5 Ways to Get More out of Your Sheet Mask

At-home treatments that make you feel and look like you just spent the day at the spa, but for a fraction of the price…what’s not to love about sheet masks? A favorite among celebrities, beauty bloggers, and K-Beauty addicts alike, these 20 -30 minute indulgences do the trick when your skin needs an extra boost, like ASAP. Infused with fortifying serums or essences, these skincare staples allow their ingredients to absorb into skin more effectively and can provide benefits such as improved hydration, radiance, or firmness. While sheet masks alone are a great way to supplement your skincare routine, there are tips and tricks to get the most out of these at-home facials.

1. Check the Ingredients: What makes sheet masks so effective? These masks essentially ‘force-feed’ your skin an intense amount of active ingredients in a short period of time. The ‘sheet’ creates a barrier for your skin, so that these ingredients can be delivered effectively without risk of evaporation. Because of this, it’s extra important to look for options that are paraben, sulfates, and alcohol freeto make sure nothing harmful will be absorbed into your skin.
2. Start Clean: Always start with a freshly cleansed face. Before applying your mask, you should cleanse and tone your skin so that it is ready to receive all that nourishing goodness. You can even exfoliate with a mild scrub to remove dead skin cells that prevent skincare ingredients from being absorbed.
3. Longer is not better: It’s normal to think that if you get X amount of benefits from 20 minutes, an hour must mean triple the results. This type of logic doesn’t always apply to sheet masks. Sheet masks create a barrier to intensively infuse the skin with hydrating and anti-aging ingredients. But if the sheet mask itself dries out, it will start sucking moisture out of your skin. 20 minutes should be the maximum amount of time you use them – enough to deliver key ingredients but before the mask starts to dry.
4. Use ALL the Serum: The benefits from a sheet mask are all in that precious serum, so you’re going to want to use as much of the serum as possible. Most sheet masks have two identical sides, so flipping over your mask half way through your masking time will give your skin a double dose of goodness. Once you remove the sheet mask, remember to gently pat the remaining serum into your skin to aid absorption. If there’s any serum left sloshing around the inside of your sheet mask packet, apply this to your neck and the backs of your hands so they can get the benefits, too!
5. Seal in Moisture: Although not a necessary step, people with drier skin may feel the moisture and goodness are better locked in if they follow the treatment with a moisturizer. Follow masking with a serum and simple moisturizer for glowing skin all day. If used before bed, follow with your regular night time moisturizer to wake up to deeply hydrated skin.

Try our tips with a one of our masks and let us know what you think below!