Addendum to hyaluronic acid

Here is a quick note to add something important to my recent post on hyaluronic acid. (This is what happens when you try to write something at the tail end of bad cold.) I mainly said there that I like HA because it makes my skin feel nice and has potential for long term effects. True. But I forgot to add one of the immediate results it provides that I love. HA does an excellent job of combatting flakiness from dry skin or from products that cause it, such as the peeling you can get when you start using a powerful retinol product. Regular moisturizer never really cuts it for me under these conditions, but if I use something with HA after over-exfoliating or overdoing the retinol, it diminishes the flakiness significantly. Enough that I can wear foundation without weirdness caused by my makeup highlighting dryness. So that is something to consider as a more concrete benefit of HA.

Slippery and Scary: Review of Freeman paper masks

Disclosure: This post contains no affiliate links.
I've never been particularly excited about sheet masks, because I don't really get the point. Why not just apply the serum/moisturizer directly to my face? I guess the idea is that it won't dry up/absorb as quickly, so you can let it sit in its wet state on your skin longer, in order to . . . do something. Absorb more, I guess? But I got three of Freeman's paper masks a while back in an Ipsy bag, and I thought I'd review them here, because (1) I love Freeman's Avocado and Oatmeal Clay Mask, and (2) they're pretty damned cheap at $2 a piece.

The three I got were the Feeling Beautiful Rose Brightening Facial Paper Mask, the Feeling Beautiful Blue Agave Hydrating Facial Paper Mask, and the Feeling Beautiful Star Fruit Purifying Facial Paper Mask. I tested them, in that order, over the course of several weeks.

The ingredients in these masks are actually not bad. The Rose mask has niacinamide as the second ingredient in the list, after water, and also contains AHAs. The Star Fruit mask also contains lots of niacinamide, but it has a significant amount of witch hazel as well, which is not great. The Blue Agave one has glycerin, aloe, allantoin, and hyaluronic acid, which are all good for moisturizing. I just wish that Freeman was selling these things as little bottles of serum instead, because the masks are really fucking annoying to use. They do have one really valuable function, however: terrifying any people you happen to live with.

No review of a sheet mask is complete without a horrific photo.

The photo above is of the Rose mask, which is the first one I tried. I had the same problems with all three masks, which are the identical size and shape: the eye holes were way too fucking close together. I don't actually have a gigantic face and my eyes are, in fact, a bit more close-set than average (judging from my glasses-shopping experiences). The nose and mouth hole placements are fine, as is the overall width of the mask, so I think it's just poorly designed. The eye holes should be wider. It seems like it was designed for a cartoon. Putting one of these masks on my face seriously impedes my range of vision, as well as locating the mask's fluid uncomfortably close to my eyes. You can actually see in the photo about that my eyes are tearing up a little. That might just have been from the evaporation of the stuff on the mask, but it probably would have been less of an issue if the mask wasn't partially covering them. My eyes were definitely stinging. I also a little worried that the liquid would run into my eyes, though I don't think that actually happened.

And that brings us to the second problem with the masks: they're way too fucking wet. I recommend opening these over a sink, because they will drip all over the damn place. The slippery wetness also makes them very difficult to unfold and place properly on your face. They feel extremely soppy and gross once you've got them on. I couldn't really keep my face properly upright without the mask slipping, but I also didn't want to lie down in case that caused some of the goo to drip into my eyes. The slimy feeling of these masks sliding around my face was too much for me, I'm afraid, and so I only kept the first two on for 3-5 minutes total, instead of the recommended 5-15. (I also find wearing damp clothing horribly uncomfortable, so this might just be something I am particularly sensitive to - but not all sheet masks are this soggy.) After removing the mask, you're supposed to rub the remaining liquid into your skin and not rinse it off.