Etude House 0.2 Therapy Air 10 Pack Face Mask Set: Green Tea

Recently, sheet masks are fast becoming one of my favourite ways to have downtime. They are one of the most popular beauty products on the Asian market, as well as easy to apply, easy to remove and above all doesn't require any tugging of the skin. Plus for the price for some single sheet masks, they can work out to be a cheap treat for your skin with added benefits! 

One of my favourite brands of sheet mask is Etude House. I just find their sheet masks are packed with product and they aid my skin so well when its lacking in lustre and needs a pick me up. The current sheets mask I use are the Etude House 0.2 Therapy Air 10-Piece Variety Mask. 

These sheet marks are available in single sachets, however, for £13.95 I couldn't resist going for their 10-piece set, offering a variety of sheet masks which help with brightening, moisturising and more. Plus, to help aid you in choosing the right mask for your skin, I'll be going through each mask one-by-one and sharing my thoughts on their results. So, to start with I'll be reviewing the Green Tea sheet mask as I have been buying and using this particular sheet mask a lot, and found it has helped in aiding my skin so well ever since having a bad reaction to the My Scheming Blackhead Removal Mask. You can read about my experience here. 

To begin with, the 0.2 Therapy Air Masks are hypo-allergenic sheets that won't irritate the skin. They deliver 7-free essence to the skin directly through the 0.2mm air sheet. They have also passed the sensitive panel test, have water purified through their 6-step filtration system, have a 1 to 2 EWG green grade which is an American non-profit environmental organisation all about evaluating chemicals and ingredients used in cosmetics. They are also free from the 7 skin irritating ingredients of Imidazolidinyl, Urea, Polyacryamide, Trethanolamine, Mineral Oil, Silicon Oil, Pigment and Fragrance. As well as with the 0.2mm sheet mask, this allows for your skin to breathe more comfortable through the remarkable air-penetration and lastly, they use natural essence oils to make you and your skin happy.

These face masks also come part of a 3 Essence labelled category. These 3 Essence categories are; The Moist Water Type Essence, The Ampoule Type Essence and lastly, The Emulsion Type Essence. These all deliver a different outcome with the moist water type face masks being absorbed lightly and freshly into the skin to refresh the skin. The Ampoule Type Essence absorbs into the skin mildly but brings powerful moisturisation and lastly, The Emulsion Type Essence absorbs into the skin smoothly with added nutrition. I like the idea behind the masks being categorised as not only does it allow for you to decide which masks suit your skin type/skin problem better but it also allows for you to try a variety of these masks to see how one differs to the other.

As I mentioned previously, I've been trialling and testing the green tea sheet mask for a few months now, especially after getting a bad reaction after using The Scheming Blackhead Removal Mask a few month back. Also, because so many have raved about the benefits of green tea both externally and internally, I thought it was a good time to see whether it worked on more severe issues than what I originally have.

After using the blackhead removal mask, I ended up getting bad dry patches on the sides of my nose just above my lips as well as a section on my chin. I found no amount of exfoliating or moisturising was helping, so I had to delve deeper into my stash to try and find something that could help heal my skin back to its original state. Having had a good reaction from sheet masks when my skin needed a little pick me up, I thought about putting this particular mask to the test to see whether it could help with the aiding of my skin, by bringing moisture back into those specific dry areas. This particular sheet mask sits in the Moist Water Type Essence category, offering light and fresh absorption to the skin. When applied to the skin it feels cooling (I recommend letting them sit in the fridge 24 hours before you use it as it feels so much nicer on the skin!), the mask sat comfortably on my face without much fuss. Also, due to the mask having quite a thin texture, it allowed for my skin to feel as though it wasn't getting claustrophobic with product so essentially had room to breathe whilst at the same let the product do its work. After I had sat with the sheet mask on my face for the recommended time and then removed it, I noticed where I had my dry patches they felt a lot less dry and as though they had, had a major moisture boost. However, this sheet mask alone did not aid at helping the dry patches disappear completely, but after using this mask a couple of times a week alongside my normal skincare routine, I did notice that the dry patches started calming down a lot quicker. As for the rest of my face which didn't need a lot of aiding in moisturising and soothing, I did notice that it helped pick my skin up by making it a lot smoother, which allowed for my makeup to sit more nicely on my skin, as well as allowed for my other skincare products to sink into the skin a lot better. 

Rating: 9/10

Have you tried the Etude House 0.2 sheet masks? Which from the range was your favourite?

