Time for a Korean beauty fix, I think. Let me introduce you to MaskGenie.
MaskGenie is an international sheet mask subscription service run by Genie, a blogger and mother of two who living in Hong Kong. Genie tries out all the masks she sells herself, and her fantastic skin is a glowing advertisement for the products. It’s like having your masks chosen by a sister with better skin than you, and access to better masks.
I had been following Genie’s blog and YouTube channel for several months before the MaskGenie business launched, and it’s great to see somebody who clearly knows a lot about skincare and has a personal passion for the products turning that into a business. Genie sends out the masks herself, so if you have an allergy or special request she’s happy to help.
If you’ve never used a sheet mask before, it’s a type of face mask soaked in serum. Apply after cleansing and exfoliating and leave it on for about 20 minutes. Then remove the cotton mask and massage in any excess serum.
It’s a lovely and relaxing way to give your skin a boost – any time I use a sheet mask in the evening, I can tell the difference next day. Kbeauty aficionados tend to be big into sheet masks and use them every day.
For me personally, sheet masking is a private activity, though I know some people prefer to flaunt their sheets. I’ve heard lots of reports of people using them on aeroplanes, and have never quite recovered from the time I saw a woman in the gym changing room wandering around, naked apart from her sheet mask. I guess she knew nobody would recognise her.
The Mask Genie sheet mask pouches start at $12 (around £7.50) for 5 masks. There’s a regular monthly pouch plus occasional special editions.
And it’s one of the special editions that we’re looking at today. Though sheet masks have been very popular in Asian skincare for a while, the latest craze is for animal themed masks. So when you wear these, you look like you’ve escaped from the zoo:
I’ve been stalking some of these animal masks on eBay for weeks and they are both pricey and hard to get hold of.
So I was delighted that Genie sent me her 10 Days in the Wild animal-themed mask pouch to review. It contains 10 masks in total, representing 4 different skincare brands. The masks are kept together in a pretty gauze bag, and the whole thing is posted in a sturdy brown envelope.
In detail the animals in this particular zoo are:
Luxury Soo Anti-Wrinkle Eye Mask
Channel your inner superhero because this looks just like something Batman would wear. Promises whitening, lifting and hydrating. Don’t know the brand but I love the look of this eye mask.
Four SNP masks (no not that SNP, although a Scot-specific skincare range is a bloody good idea)
- Panda – for whitening/brightening
- Tiger – for wrinkles. Luckily I can supply my own.
- Otter – for moisturising and Benedict Cumberbatch cosplay
- Dragon – for Games of Thrones fans
Two Royal Skin masks – not Royal Blood, that’s a band from Brighton. Could wear one to a gig though.
- Sheep
- Fox – no real indication as to what’s the difference here, apart from the design. Both promise to make the skin “so moist and active” which I guess is a good enough aim. Better moist and active than dry and inert.
Three Berrisom masks –
- Raccoon – made of placenta but I think it’s just plant placenta. At least I hope it’s just plant placenta. Yes, plants have placentas. See, you learned something here.
- Cat – collagen, for moisturising
- Monkey – contains that kbeauty favourite snail slime, for funsies
All in all, I think it’s a really good range and I can’t wait to try some and become a more extrovert masker. There may even be Instagrams.
10 Days in the Wild retails for $34 including postage, or around £21. It’s hard to make an exact value comparison because masks like these are very hard to get hold of in the UK, but as a comparison I saw 3 sheet masks for £18 on Beautymart, and just one of these Berrisom masks will currently set you back £4.99 on eBay. So I think it’s safe to say that the 10 Days in the Wild set is pretty good value.
Now the big question is – which ones to try first? I will let you vote on that. Normally I only ever do sheet masks when nobody else is around at home to mock. So leave a comment and tell me which masks you want to see me try out first and I will review (with pictures!) in a future post.
Personally I’m putting in a vote for the dragon mask first because Imagine Dragons are one of my kids’ favourite bands, and next time they are listening to them I could just slip on the dragon mask and FREAK THEM OUT. Which is an essential part of having children, I think you’ll agree.
To order a MaskGenie mask set and see what’s currently, available, visit SkinILove.com At the time of writing there are a few sets of 10 Days in the Wild left, so snap ’em up and let’s be beasts together.
You can also find MaskGenie on Facebook and Instagram