Ise Fa i c x e a a
MAFTER YEARS LOST I N A B E AUTY SIBERIA at the back of the cabinet, face masks are creating a niche for themselves as fast-acting, multitasking skin saviours with a mix of new and targeted products.
Waiting for a mask to work is a thing of the past; I now use Dior’s Hydra Life Beauty Awakening Rehydrating Mask as a night cream and the results are excellent: It leaves skin plump, dewy, and healthy-looking. The makeup artist Andrew Gallimore started my addiction for this mask (although any that hydrate, such as Clarins HydraQuench CreamMask and Glamglow Thirsty Mud [`4,500 approx] give the same results) after telling me how he layers it on under makeup.
So I now do the same with La Mer’s The Intensive Revitalizing Mask, because it’s a waste to remove a mask (unless they are of the clay or peeling variety). Plus, as the facialist Nichola Joss explains: “Massaging it in gets the active ingredients deeper to work better.”
Gel masks can be patted on over makeup to freshen up dry skin, and masks are a better choice than creams for long-haul flights; SK-II’s Facial Treatment and Sarah Chapman’s 3D Moisture Infusion Masks (`700 approx) are popular with those who face the paparazzi on landing.
For those masks that come in individual sachets, my tip is either to chill one in the fridge to help firm and de-puff skin, or warm it in the bath to relax tight muscles.
The new overnight masks make sense as a more potent, targeted alternative to a night cream, such as Filorga’s Sleep and Peel Mask; Aromatherapy Associates’s Overnight Repair Mask (`3,800 approx), and Clinique’s Moisture Surge Overnight Mask. For when you need a quick improvement, peeling masks deliver: My regulars include La Prairie’s Cellular 3-Minute Peel (`14,200 approx) and Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel (`2,800 approx). Both remove dead surface cells, ideal to prepare skin for either a second treatment mask or an intensive cream. Follow with Sensai’s multitasking Lifting Radiance 3D Mask (`9,200 approx) or Elemis Pro-Intense Lift Effect Super System (`16,400 approx) whose ‘chin-sling’ mask is low on glamour but high on results. Although it has to be removed, Dr Sebagh’s Skin Perfecting Mask (`6,100 approx) is worth the work, as it leaves oily, puffy, and dull skin looking velvety, clear, and even. No longer a once-a-week treat, these can be layered and mixed up; blending a hydrating mask with a nourishing one is brilliant for dry or stressed skin, or even add a dab to foundation. The facialist Sarah Chapman layers her masks over serums “to really supercharge your treatment”. So, far from being forgotten and dusty, these are a new essential; in my bathroom I recently noted that I now have far more masks than I do face creams.
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