Treatment Mask, a fabric face mask have soared in popularity, and brands love packed with marine enzymes to revitalise the anything that will increase their exposure on skin, and the Cliniccare EGF Refresh/Tight Mask, social media but, in reality, it’s their simplicity which contains Hyaluronic Acid and peptides that makes them such an enduring step in mil- to tighten and lift the skin while softening fine lions of people’s routines. A sheet mask is a lines. As most sheet masks are a one-use only piece of cotton, hydrogel or bio-cellulose fibre formula, they can be included in your routine that has been saturated as and when you see with skin-loving ingre- fit. Using them weekly You might look weird, dients and shaped to means your skin is kept mimic the size and but the after effects are well topped up with hydra- contours of your face, tion and vitamins, but so it can essentially be using them before worth it placed onto the face special occasions or like a second skin, with holes for your eyes, when your skin is in need of some extra TLC nose and mouth. In as little as 15 minutes, these is just as beneficial. We can’t tell you how good masks can deliver almost a bottle’s worth of a post-holiday sheet mask feels after returning ingredients and actives into the skin and, thanks home from a week spent in the sun’s dehydrat- to the material acting as a barrier between the ing rays, or how comforting one packed with air and your face, less of this goodness is lost soothing Aloe Vera feels after a day outside in to the environment. the biting cold. You might look weird for a few In some cases, this means your skin is getting minutes, but the after effects are well worth it. a month’s worth of skin care in the time it Just don’t answer the door to the postman usually takes to complete your morning routine, mid-treatment. ISSUE #05 | 2017 | SkinHealthMagazine.com 7