Do Facial Masks Really Work?

Face masks are one of the little pleasures in life — like buying sparkly high heel shoes or unzipping your high waist jeans once you get home. But do face masks really work?

In a nutshell, it all depends on which face mask you use and what you’re trying to achieve.

Face masks can be an effective way to deliver an intensive burst of nourishing and therapeutic skin care ingredients in a highly concentrated form.

They work by covering the face with your chosen formula for a set period of time, usually 10-20 minutes. This gives the ingredients more time to penetrate the surface of the skin and take effect.

Whether you scour social media or search the aisles of the drug store, trying to find the right face mask can be overwhelming. There are thousands of options out there, and just because your favourite Instagram model uses one mask doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.

 The benefit of a face mask depends on its ingredients. Some common skin issues and the ingredients that may address them include:

-Acne: salicylic acid and alpha-hydroxy acids

 -Fine lines and wrinkles: regenerative ingredient such as stemcell and EGF; antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E and resveratrol; ferrulic acid or retinoids such as retinols and retrinaldehydes; and humectants.

 -Dark spots and pigmentation: kojic acid, retinoids, and vitamin C

 Once you find a mask that works for you, work it into your skin care routine. Remember to test it on one small area of your face before you put the full mask on just to be sure you are not allergic to its ingredients.