The Benefits of Overnight Facial Masks: Incorporating Face Masks into Nightly Skincare Routines

A trend that started in Asia has found its way west. Facial masks are becoming more and more present in our supermarkets and pharmacies. I remember watching a TV show with my family and seeing a teen sleepover scene where they all applied ghost-looking plastic sheet face masks as part of their evening. More and more people are realizing the power of good nightly facial masks that work while you sleep. In this article, I will review the benefits of overnight masks and why you should incorporate them into your nightly skincare routine.

The Korean beauty mask has become a trendy add-on to many skincare routines. This type of sheet facial mask is a serum-soaked cotton and plastic mask that you can easily apply to your face to get a hydrating boost. But what if I told you you could get the same amazing results without adding to the enormous plastic waste we make daily? Enter the facial mask we’ve been using for thousands of years (ours comes in a practical glass bottle you can repurpose after use). Honestly, I don’t understand the need to make everything disposable, even a plastic cut-out of a face to apply a face mask. Here, I’m only going to suggest products that are as good for your skin as they are for the environment.

The Science Behind Facial Masks

Face masks are formulated with a potent blend of active ingredients that target specific skin concerns. Their magic lies in providing targeted treatment to the skin, enhancing the penetration of active ingredients, and promoting various skincare goals. When applied to the skin, facial masks create a concentrated layer of nourishment and hydration, ensuring that the active components penetrate deeply and effectively into your skin. With all these great benefits, face masks have been acknowledged as the most prevalent cosmetic product for skin rejuvenation.

How Facial Masks Work

What are the principal ways in which a face mask helps your skin?

1. Ingredient Delivery: Face masks are formulated with a concentrated blend of active ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, humectants, exfoliants, and more, depending on what the mask is for. When applied to the skin, the mask creates a physical barrier that allows these active ingredients to remain in direct contact with the skin for an extended period, facilitating better absorption.
2. Enhanced Penetration: The occlusive nature of face masks helps create a humid microenvironment between the mask and the skin’s surface. This can make the ingredient’s penetration arrive into the skin’s deeper layers, where they can have a more significant and long-lasting impact.
3. Hydration: Many face masks contain humectants and hydrators like hyaluronic acid and glycerin. These ingredients attract and retain moisture from the environment, providing a great source of hydration to the skin. The occlusive barrier of the mask prevents water from evaporating, allowing the skin to absorb and retain moisture better.
4. Exfoliation: Exfoliating masks often contain mild exfoliating agents like alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) or small parts of plants. These ingredients help dissolve the bonds between dead skin cells, removing them from our faces and revealing smoother, more radiant skin underneath.

Daily VS Nightly Facial Masks

Some of the masks available on the market are made to be washed off shortly after application, while night masks are meant to be left on. These masks that you wash off 10/15 minutes after application, like clay and sheet masks, are great for a boost. Overnight or sleeping masks can provide continuous treatment while you sleep. It’s refreshing to know that while you rest, nature is working for your skin’s health. Here are some of the main benefits of including an overnight mask in your nightly skincare routine:

1. Extended Absorption: They are usually formulated with a slightly thicker consistency than regular masks that help slow the evaporation of active ingredients.
2. Skin Regeneration: During sleep, our skin’s natural repair and regeneration processes are more active. Overnight masks take advantage of this period by delivering nourishing ingredients that support these processes.
3. Minimized Disruption: Overnight masks are designed to be less likely to transfer onto pillows and sheets, minimizing the risk of wiping off the product while you sleep. Their formula aims to gradually absorb into the skin, leaving a protective layer that helps the ingredients stay in place.

If you’re unsure whether you need a day or night mask, try both and notice their effects. If you still can’t choose, you can always use both. Remember that masks are recommended once a week.

Something else that requires our utmost dedication is the area under our eyes. It’s so common to wake up puffy and feeling bloated, and if you want to know how to avoid it, check out How to Brighten Up Your Under-Eye Area Naturally.

The Best Overnight Mask For Your Nightly Skincare Routine

Facial Masks are recommended once a week, and, not very surprisingly, exfoliating is also recommended at that frequency. As a busy mom and entrepreneur, I greatly appreciate any minutes I save in my daily routines. That’s why I decided to mix and match these two important parts of my skincare routine: exfoliating and deeply hydrating.

Step 1: Polishing

Using a gentle exfoliating face polish can make a huge difference. It removes the dead skin cells, promoting new ones while evening out your skin tone. Fields of Yarrow’s Wild Rose & Geranium | Illuminating Exfoliant is a gentle exfoliating gel infused with rose petals. Peeling particles, extracted from rice grains and sun-dried rose petals, rid the skin of dead cells and impurities. It will gently restore and refine the skin texture, stimulate skin renewal, and offer your complexion a naturally glowing effect.

Step 2: Hydrating

Our Rose Gel & Mulberry | Hydrating Face Mask is the ideal facial mask for any skin type. It has a silk-gel formula to gently soothe and tone with a plumping effect with no greasy aftermath. The skin is instantly cool and calm, while a blend of tea, mulberry, and flower extract helps to brighten, nourish, and detoxify the skin deeper. You’ll wake up to a refreshed and hydrated skin.

Bonus: Washing Off The Night And Embracing The Morning

The morning after I use my night masks, I wake up with plump skin. It’s an amazing feeling to know and feel how hydrated your skin is. The perfect cleanser I have found to use after a night of taking care of your skin is one with enzymatic cleansing. Fruit enzymes can really help break down the night’s sweat and any possible unabsorbed mask ingredients, and they feel incredible on the face! Our Papaya & Pineapple Enzymatic Cleanser is a product that has a unique gel-to-milk formula. You apply it to dry skin right before you jump into the shower. The feeling of the gel transforming into milk when it comes in contact with water is the perfect finishing touch after a good mask. And the smell will make you picture yourself in the heart of a fruity rainforest.

This mini version of your favorite hydrating routine is available for you to take everywhere you go.

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