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Vitamin C-based products are becoming more and more popular! They’re a safer and gentler way to brighten skin, and are especially helpful for fading acne scars and other blemishes. They don’t promise overnight results but will reveal renewed and refined skin with regular use.
Most Vitamin C sheet masks typically come in packs of four or five masks, and rarely will you ever find a mask that comes in packs of 10, let alone 30! Trust Japanese brand Kose to make that happen. Their Clear Turn Essence Mask (Vitamin C) comes in a nice compact dispenser — similar to a tissue box but smaller — which contains 30 densely-packed sheet masks. With a retail price of US$23.90 for the pack, you’ll only be paying 79¢ per mask.
I love the blue color palette.
If you’re used to your sheet masks dripping in essence, well, these aren’t. While I was initially disappointed to find my masks just damp instead of soaked, I realized all the serum had gathered at the bottom of the box so merely flipping it upside down soaked all the masks again. But getting a sheet out of the box was rather tricky as these are bundled very tightly. Thank goodness for tweezers (Which I saved from my NEOGEN Code9 Lemon Green Essence & Tox Tightening Pack!) which made the process more hygienic. The box also comes with a resealable paper cover but be careful not to get it wet so it doesn’t lose the adhesive.
Tip: Store the box of masks in the fridge to keep it nice and chilled — the colder mask helps tighten pores!
Images from KOSE Cosmeport
The serum is formulated with Vitamin C, tranexamic acid, collagen, hyaluronic acid, glycerin and a trehalose derivative, among others, which are thankfully all familiar to me by now. The mask itself is quite thick which assured me that there was little danger of ripping it. I was only disappointed that it didn’t fit my face very well — perhaps I had too much “facial real estate” to begin with? Nevertheless, the eye holes also include flaps which I carefully secured under my eyes to help brighten my dark circles.
My first sheet mask lasted about 10 minutes. If you have one of those silicon masks, wear it over the Kose sheet mask to prevent evaporation and to secure the Kose mask better on your face. Otherwise, the Kose mask will start falling off as it dries.
Double-masking makes me feel I’m apologizing to the parts of my face the mask can’t reach.
(Left) Image from Amazon
I’m not expecting my face to be visibly bright after using just 10 of the masks but I’ve noticed that applying it over my face after a light coating of snail essence or hyaluronic acid gives me noticeably brighter, firmer skin. I also experimented using the mask after applying Vitamin C serum and discovered that flaking and drying of my pimple scars was greatly reduced.
Ultimately, the Kose Clear Turn Essence Mask isn’t really something to write home about but it’s a great everyday sheet mask that does the simple job of moisturizing, refreshing and energizing your skin. Using it in between your pricier and more lavishly hoarded sheet masks will help your budget, at least until your next beauty shopping spree.