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5 Ways to Get the Most of Your Sheet Mask

It’s no secret that sheet masks are on fire. This category was growing double digits in 2015 and is showing no signs of slowing down. While sheet masks in general 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. 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. A Glow Recipe tip is to never sleep with a sheet mask on – while it might seem like the ultimate way to hydrate your skin, you might actually wake up with paper-dry skin.

2. The Ingredient List is KEY
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. Look for options that are paraben, mineral oil, synthetic dye free to minimize irritation. We love the next generation materials such as hydrogel sheet masks and the super organic sea kelp sheet mask. What’s so great about masks like these is that not only are the masks drenched in a full bottle of skin-treating serum, but the sheet mask itself is made of skin beneficial ingredients such as aloe and kiwi extract.

3. What comes before and after a sheet mask is just as important as the sheet mask itself
We get a lot of questions on when to use a sheet mask in the routine. Before applying your mask, you need to start with a cleansed and toned canvas, ready to receive all that nourishing goodness. This can also be achieved through exfoliation. While our skin is supposed to naturally turnaround every 4 weeks, this process gets slower as we age and due to environmental aggressors, creating a ‘backlog’ of dead skin cells that prevent skincare ingredients from going where they need to. Try this simple and gentle exfoliator called “aqua peeler” in a jumbo cotton swab: Sheet masks are infused with serums that are designed to penetrate the skin efficiently. For drier skin, we recommend sealing in the treatment with an occlusive moisturizer afterwards. Once you remove the sheet mask, remember to gently pat the remaining serum into your skin to aid absorption. And a quick tip – if there’s any serum sloshing around the inside of your sheet mask packet, apply this to your face, neck, and back of hands before you apply the sheet mask for maximum efficiency.

4. Not all sheet masks are created equal
There are now a staggering array of sheet mask technologies, ranging anywhere from paper, fabric, cotton, hydro-gel, and bio-cellulose to sheets made of 100% natural ingredients (like sea kelp). With the more accessibly priced sheets, it’s important to check that it’s a high- quality cotton (preferably 100% for breathability) and that it isn’t bleached. This is because while the serum the sheet mask is drenched in is important – so is the delivery system that’s hugging your skin. Different masks have varying levels of adherence to the skin. If a sheet mask is constantly falling, sliding, slipping off (which equates to a less effective transfer of ingredients), it’s going to be that much harder to include it in your daily routine. Find one that you love and use 1-2x a week to keep your skin looking its best!

5. The super-easy DIY mini-masking
While we love that first rush of excitement that comes from opening up a new sheet mask packet, we sometimes want to be involved in the process and add a little DIY fun. We found a quick and easy way to turn cotton pads into a 20-minute mini mask by soaking them with an essence.

Step 1: Dampen 4-5 cotton pads with an essence. It’s important that the cotton pad is wet enough easily adhere to skin. An easy way to prep the cotton pad is by first spraying it with a liquid-form essence, until slightly translucent. Step 2: Place onto face. Place anywhere dehydrated or rough. After masking, continue with your regular skincare routine, ie. your moisturizer.

Note: some cotton pads are designed to split easily into many layers. The cotton pads used in our photos were pulled apart into two thinner layers. However, any shape or size – round or square, thick or thin – will work for this tutorial! Written by Sarah Lee and Christine Chang, founders of the natural Korean beauty website GlowRecipe.com Related: I Traded My Lazy-Girl Beauty Routine for an 11-Step Korean Skincare Regimen