Hydration is the only promise a sheet mask can keep, though even that might be a reach, according to Michelle Wong, a chemist who runs the skin care blog LabMuffin. Despite claims you might read on the packaging, “sheet masks will not cure anything,” Ms. Wong said.
But that doesn’t mean they are not pampering. Long popular in South Korea, sheet masks are no longer the stuff of specialty stores. Now you can grab them at Sephora, Urban Outfitters and even Trader Joe’s. Or you could easily slather on a hyaluronic acid serum with your fingertips, but what is the fun in that?
Dr. Dendy Engelman, a Manhattan cosmetic dermatologist, is a fan. “I sheet mask all the time,” she said. “At the office after a procedure, in the bathtub with my kids, I’ll even pop on a sheet mask and some sunglasses before I get in my car. It’s a cost-effective, painless beauty splurge to look forward to.”
Sheet masks are single-use veils, most often fashioned out of paper or cotton, which are soaked in serum. They are not all created equal, though. Dr. Engelman and Ms. Wong recommend looking for masks containing glycerin, hyaluronic acid (sometimes listed in its salt form as sodium hyaluronate), or some combination of these ingredients. Both suggest skipping masks that contain drying alcohols, like ethanol or isopropyl alcohol, which are typically added to produce a cooling effect and are listed as ingredients.
To find sheet masks worth buying, we at Wirecutter (a product review site owned by The New York Times) tested nine top-rated, best-selling options containing glycerin, hyaluronic acid or their derivatives, and none had drying alcohols. We also tested an ultra-popular reusable silicone cover, which is meant to help more securely seal a sheet mask (or anything else applied beneath it) to your face.
We enlisted a panel of six intrepid reviewers — four women and two men, each with varied face shapes and skin types — who used all nine sheet masks over a period of three weeks. That’s roughly one mask every two days. The panelists, who were unaware which masks they were testing because we had taped over the packaging beyond recognition, wore each option while lounging, working at their desks or, in the case of one busy parent, baking cupcakes. No one knew whether they were reviewing a $42 sheet mask (La Mer’s The Hydrating Facial) or a $2 one (like Mediheal’s N.M.F. Intensive Hydrating Mask). Apart from trying the various sheet masks, the panelists went about their skin care routines as usual.
For each mask, the reviewers rated on a 1 to 5 scale: the ease of application (how quickly they could get it on without making a mess); scent (how pleasant the serum smelled); staying power (whether the mask remained put or dried out quickly); and the postmask feel of their skin (just how good their face looked or felt). Note that because sheet masks are more about personal indulgence than skin transformation, we did not attempt to assess their efficacy.
The Competition
Of the nine we tested, seven couldn’t quite match our top two. Panelists rated SK-II’s Pitera Facial Treatment Mask ($17) the best fitting over all, and liked the postmask feel of the pricey La Mer, but neither was rated highly enough to justify the cost compared to others we tested. The postmask feel of an inexpensive drugstore option, Neutrogena’s Hydro Boost 100% Hydrogel Mask ($3), scored as well as La Mer (it was, however, more prone to slippage). Testers said they would not buy the TONYMOLY I’m Aloe Sheet Mask ($3), Sephora Collection Rose Moisturizing Face Mask ($6) or Karuna Hydrating+ Face Mask ($7) again. The Mediheal mask, too, earned middling scores.
Our Favorite Sheet Mask
Dr. Jart Hydration Lover Rubber Mask
Key ingredients: Glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, hyaluronic acid
Cost per mask: $12
Among the most Instagrammable sheet masks our panel tested, this “hydrogel” option from Dr. Jart stayed put and fit most panelists’ faces well. Included with the mask, which one reviewer said made her look “like a cast member of the Blue Man Group,” is a lightly scented face cream containing sodium hyaluronate, hyaluronic acid, plus additional glycerin. (You apply the cream before affixing the rubberlike mask.) “It was the only one I could sip coffee while wearing, and my skin felt nice after,” said a reviewer with combination oily-dry skin.
Our Favorite Budget Mask
My Beauty Diary Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Face Mask
Key ingredients: Glycerin, sodium hyaluronate
Cost per mask: $2
While the mask itself lacks staying power, reviewers rated the postmask feel of this budget option from My Beauty Diary as highly as they did the Dr. Jart. “My skin somehow drank up all the mask juice,” a reviewer with dry skin said, “even though it was extremely drippy and difficult to stay put.” For best results, you’ll want to sit mostly still while wearing this mask, which fit nearly all our panelists’ faces well enough.
One Last Tip if You’re Experiencing Slippage
Consider a reusable silicone cover. We tried one from Daiso ($5); a reviewer found that it helped seal the My Beauty Diary mask to her face. The cover can be useful “not just to help with occlusion while using disposable sheet masks,” Ms. Wong said, “but also with stand-alone serums.”
Ms. Redd is a staff writer at Wirecutter, a product recommendation site owned by The New York Times Company.
