SHEET MASK | The MUCH Talked About SK-II Facial Treatment Mask #LunarJanuary

This is the "oba-chan" or "grandmother" of sheet masks! I remember hearing about the SKII Facial Treatment Mask about five or six years ago as the "ultimate red carpet treatment" and was being used by various celebrities to give their skin a reboot. Made in Japan, this sheet mask is soaking in "pitera" which is a yeast by-product "rich in vitamins, minerals, organic acids and amino acids that aid in cell renewal". Sounds, AMAZING right? So, why wasn't I as impressed as everyone else on the Internet?

SKII Facial Treatment Mask Review
Purchased by me

I don't think essence was truly a thing until SK-II's Facial Treatment Essence. Most of the reviews I came across from 2012 onward could not stop singing praises of improved skin tone, reduction in redness and overall improved skin firmness. This mask is soaking in 30mL of the famous essence and is intended for use with all skin types.

The ingredients list is very short as pitera is the second of seven ingredients which I was happy to see, but in terms of results on the skin, there wasn't a whole lot of information. I found this post to be quite useful as it was written by a dermatologist who cited one study from 2006 (this was also the only one I could find in NCBI) and even though this blog post was written awhile ago, there STILL isn't a lot of information on pitera. From the information I could gather, pitera has the potential to reduce inflammation in the skin, leading to a reduction in redness and overall more even looking skin tone.  The second study I found specifically using the word "pitera" was by Wong et al. which showed the possibility of a strengthened skin barrier when in contact with Saccharomycopsis Ferment Filtrate. This study did have Proctor & Gamble scientists as second and third authors which makes me have my spidey-senses on alert as SK-II is a Proctor & Gamble brand. Hmmm...

SKII Facial Treatment Mask Review

Ingredients: Water, Saccharomycopsis Ferment Filtrate*, Butylene Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Salicylate, Methylparaben, Disodium EDTA. *Pitera.

I don't know if some of you have noticed this, but a lot of Japanese skincare products have parabens in them and it's not like I am totally against them, but it's interesting that Korean products rarely have them, but a lot of the Japanese skincare I have encountered do!

SKII Facial Treatment Mask Review

Mask Summary:

Price: 6/$125 CDN or 10/$181 CDN
Scent: Minimal
Essence Type: Watery jelly
Duration: 5-15 minutes (it's so expensive I'd leave it on for as long as possible!)
Thickness: High
Mask Fit: Chin goatee and other thick wrinkles, but mask stayed in place and did not budge. There were also multiple slits all over the mask which helped in making sure the fit was good. When I tried this mask a second time, I cut a slit on the "moustache" portion and overlapped the two pieces for a better fit.
Tackiness: Zero!
Hydration: Skin very smooth, but I needed a light moisturizer afterwards
Other notes: The material of the mask was thick, but also very absorbent. My skin also looked very even in colour and free of redness in my cheeks. The second time I used this mask, it started to pill a bit with the existing skincare I had on which was an essence, hydrating toner and serum. Maybe go light on the skincare when using this and treat this mask more like a substitute for your serum.

SKII Facial Treatment Mask Review

Final verdict: While I am sure this sheet mask was the most AMAZING mask almost 10 years ago, ingredients and technology have come a long way and I feel like similar results can be achieved with cheaper masks now that aren't quite so bulky on the face. While the scientist in me looooves the idea of having a mask created by yeast, I'm not sure if I enjoyed the whole experience of the price and the mask fit. The results were quite nice and there was a ton of essence in the mask itself so there definitely is something about the super thick material that seems to work, but I just prefer a more skin-like fit in my masks now. For similar pricing, I could get the same results with biocellulose which is literally made through fermentation and has similar results. Sorry, but SK-II you aren't for me.

You can find the SK-II Facial Treatment Mask at www.sephora.com

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