I try really hard to be as constructive as possible when reviewing products – especially skincare – as I strongly believe that one woman’s trash is another’s treasure; that moisturiser that didn’t really give my skin much moisturiser might be the perfect balancer for someone more oily than me; that foundation that caked all over my dry patches might sit perfectly on a younger skin; so you’ll very rarely catch me laying into a product and not at least attempting a balanced review, since I think it’s quite important to ensure that I don’t put my readers off what might be a potential Holy Grail product. However, very occasionally I’ll come across something that is just so terrible that I would struggle to find anything good to say, and that is the case with the Masque Bar Luminizing Charcoal Peel Off Mask.
I was so excited about this peel-off mask as I thought it sounded like such a great idea; I love a good charcoal deep cleanse and the concept of a mask that dries and then peels away all the nastiness that the charcoal sucked out – it sounds brilliant! Sadly, I ran into problems as soon as I started using this, since as you can see from the picture above, there wasn’t enough in the packet for me to cover my face. I am aware that I have quite a long face, but I wouldn’t say it’s so long that I find myself needing double-sized doses of anything! I stuck with it and figured I could just focus on the lower part of my face which is where all the spots tend to appear. Once the mask was dry, I started work on peeling it off. I don’t know if it was because I’d spread it too thin due to lack of product, or because the mask is designed to be this way, but man alive was it uncomfortable – you know the pain you get when you pull off a plaster? It was that feeling all over the lower part of my face. The mask had dried and obviously contracted as it should, being a peel-off, charcoal formula, but it was extremely uncomfortable – I’d even say pretty painful – to remove. With this in mind, I would definitely NOT recommend it for anyone who’s spot-prone, even though this is who it’s aimed at, since it would probably rip the spots open when being removed; I didn’t have any surface spots at the time (thankfully!) so this is a speculation, but I think a pretty accurate one. It’s such a shame this wasn’t any good as I’ve tried – and loved – quite a few Masque Bar products and I’m always excited when they release something new. Sadly, I wouldn’t recommend anyone tries these as I can’t see them being very good for any skin type. If you’re still intrigued, you can find the Masque Bar Luminizing Charcoal Peel Off Mask here for £7.49 (usually £9.99) for 3.
*PR Samples
I still have a lot left over from one mask and I’m shocked at this review and not trying to be rude , you put way to much product on your lower face. I have sensitive acne prone skin with some roscea and I did a test patch & after I did the mask and I experienced nothing but excellent results. Yes it hurts but it’s peeling hair & yucky stuff that causes major build up which makes angry puffy acne. I have spots and I even did a derma rolling session yesterday which pokes holes in your face & it never ripped or caused harm to my face. I had to post this here for others to see that just because you had a bad experience doesn’t mean everyone will.
Hi Victoria,
Thanks for your reply. Acne is a sign of inflammation so one of the worst things you can do is use something that’s so aggressive on your face that it ends up pulling out actual hair! I would also strongly recommend against using a Dermaroller if you have active acne as it’s likely to make the problem a lot worse.
I very much appreciate your feedback and as someone who is mask obsessed and uses many new ones each month, I can say with confidence that there are many masks that’ll deeply cleanse tricky skin without upsetting it in the fashion that the Masque Bar one does – I’m happy to recommend.
I really like Masque Bar products but this one was a really bad one for me that taps into that horrible Instagram craze of using products that rip everything out which is not how skin should be handled; speak to any reputable dermatologist and they’ll strongly recommend against using them as there’s no way to control their impact.
Thanks again for replying – I appreciate your feedback xx