REVIEW: Paula's Choice NEW Face Masks!

by - March 23, 2018


For quite a while now, Paula's Choice has been a skin care brand that I've consistently reached for when I want products that contain evidence based ingredients and always give me results. Being that I love Paula's Choice and I love masking, I was beyond stoked when I saw that the brand was releasing two new masks - the Pore Clarifying Gel Mask* and the Rehydrating Moisture Mask*. Because I definitely like different kinds of masks to give me skin a little extra help when it needs it, I was really excited to try out both of these.

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When I mask, I tend to really pay attention to where my skin is at and use the products that are going to work best for whatever issues I'm attacking. Because my skin does tend to be quite normal these days, which I chalk up to a strong focus on balance in my routine, I don't like to reach for treatment types of products unless I actually need them. That's a huge reason that I was excited to see these two particular masks from Paula's Choice, particularly since the issues that I personally deal with most frequently are clogged pores and dehydration or surface dryness.


Paula's Choice Rehydrating Moisture Mask*
3oz | $30 |Our deeply moisturizing mask combines plants oils including jojoba, antioxidant vitamin E, amino acids plus glycerin to reinforce skin’s surface and reveal a soft, youthful-looking complexion while preventing against future moisture loss.

Like with any mask that you can use overnight, while testing this I used it as an overnight mask. You can also apply this for 20 minutes or more and simply wash it off before continuing with your skin care routine if you're in a hurry but want a strong hit of moisture to the skin. If you're unfamiliar with overnight masks, basically the idea is that you apply it at the end of your evening skin care routine, sleep in it, and wash it off in the morning. I found this to be a good mask for that because even though it's quite thick at application, it sinks into the skin quite quickly and doesn't leave a heavy-feeling layer of cream on the skin. I do recommend using a light hand with it at first though, because a little bit does go a long way. 

I definitely found this to be a really lovely hydrating mask that didn't overwhelm my skin, which can definitely be a tricky balance. I chalk it up to the ingredients - my skin loves jojoba, vitamin e and glycerin. After rinsing it in the morning, my skin looked and felt hydrated without feeling overwhelmed the way that it would be if I had used a heavy cream instead. Personally, I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of this mask during the warmer months, since my skin naturally stays much more hydrated, but if you have a drier skin or live in a very dry climate I think this could definitely be a year round type of product for you.


Paula's Choice Pore Clarifying Charcoal Gel Mask*
3oz | $30 | This unique charcoal gel attracts oil and skin impurities like a magnet so they can be rinsed away, leaving pores less congested and visibly minimized. Skin looks matte and feels refreshingly balanced—never tight or dry.

I feel like charcoal and clay masks tend to be the trickiest for me - and not all are created equal. Personally, when I'm looking for a pore clarifying mask, it absolutely has to be one that doesn't dry me out. There actually used to be one that I used quite consistently that really did a magical job clearing my pores, but it left my skin feeling dry, tight, and itchy and I had to stop using it. This mask contains charcoal, kaolin and bentonite clays and tapioca starch to deal with oiliness and congestion, willow bark and soothing agents to calm skin, and glycerin to hydrate and balance the skin. Based on the ingredients, I felt really, really good about trying this out on some angry, congested PMS skin - a lot of you probably know exactly the skin I mean!


I was a little bit surprised at how thin and gel-like this was in texture, since I'm used to charcoal masks being thicker, but it applied really well with the flat foundation brush that I use to apply all of my masks. I always leave a pore refining mask on for no more than 15 minutes - always follow the instructions, longer is not better with this type of mask - and then rinse with warm water and a washcloth to make sure I get rid of everything. While wearing this, it did feel a little bit cooling on my skin and I actually like to intensify that feeling by stepping outside into the cold to really drive it home. I don't know why, it's just a lovely feeling to me. Upon washing this off, my skin felt really clean and fresh without any tightness or discomfort. 

Ultimately, I do think this is a really good mask and it's one that I will continue to reach for when I'm dealing with congestion, but it isn't quite as intense as the mask that I tend to reach for when my skin is really unbalanced and congested so I think this will be one I'll use more consistently during the summer months when my skin does skew more oily and has a tendency to get more congested as a sort of


Overall, I think both of these are really good masks that I think a lot of people will love. The thing that sticks out to me the most about them is that they're a little bit more subtle than a lot of other masks that I've tried. They have gentle, skin-loving formulas with solid results, although the results might not be as drastic as they would be with something that might have a more undesirable formula, such as one that strips or overwhelms the skin. Make sense? These strike a really good balance. As with all of the other Paula's Choice products that I've used, these also contain ingredients that are backed by science to do what they say they're going to do, which is always going to be something that I personally prize pretty highly.

The Paula's Choice Rehydrating Moisture Mask* and the Paula's Choice Pore Clarifying Charcoal Gel Mask* are available now on the Paula's Choice website.

Thanks for reading!


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