When I started the experiment of a week of sheet masks, I was skeptical. Sheet masks aren’t my fave. Shocking, I know. Everyone seems to love them, but the first one I used broke me out so intensely, it took a while to get my skin back to normal. However, I had heard of a sheet mask subscription box called FaceTory (and was intrigued), so when an opportunity to test it out came up, I decided to give a try.
FaceTory is a monthly subscription box that sends you four or seven masks, depending on which box you order. They’re all Korean sheet masks that come in cute packaging and promise to benefit your skin in different ways. The box I received had a lot of nourishing masks in it, which my skin could definitely use. The box also included a cute card that tells you about each mask and lists some key ingredients and benefits of each mask. Since there were seven masks, I tried a different one out every day for a week, and here’s how it went.
Monday: Anti-Wrinkle Bio Cellulose Mask by Royal Skin
The first thing I notice is the scent. It smells really good. I was expecting it to smell coconut-y because the card said it was “developed coconut water fermentation.” But it actually smelled like a light floral perfume, which surprised me, but it was nice, so I didn’t mind.
The mask itself had two sides of netting. The idea was to remove the netting from one side, apply to your face and then remove the other side of the netting. The mask itself was really thin. From a distance, it almost looked like I just had really dewy skin. I wore it for ten minutes, and I could feel my skin tingling ever so slightly while wearing it. After I took it off, my skin looked so dewy and pretty. We’re off to a good start!
Tuesday: Collagen Melting-Chou Mask by DewyTree
This mask is definitely creamier than the last mask. It seems like more of a moisturizer than a serum. Also, it’s a little thicker than other mask and less of a hassle to put on.
My skin felt a little dry today, which is why I chose this mask. It has more leftover serum than the other, and I liked that. With sheet masks, sometimes it seems like too much serum is left behind, and that was my problem with them before, so I’m weary of too much serum. But the moisturizer that was left behind on this one was a manageable amount. After the remaining moisturizer/serum absorbed into my skin, my face looked dewy and felt plump. I really liked this mask. It was very good for when your skin feels like it could use some serious moisturizing.
Wednesday: Rose Mask Pack by Beaucros
This one is interesting because, unlike the other two, this one is a light nude color. The other ones were white and translucent. I was worried, though, that this mask would have an intense rose scent, but it didn’t. It was a light floral scent, but it wasn’t intense, which was nice. Overall, this wasn’t the most notable mask of the bunch, but it made my skin feel healthy and had the added bonus of delivering anti-aging properties.
Related: 11 Face Masks That Feel Better Than a Professional Facial
Thursday: Deep Cleansing Bubble Mask by No:hj
Omg, this mask was a trip! First off, the packaging had holographic bubbles on it, so that was fun. The mask itself is black and smells citrus-y, which I prefer to floral scents. The minute you put the mask on, it starts bubbling. But like, to a point where it looks like the color of the mask is changing (it’s not; it’s just the bubbles over top of it getting foamy). It’s a lot of fun to watch.
You’re only supposed to keep this mask on for 5-10 minutes. I’m assuming that’s because it’s a cleansing mask. It does feel tingly, but in a good, pore-cleaning kind of way. My face felt so clean after using this mask. I really like the cleansing mask situation for two reasons: 1) I can cleanse my face and do other things at the same time, and 2) it didn’t leave a serum behind. After you take the mask off, you wash off the bubbles left behind. And I like that way better. Like I told you before, serums always make me nervous because I feel like I might breakout after using them. So the cleansing mask is much more my vibe. Can you tell I loved this mask? Because I did.
Friday: Intensive Brightening Mask Pack by Mediskin
Okay, this one scared me. Mostly because it had a warning on the package that said not to use on blemishes, pimples and/or irritated areas. As That Time of the Month is upon me, I have all of that right now.
I couldn’t find instructions for how long to wear the mask for, so I decided to just put it on for five minutes because I didn’t want to irritate my skin. This mask smells more like chemicals than the other ones, but was translucent like some of the other ones were.
After I took the mask off, I could definitely see a difference. I was wearing a thick headband for this mask, just so I wouldn’t get the serum in my hair. The hairband covered a little bit of my forehead, and when I took off my headband I noticed the part the mask was on was definitely brighter than the part that my headband covered. I was skeptical of if this mask would actually brighten my skin, but after that, I believe it.
Saturday: Escargot + Caviar Repairing Mask by Elensilia Intra-CELL
What a bougie sheet mask! I saved this little number for Saturday evening. I was going to a birthday party, so I figured I’d be extra and do a sheet mask before I put makeup on to go out. I can’t take all the credit, though. FaceTory’s card had suggested to use this mask before a night out, so I was just going with it.
Anyway, I put on the translucent, soap-scented mask for ten minutes. Then I took it off and let the extra serum absorb into my skin before I did my makeup for the night. It left my skin with a dewy glow, like a lot of these masks did, which I loved. The serum absorbed into my skin pretty quick, too, which was nice considering I needed to get ready. Overall, I really liked this mask. Plus, it was a nice way to indulge in some me-time before a night out.
Sunday: I’m Sorry For My Skin, Black Mud Mask-Tightening by Ultrue
I intentionally left this mask until the end because of how much of a time commitment it is. You’re supposed to wear this mask for 30-40 minutes. And I thought ten minutes was a lot. But this seemed like a good Sunday night kind of mask.
It was definitely the most intense to put on. The mask comes with two layers of film on each side of it, and there are two pieces to the mask: the upper face part (which covers your forehead, your cheeks and your nose) and the lower face part (which covers your lower cheek area, your chin and underneath your nose).
Before applying the mask, I put moisturizer around my eyes, on my eyebrows and around my mouth like the instructions on the package said to do. It was good advice, as it kept me from having to scrub mud out of my eyebrows.
I have to say, though, this mask was actually the most comfortable to wear of them all. I love a good mud mask, but I’ve never seen it in sheet mask form, so this was really cool to try out. It tightened my pores and made my skin feel super soft. Plus, I actually ended up wearing this mask for almost 40 minutes. The time went by so much quicker than I was expecting! 10/10, would recommend.
As a whole, this box was a lot of fun. I discovered I’m not a sheet-mask-every-day kind of girl, but I loved getting to spend a decent amount of time on my skincare every day. That was the best part of this: practicing self-love. Each day I was doing something good for myself by focusing on my skincare longer than I normally do. And for that, I love FaceTory. Will you catch me doing sheet masks every day again? Probably not. Would I use FaceTory again, though? Absolutely, yes. The box itself so cute, and the masks are fun to try out. This box is great for one person, but I could totally see this box being amazing for a girls’ night in, too. So if you like a good sheet mask, definitely consider giving FaceTory a try because some of those masks were real game-changers (looking at you, mud sheet mask).