“Ahhhh….!” should be the sound your skin wants to make when you sit down with a hydrating mask on your face. But since this is another Buy THIS, Not THAT battle, you should know what I’m about to tell you next, right? NOT ALL FACE MASKS ARE CREATED EQUAL! We want you to feel confident that what you put on your skin does you nothing but good, so this time around we’re comparing two masks that claim to hydrate your skin and bring it back to health: Vital C Hydrating Enzyme Masque vs. Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask.
The key for either of these two products to win this battle is to pass what I like to call “The Nitty Gritty Test.” This test simply requires that you look at the first five ingredients of both products to see if you can spot the “active ingredient(s),” or in other words, the ingredient(s) that will help you achieve what you’re looking to achieve by using said product. Whichever product can support its beauty claims with clear evidence of its active ingredient within its first five ingredients is the winner! With this in mind, let’s look at the first 5 ingredients of each of these products, starting with Image’s Vital C Hydrating Enzyme Masque.
Vital C Hydrating Enzyme Masque
2 oz $31
Image’s Vital C masque promises to hydrate skin for hours after application while gently exfoliating the buildup of dull, dry skin and injecting skin with essential antioxidants like Vitamins A, C, and E. The first five ingredients of the mask are as follows:
(1) Water: Water is used in the formulation of virtually every skincare product primarily as a solvent. As such, water dissolves many of the ingredients in the product in question that impart skin benefits, such as conditioning and cleansing agents, as well as forming emulsions between the water and oil to form creams and lotions. Water is a clean, natural and safe ingredient.
(2) Papaya Fruit Extract & (3) Pineapple Fruit Extract: These two different types of fruit extracts serve as fruit enzymes. Enzymes work as exfoliators, breaking down dead and dry skin cells that sit on the surface of our skin and make it appear dry, flakey, and dull. Since these enzymes work on the surface of the skin (and not in between our skin cells like chemical peels), they are a gentle and non-irritating way to exfoliate skin, making them perfect for people with sensitive skin and/or rosacea. Papaya extract in particular is known for dramatically improving tone and texture of skin by promoting better circulation of blood, thus leading to a healthy, vibrant complexion. It is also great for rejuvenating mature, dull skin and helping clear up brown spots from sunlight exposure.
(4) Glyceryl Stearate & Peg 100 Stearate: This is a combination of two emulsifying ingredients. The former is a solid, waxy compound made by reacting glycerine (a soap by-product) with stearic acid (a naturally occurring, vegetable fatty acid) while the latter is an off-white, solid ester (an organic compound made by replacing the hydrogen of an acid by an alkyl or other organic group) of polyethylene glycol (a binder and a softener) and stearic acid. Simply put, these two ingredients allow oil and water to mix, therefore ensuring that the product remains blended and does not separate. As used in this masque, these two ingredients form a protective barrier on the skin, helping it lock in moisture.
(5) L-Ascorbic Acid: This is simply an active form of Vitamin C as it occurs naturally. It is a potent anti-oxidant, protecting skin from oxidative damage and improving skin’s elasticity by enhancing collage production. Vitamin C also helps with hyperpigmentation, including age spots while offering anti-inflammatory and soothing feel to the skin. The anti-oxidant effects of Vitamin C are further enhance when combined with Vitamin E.
Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask
3.4 fl oz $25
This overnight mask by Origins promises to “put dry skin to bed” with this ultra-rich mask containing avocado and apricot kernel oils to “instantly quench compromised skin” and Japanese Seaweed to “repair skin’s barrier to prevent future dehydration.” By using this mask, Origins claims that skin will awaken “comfortable, refreshed, and supple.” The first 5 ingredients of the mask read as follows:
(1) Water: See above.
(2) Rose Flower Water: This is a by-product of the production of rose essential oil. Rose flower water is commonly used to hydrate, soothe delicate to mature skin, rejuvenate aging skin, tighten pores and brighten complexion, and it is suitable for sensitive skin.
(3) Myrtle Leaf Water: The water from the Myrtle leaf deeply cleanses, purifies and tones the skin.
(4) Bitter Orange Flower Water: This is the clear, perfumed by-product of the distillation of fresh bitter-orange blossoms for their essential oil. The main benefit of bitter orange is in its astringent capability- it absorbs excess sebum and helps balance the production of oil in the skin, calming oil and acne-prone skin types without stripping the skin.
(5) Chamomile Flower Water: Obtained from the distillation process of Roman Chamomile Essential Oil, Chamomile Flower Water is calming to the skin, as well as anti-inflammatory and hydrating. It is ideal for hydrating and calming sensitive and rosacea-prone skin.
The Verdict?
A whopping 5 OUT OF 5 of the ingredients in the Vital C mask are active ingredients that do exactly what the mask promises to do: hydrate skin with water and Vitamin C, while further improving skin texture by gently exfoliating it with the papaya and pineapple fruit enzymes. Not only does the Vital C Hydrating Enzyme Masque hydrate and exfoliate skin, it also helps your skin lock in that moisture with its use of Glyceryl Stearate & Peg 100 Stearate. In addition to that, this mask feeds your skin with a healthy mix of powerful antioxidants like Vitamin C and E, which helps aging skin turn back the clock of time.
Although Origins’ mask contains some great natural ingredients to soothe dry skin, it unfortunately contains a number of fragrances that are potent skin irritants, like the Bitter orange flower water. Although this mask can help soothe some dryness, it can also irritate sensitive skin making it just not worth it, especially not for its advertised “overnight” use.
Unlike Origins’ Drink Up Overnight Mask, the Vital C mask promises long-lasting hydration that is gentle enough and completely safe to wear overnight, especially for very dry skin. So there you have it- the winner of another Buy THIS, Not THAT battle is… Image Skincare Vital C Hydrating Enzyme Masque!
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