The Essence of Wetness: Dermactin-TS Moisturizing Facial Sheet Mask Review

Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty.  –Derek Zoolander

From the Marshall’s sheet mask haul comes the Dermactin-TS Moisturizing Facial Sheet Mask. Made in Korea but aimed at the American market (all-English packaging, branding resembles knockoff StriVectin), this mask had several intriguing qualities that spurred me to buy it:

• Arbutin, an ingredient that brightens skin by inhibiting melanin formation, is the 3rd ingredient (after water and glycerin). Seriously, that’s higher billing than in a lot of “real” Asian sheet masks and was the main selling point for me. That said, I don’t know what an effective concentration of arbutin is and how much is actually in this mask.
• Numerous interesting ingredients are listed, including: rosa centifolia flower water (rose water), natto gum, plant extracts, and allantoin. Some of them have potential healing and anti-inflammatory effects (although a few of the plant extracts are rated poorly by Paula’s Choice).
• The sheet mask is fabric but is cut into two halves a la hydrogel masks.

At Marshall’s, these were $4.99 for a box of 4. Sally Beauty sells these at $2.99 apiece.

I called the mask to duty last month after accidentally giving myself a chemical burn from overexfoliating. (Total user error: aggressive physical scrubbing + aggressive chemical exfoliation = where’d my skin go?) I was left with some rough and scabbing spots on my cheeks and chin and hoped that this mask might speed up the healing.

The mask is made of standard medium-weight fabric. Applying the two parts was quite easy as the fabric clings closely to the face and there are cuts along the edges to help shape the mask. The top half is quite tall (the top goes into my hairline) and even has eye flaps for extra hydration. The mask is thoroughly soaked in essence, and when I smoothed out the bottom half, quite a bit of excess squeezed out onto my neck. Very little essence remained in the package though.  The essence smells lightly of tea tree oil (I’m not a fan of the smell, but it wasn’t enough to bother me).

After 30 minutes or so (the directions say 15-20 minutes), most of the essence had absorbed although the mask was still slightly damp. The results? Smooth, plump, hydrated, and slightly brightened skin on par with any decent sheet mask from Asia such as My Beauty Diary.

The brightening isn’t very dramatic considering the arbutin, but arbutin seems like a long-term worker anyhow. The essence residue leaves a sticky feeling but nothing that moisturizer can’t fix. As for my overexfoliated spots, they looked calmer, smoother, and hydrated but no miracles occurred. The irritated color and scabbiness were still there, albeit hydrated scabs now.

But the next morning! Well I don’t know how much is attributable to the sheet mask versus the 10 things I applied afterwards, but the next morning the scab had disappeared and the spots were no longer a rough light brown but rather a smooth light pink. I hadn’t experienced that degree of improvement before then–despite the other skincare steps being the same.

One note: the directions say to rinse off residue with water. Ha! IGNORE! We all know better than to waste good essence, right?

Overall, these masks are worth picking up if they’re at a good price. I Googled other Dermactin-TS sheet masks and they’re pretty intriguing as well, ingredients wise. Check out what’s at the top of the ingredients list on the other masks:

Brightening version: water, glycerin, niacinamide, arbutin, and licorice root extract

Anti-Aging version: water, glycerin, adenosine (read Fifty Shades of Snail’s take on the benefits of adenosine), and arbutin.

They’re worth a shot!

Pros: Comfortable fit and ample essence. Hydrates, plumps, smooths, and possibly heals. Arbutin is high on the ingredients list.

Cons: Immediate results are standard for a sheet mask, so probably not worth specially seeking out.