Unboxing April Beauteque Mask Maven Bag – Overall Happy!

The second Mask Maven bag arrived early April but I didn’t get to unbox until now. There were lots of other reveals from bloggers but the unique thing is that we all can get different “flavors” of masks from the same series. This will be shorter than my last post, first impressions only.

First overall impression: I like this April bag a WHOLE lot better than their launch bag in March. It was so disappointing that their very first bag was half-full of lower quality masks that didn’t have a great ingredients list, i.e. their star ingredients listed at the very bottom of the list. This made me question my commitment to a 6-month subscription but the April bag is keeping me hopeful for May.

If you’re not familiar with Beauteque’s Mask Maven see my introductory post here. See their March Launch bag here.

#1. Tony Moly Red Cheeks Girl’s Patch. This is a unique mask that isn’t your typical sheet mask. This is “a patch that hydrates and soothes the cheeks”. You apply this to cheeks that are dry are chapped probably from harsh winters when your face is up against wind burns. Leave on for 20 – 30 minutes then remove. I’ve seen this pop up a few times in the blogosphere and at first look, I thought it was a cheek-staining cosmetic item! It won’t do such a thing as it’s for moisture only!

Glancing at the ingredients list, it lists a lot of good-for-your-skin extracts but you just never know until you run ingredients through CosDNA and one ingredient, Carrageenan, looks like it will clog pores are it’s rated a 5 under comedogenic and a 2 for being an irritant. I would not recommend this for acne prone skin. I have normal to dry and I’ll save this for winter next year (which makes me think why they added this when it’s springtime and the theme should be herbal or floral masks?).

Value: Not listed in the Beauteque shop but Korean etailer sites will price these around 2,000 KRW but on an American site, expect it to cost $5 USD.

#2. Hanaka Black Rose Acne Fighting Mask. This is a “brightening black mask designed to absorb impurities, rebalances oiliness and exfoliate skin texture. Leave until completely dry that helps acne removing easily. Deeply purify pore and instantly refine the skin”. So the English is a little wonky but you get the idea that it’s supposed to extract your blackheads and sebum out (the acne).

I’m really glad I got this! I was in Taipei and bought the giant 250 ml Hanaka Blackhead Pore Charcoal Mask and this little packet is often recommended as an additional step. It’s basically like a liquid form of a nose strip; you spread the product over your nose and/or your chin/forehead, wait for it to dry and then peel off. You’ll get a chance to see blackheads, dead skin and sebum stuck on the black mask. Cool. Charcoal is great at drawing out impurities and it has chamomile and aloe vera extracts for anti-inflammatory purposes – CosDNA ingredient analysis here.

Value: Not listed in the Beauteque shop but avg of $1.99 for one

#3. Hanaka HYDRATION Botonic Treatment Reviving Mask in Camellia Hyaluronic Acid. Let’s go right into another Hanaka mask. “Deeply hydrate skin that dramatically glows radiance. Each comforting mask is made out of 100% natural wood-pulp fiber in Japan and completely decomposed after usage. This masks offers a soft design created to closely fit the face”.  This packaging is a cute semi-circle in a semi-gloss finish with 30 ml of essence – which is plenty of essence!

There was no exisitng ingredient list so I submitted a new entry in CosDNA (whoops typo on the camellia LEAF extract, not “lead” extract) but in typing up the entire list, this mask has parabens in it. Some people might be picky about this but I don’t mind parabens as long as they are low in amounts. You can decide for yourself and here is a resource from Paula’s Choice that can shed more light on parabens and its potential health risk.

Value: $1.80 on Beauteque

#4 & #5. Holika Holika Juicy Mask Sheets in Mango (Revitalization) and Pomegranate (Elasticity). Now we’re talking! These fun looking and absolutely thirst-quenching masks remind me of the sunny days of Spring season! Ok, but what’s in the mask essence? Good stuff! Alcohol DOES rank as third on the list but Sodium Hyaluronate is right after as fourth (good for moisture retention).

It advertises on that package that there is 1000 ppm of mango and pomegranate extract in each mask. For Pomegranate, there is also grapefruit, orange peel and apricot extracts listed (CosDNA here) and Mango also has apple, watermelon and peach extracts (CosDNA here). Both have Allantoin which is an anti-inflammatory ingredient to calm skin down. I can’t wait to use these in the coming weeks of spring! These were two good picks.

