Between Lisa Eldridge's sparking a storm with her Korean haul and Pat McGrath mentioning her staple mask selection for surviving fashion week it isn't a wonder that sheet treatment masks are having quite a moment globally and they are more commonly an Asian find. If you don't know what a sheet mask is they're packeted treatments for the face and are essentially what appears to be a wipe but are pre-cut to fit the face and juiced up with either a hydrating, rejuvenating, or serum treatment. One of my first few features on this blog were Korean sheet masks which I tried with Mom. The only thing that turns me off about sheet masks is I'm very particular about what goes on my face and sometimes even with the convenience of hundreds of variants sealed in large sachets to choose from...I'd like to know what's on mine exactly since I break out easily with certain chemical combinations. So I thought why not DIY my own using my NIVEA Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes?
NIVEA Gentle Cleansing Wipes are great for creating sheet masks for me because they're alcohol-free, and contain almond oil, and Hydra IQ for added hydration, but you can jazz them up with your own toner/spray treatment. (25 pcs. Alcohol-Free) w/ Natural Almond Oil & Hydra IQ Php140 "removes makeup and waterproof mascara"
I didn't research on DIY sheet masks...the concept came suddenly (I'm sure not very originally, it's a natural possibility that comes to mind looking at a face wipe), and eventually presented itself as something very obvious given the material of wipes. My favorite wipes of the moment are the NIVEA Gentle Cleansing Wipes which I think, given that they're alcohol-free and made for sensitive skin, would make very good summer sheet masks.
These would be good when juiced up with either an After Sun spray or your favorite toner because truthfully no wipe is wet enough to be a sheet mask, they all need help to be something more. This takes a bit of time and like me you might end up with a couple of wrong ones but trying to get it right for me became therapeutic, and unfolding them to see how off I was at first made me laugh. It's a laught trip thing to do with friends at the beach for example. Click through to the full post to see how I did my DIY sheet mask.
It's quite convenient that the three horizontal creases along the folds of Nivea wipes act as a guide to draw in half of your facial features for the holes. Fold over the wipe horizontally in half to cut the nose and mouth hole/slits with one cut each (you might remember the arts and crafts principle of folding in half which cuts the symmetrical cutting work in half).
More or less it works when you hold the wipe up to your face and use an eye or lip pencil to draw over the areas of where your eyes, nose, and mouth are, this will help especially for the eyes. For the eyes you don't cut along the half fold. You fold it in half yes but fold again inward about 1 inch away from the half crease. The eye you drew will be your guide to cut it out. The nose and mouth slits are pretty much self explanatory. As you can see, my first few were shockingly off, buti I had quite a bit of makeup to remove so I used these after both as masks and to remove makeup so I didn't waste them.
Then you take either your After Sun spray or your favorite toner and soak up the mask. You could do this on a clean bathroom counter or clip it up somewhere and spray the crazy out of it. The other one I tested spraying on it was the toner I recently blogged about a few posts back.
BANE! Haha, doesn't the road to beauty have its twists, turns, and dark forests sometimes? Try not to read this post before bed, LOL! Keep on your mask for awhile preferably while lying down. I think 10-15 minutes is good enough. If you have After Sun on yours on over a baked face you can keep it on longer. This wasn't one of the ones that fit perfectly on me but once I drew guide lines on it fit better.
So, grab your wipes and don't leave them behind on those soon-to-happen vacation or "work-ation" trips to the beach! You just might be able to fit in a bit of a pampering sesh with yourself and a couple of friends. After soaking up the sun have your face soak up a sheet mask!