Does It Really Work? My Scheming Blackhead Removal Mask

If you're an avid skincare junkie then you'll be well aware of the famous blackhead charcoal mask that made its rounds a couple of months ago as the best treatment to remove your blackheads other than the Biore blackhead strips. As soon as it hit YouTube I knew I had to give it a go after seeing the results, however, I decided to wait a while for the hype to die down as with most products I try out there that are hyped up I do find they don't always work for my skin. Sadly, this product did just the same.

I ordered my kit from YesStyle for around £15 in total, which also included postage. Inside it came with the sebum softener as step 1, the charcoal mask as step 2 and lastly the pore refining essence as step 3. These all work in conjunction with each other so it is better that you follow the steps through and just don't go straight for the charcoal mask as you may find it won't work as good. For a full how to, watch this video here. 

When it came to trialling and testing the blackhead removal mask I did find the whole process in itself to be quite time consuming and fiddly. For a kit which is meant to be good at removing blackheads I wasn't surprised to find that it would require more than one step, but having gone through the process twice I did find the Biore blackhead strips to work a lot better for the time and money spent.

After removing the blackhead pore strip which took around 40 minutes in total to dry completely (side note: the box says it should take around 30 minutes, but I waited until it was completely dry for better results) I noticed that barely any of my blackheads had been removed compared to when I use the Biore Pore Strips which work really well on my skin. However, what I did notice was that after I finished the 3-step course with the pore refining essence that my skin was left feeling really soft and smooth. This didn't last for long as after a couple of days I noticed that my skin started becoming dry in the areas that I applied the charcoal mask and it is only now that my skin has started to improve to its original state after using a lot of hydrating products. This was really disappointing after seeing so many people use this mask with the same skin type as me and them having amazing results. However, with having acne-prone skin this could have caused a slight irritation with my skin causing my skin to become dry, so if you're on the look out to try this product I would recommend being extra cautious when using it as you may find your skin becoming extra dry.

Have you tried the blackhead charcoal mask? What are your thoughts on it?

Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief Moisturiser Review

Wow, it feels like it has been ages since I posted on my blog. A lot have things have happened though, but not quite Eastenders-style, but things have gone from bad to good, to okay and so forth. I won't go into too much detail but after being away from my blog for so long, I definitely had the urge to at least post something - so I thought I would start with a quick review from Clinique.

Clinique is a brand I have heard about quite a lot, especially from the Bubzbeauty days when all I did was swear by her wise words when it came to acne and skincare in general. About 6 years later, I finally took the plunge and bought my first Clinique product from the moisture surge range, which is the moisturiser.

I have combination skin as I like to call it, but whether I'm within this category I am unsure. My skin can be quite dry most of the day which tends to make my makeup cake a lot if I don't check on it regularly. However, it can also get very oily mostly on my cheeks, chin and forehead. So I definitely have a mixture of everything going on and trying to combat every problem can be quite a hassle when some products don't want to work in conjunction with another. Would you like a skincare routine on products which help battle both these problems?

Within the moisture surge range, there is two moisturisers I believe. The extended thirst relief moisturiser and the Intense Skin Fotifying Hydrator. I opted for the extended thirst relief moisturiser as this one is a gel consistency, compared to the other one which is a cream. Also, due to the consistency being gel it means it feels quite water like and thin so I wouldn't be wasting any product and also because it would help hydrate my skin that little better than a cream would.

The packaging for this moisturiser is a 50ml glass tub with a screw on lid, with a green outer packaging. On arrival you also get a lid to cover the actual moisturiser from the lid for hygiene reasons, which can be quite messy as a lot of the product at the top collects which means you will spend at least 2-3 days using the product on the lid than in the actual jar. It is also optional to throw this away or keep it, but I find throwing it away once you've used the product on it to be better and the product itself doesn't dry out or change in consistency either.

The product itself I find to be amazing. Due to the light formulation to the product it means you only need a little bit. Literally dabbing your fingertip into the pot is enough to cover your entire face. On the face it feels cooling and soothing as though you've splashed your face with water or spritz it with a setting spray. It takes about 1-2 minutes to dry and doesn't leave a sticky residue behind. Once fully dried and sunk into the skin, my skin feels really smooth and my makeup blends into my skin really well compared to if I was to use my moisturiser beforehand which was a Liz Earle one.

Overall, I am really happy with this moisturiser. If you have problematic skin or acne I woul suggest giving this moisturiser as a go, as not only does it help sooth the skin but it also helps reduce any redness. It's priced at £34 per pot, but if you use FeelUnique's 6 month offer of 10% off you can get it for cheaper. 

Penny