Value: $2.20 each on Beauteque

#6. Leaders Mediu Amino Moisture Mask. Happy I got a Leaders mask because I was actually going to order a pack of 10 of these last before my mask package came. I decided to TRY this one mask before buying a pack of 10 on RoseRoseShop. I’ve tried the Leaders Insolution coconut bio cellulose gel mask and it was so luxurious and adhered very well that I wanted to look at the other Leaders range. These were priced more affordably so I wondered if these were made of 100% cotton or in another type of mask.

With some research, these are actually made out of a “natural cellulous sheet made with rigidly selected 10% of cotton“. Major ingredients are: Adenosine, icecaps glacier milk of the Alps and amino acid complex with Lysine, Ceramide and Hyaluronic Acid.. Adenosine enhances resilience of whole skin and improves resilience. There are 4 non-added additives (non-paraben, non-mineral oil, non-silicon, and non-artificial colours). Amino acids are gold for your skin! I couldn’t find a full ingredients list anywhere but another site says that there are 17 kinds of amino acids which I assume is 10,000 ppm worth in the 25 ml mask. I already trust the Leaders name and I’m excited to try this even with no full ingredients list.

Value: Not listed in the Beauteque shop but avg of $1.99 for one

#7. Etude House I Need You Korean Ginseng Mask. Normal run-of-the-mill sheet mask from popular cosmetic giant, Etude House. Their official global site states “this mask sheet contains nourishing Korean Ginseng extract (Panax Ginseng Root Extract), enhancing a youthful complexion by revitalizing exhausted and lifeless skin”.  CosDNA analysis here.

Dimethicone is listed as sixth on the list but rated only as 1 for as an acne trigger. I think that’s a pretty low risk and Grapefruit extract is actually listed as seventh on the list, before ginseng.  That’s confusing that the star ingredient of ginseng is listed somewhere in the middle. Along with ginseng are peach leaf, ginko biloba and other flower and root extracts.  All in all not a bad mask but the ingredient list shows there is more grapefruit extract than ginseng. I expect a nice herbal ginseng smell like the Etude House Honey wash-off pack. It may be too strong for others but it’s calming to me.

Value: $1.99 on Beauteque

#8 & #9. My Beauty Diary sheet masks in Red Vine and Mexico Cactus. Beauteque added two My Beauty Diary masks in the last March bag as well. While I’m not appalled at the choices, I like to have different masks to try and MBD were once a staple in my collection that I have grown out of. MBD has since spawned off newer collections like the V-line series, Black Obsidian and other more premium masks that have caught my interest. I see they have the newest lines stocked on their website (Intense eye care, Gold and Marine Collagen Lifting, or this thing called Oligopeptide) why aren’t they going in the bags? I think I would’ve liked to trade two of these for one of the newer ones.

Red Vine (or is it supposed to be “Wine”?) is good for brightening and revitalization CosDNA. Mexico Cactus is good for hydration and moisturization CosDNA. Again the ingredient lists prove that there are lots of other great flower and leaf extracts. Soild masks just not that excited to try these. These will get used when I just want to slap on a mask and not review it for the blog.

Value: $1.99 each on Beauteque

#10. 3CW Clinic Fresh Milk Mask. (Free mask for subscribing 6 months). Yech. Another cheapie 3W Clinic mask. I ranted about these masks in my March unboxing and here why: CosDNA. You’ll notice that the milk protein extracts are actually listed at the bottom of the list and is at 0.05%. I’m not sure how effective that would be but it seems like they only inserted a little milk protein in there so they can at least name it a “milk” mask for marketing purposes!

The mask advertises 23 ml of essence and states “the refreshing mask sheet absorbs into the skin that needs elasticity and organizes the skin texture without stickiness and the milk protein extract makes the skin soft and comfortable by giving affinity on the skin”.

There is more Sodium Hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid) in this, which is listed as fifth. There is a paraben listed and ethanol alcohol too. If anything at least this mask has hyaluranic acid which is the main ingredient for making your skin soft and elastic (not the weenie bit of milk). I can use this as I have normal skin but I’m not expecting anything great (once again).

Value: $3.00 on Beauteque (WHAT? NOT worth $3, the Snail version is listed at $1.80)

April quote “Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself” – Coco Chanel. 

Can’t agree with Coco more!

Overall I did like my April Mask Maven a lot. The only gripe I have so far is that my free mask incentive for signing for a 6-month subscription seems like it will be a lower quality mask that I don’t care to get. This was a better lot of masks than March and I’m happy to received all the masks in there except for the 3W Clinic. With the March launch, I was unhappy with half the bag so this was a huge improvement.

Total Beauteque Value: $24.15 (I used American pricing for the masks not listed on Beauteque’s shop)

Total Actually Paid: $14 subscription + $3.95 shipping = $17.95