When I was in Las Vegas last year, I made my way into CVS for fruit (because there is no fruit at a decent price on The Strip!) and obviously had to wander into the beauty aisle and saw WHACKLOADS of Yes To sheet masks. I picked up a few and then waited patiently for them to make their way into Canada and lo and behold they did a few months ago! I thought there were only four "flavours", but when I went to Target in Maine last month holy moly were there other masks! Now, I will unfortunately have to preface this with the fact that I was pretty unimpressed with the sheet mask situation here, but it did not stop me from buying more from Yes To while I was in the US! See, I don't hold a grudge when it comes to sheet masks!
PR Samples
I believe that there are currently four sheet masks available from Yes To in Canada all of which I will be sharing with you today! All Yes To... masks are formulated without parabens, SLS and silicones. The first two are from the Yes To Tomatoes collection which is the more detoxifying line and has one Detoxifying Charcoal Paper Mask* and one Blemish Fighting Paper Mask*.
The Detoxifying Charcoal Paper Mask contains charcoal to naturally detoxify and deep clean the skin. The essence also includes aloe, witch hazel and tomato fruit extract and tomato fruit juice all within the top 10 ingredients.
To preface what I plan on saying with regards to the overall fit of each mask sheet, none of the masks fit well although out of the lot, this charcoal one adhered best with the fewest wrinkles. My biggest gripe with this mask was the scent. No, it did NOT smell like tomatoes, but was overwhelmingly floral. It was quite strong and I found it a bit distracting. As for the results, my skin was fine, not stripped, but not drastically improved either. It kind of just stayed the same.
The Yes To Tomatoes Blemish Fighting Paper Mask was probably the one I hated the most. This mask is for breakout prone skin and contains both salicylic acid and willow bark extract as BHA as well as tea tree extract and witch hazel. It had such a strong fragrance that it was making my eyes water. The fact that I have been sheet masking for 65 days straight with no breakouts and weekly unfiltered skin updates should be enough to prove that nothing really upsets me so watery eyes was a bit weird. It also tingled which the package DID say was normal, but I felt that this added to my sensorial overload. I kept this mask on for the recommended 10 minutes before ripping it off my face.
In addition to the scent and the tingling was the fit. This, the Coconut and Cucumber paper masks all seemed to fit quite poorly on me with tons of wrinkles and massive eye holes. I also did not like that the eye holes had flaps which I know some brands say are for covering the eyelids and encouraging lying down for the duration of the mask, but I honestly never do this. I feel like the masks were made for a very long face as the top part seemed to fit alright until getting to the "moustache" part. Once I put this piece in place, the cheeks and chin all seemed to fall apart!
The Yes to Coconut Paper Mask is for Dry Skin and is made with virgin coconut oil which is the sixth ingredient on the list! So yay for that!
There is however a strong, artificial coconut fragrance which disappears over time and tingling/warm feeling that immediately starts once the mask touches the skin. The mask also gave my lips a burning sensation and I don't use that term lightly as I know skincare brands HATE when you use the term "burn" instead of "tingle". In this case, while the tingling was happening on my face, the burn was happening on my lips. The finish had a medium tacky finish and did leave my skin feeling hydrated, but was not worth "the journey".
I actually started my reviews for the Yes To Paper Sheet Masks with the Yes to Cucumber Calming Paper Mask as I have been a longtime fan of the makeup remover wipes and "soothing" seemed like a good place to start as well as measuring stick.
Unfortunately, this mask was just a preview of what was to come and beginning with the very strong artificial cucumber fragrance came that funny tingling and burning on the lips again. Before reading the package, I thought my skin was reacting as it happened almost instantly, but when I read the package, the tingling was normal. The other thing that surprised me was the presence of menthol in the ingredients list. This is meant to be a "soothing" mask so why would it have menthol? I mean, menthol is great for soothing sore MUSCLES, but the skin on your face? It just doesn't make sense to me!
And again, I just was not happy with how this sheet mask fit on me as this is probably one of the most ill-fitting masks I have ever worn. The hydration level was good though with the essence leaving my skin feeling only slightly tacky.
Final verdict: I don't mean to trash Yes To, but I am a bit surprised by my experience with these masks. Yes, I probably am pickier than most because I have tried so many sheet masks, BUT it's not like there weren't sheet masks out there that their developers couldn't have used for reference. From what I see, these masks are not made in Korea which most North American companies do so that the sheet masks from companies like Garnier are still similar when it comes to core basics like fit. The only reason I can think of why these Yes To masks are NOT made in Korea is that when it comes to seals of being natural or green, the way cotton sheet masks are made in Asia may not adhere to what Yes To deems as "clean". I will end on a positive note by saying that my Yes To Mud Mask review will be far more rosy and that you will continue to hear more about Yes To from me because I picked up so many more masks from them while I was away and am willing to give them another try in the sheet mask department!
You can find the new Yes To Paper Masks at Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall, WalMart Canada and London Drugs.
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