Part of the limited collection in celebration of the Taipei International Floral Expo, the Japanese Hydrangea mask soothes and comforts skin while providing remarkable oil control to keep skin matte and shine-free.Purchased at: BonjourHK
Price: $7.60/5 = $1.52/mask + S&H
Description: Oil control, soothing.
Suitable for: Best for combination and oily skin types.
Experience: First impression when I opened the packet - not good >_> I got a strong wave of something that reminded of black tea, a scent I'm not nuts about. The mask texture and fit was good, as all the My Beauty Diary masks are. Unfortunately, as many of you know, one thing I always look for in a mask is that "cooling factor." This is important to me as "cooling" masks are vital to reducing redness and puffiness on my face, something I'm very prone too. In general, all sheet masks have at least a little bit of a cooling effect simply because you're putting something wet on your face. However, some masks have an extra cooling sensation and I don't think it's just in my head because certain masks feel exceptionally cool on my face (w/o refrigeration) and redness goes way down. Sadly, this mask is not one of those. Initially, it was cool but I don't know if my face was reacting to one of the ingredients or what, but my face started getting rather warm after 10-15 minutes. It didn't break me out or anything, but redness did not go down at all. Usually face masks at least temporarily take the redness on my face down at least 90% but this one....my face just looked the same :\ I've tried this mask 3x so far on 3 consecutive days and I haven't been impressed by either the immediate or (slightly) long term results in terms of oil control.
Overall
Fit: As all MBD masks, the mask fits me well and has 2 slits around the chin.
Scent: I admit that I don't know what Japanese Hydrangeas actually smell like :P but this mask smells - to me - of black tea. Really strongly. I don't like the smell and this is one of the reasons behind why I wouldn't repurchase this mask.
Texture: Mask texture is nice, smooth and almost silky. Quite nice.
Excess serum: Mask is well-soaked but there is minimal excess serum in the packet for your neck etc. You can usually squeeze out a tiny handful, just enough for your neck but that's it.
Claims: Oil control, soothing. I personally have not noticed much oil control improvement. I used this mask three days in a row and there was no "oil reduction" on those three days or afterwards. So...yeah. As for soothing, not particularly. It didn't irritate my skin per se but I didn't see any redness reduction at all :\
Overall Results: I'm a little surprised how ineffective this mask was on me since the MBD French White Lily and Damask Rose (coming up next!) masks were wonderful. Besides the fit and texture of the mask itself, there is nothing I really like about this mask. It didn't soothe my face nor did I see any oil reduction. And one thing I particularly despise when it comes to beauty products is when something doesn't do what it promises. I don't expect something to fix every problem on my face but if a mask promises oil control, I should see some oil control. Everybody's skin is different so it may just be me so don't let this review prevent you from trying it out if you like, but don't expect great things. On the upside, the packaging is just lovely isn't it ^0^? I have to say I just adore the Blooming of Beauty packaging, it's so floral, feminine, yet not overdone. Overall, I did not like the smell and this mask didn't do what it promised, so I would not repurchase or personally recommend it.