Collaboration Post | A shared My Beauty Diary mask experience – Sailing the High Seas with The Beauty Dispensary!

image: 123rf.com

Hi everyone! Well, I kinda stuffed up my usual posting schedule a bit, running a day early on the weekend. So this is appearing tonight, but my next post won’t be until the usual time of Thursday evening. For that post I will be reviewing a bargain lip gloss that I recently picked up!

***

As you are probably well aware, I have been running a series on a selection of the My Beauty Diary (MBD) mask range. I am now going to bring the series to a close with something a bit different, namely some collaboration posts! A collaboration post is a bit like a guest post, except BOTH myself and the guest poster work together. I have collaborated with the lovely Madam M from The Beauty Dispensary on two posts – the second will be appearing on her site soon!

Here’s Madam M! Courtesy of: thebeautydispensary.wordpress.com

The Beauty Dispensary is a blog which features detailed and thorough product reviews on a variety of products. Both Madam M and I enjoy trying and reviewing products from Asia, particularly Japan, and she has travelled to Japan herself (yep I’m jealous! ). Madam M brings her experience in the beauty industry and as a “Counter Boss Lady” to her writing and her posts are a pleasure to read. Do pay her site a visit!

***

What Madam M and I have decided to do is each try the same two masks from the MBD range and compare our thoughts. You will be able to tell who is “speaking”, as Madam M’s thoughts will be in pink, and mine will follow in purple.

To give some context – Madam M’s skin is usually oily. However, currently she describes it as “extremely dry & very dehydrated” (you can visit her blog to read more about why this is so!). For those new to my site, my skin is combination-oily but getting dryer as I’m getting older, particularly my cheeks. I’m also starting to get a few fine lines around my eyes. (Quick where are the big dark sunglasses?! LOL)

Today we are sharing our views on the Black Pearl Mask from MBD… Does the post’s title make sense now?

image: yesstyle.com

~ First impressions ~

Has a very light fragrance which is lovely and comforting. Instantly my skin feels calm and soothed.

I love the cute patterns on the packaging for the MBD masks, including for this one! Seeing “black” pearl made me wonder if the serum would be dark in colour, which I thought could be a bit yucky, but luckily it was clear as per usual for the MBD range! When I opened and applied the mask I noticed a very light, slightly floral and sweet scent that was really nice.

~ Size/fitting ~

Fits well, I always find out of all brands of sheet masks I use, the MBD masks give me the best fit for my face shape. I only ever need to adjust the space under my nose as it sits on my top lips, which I find a little annoying. I also really like the way they stay on my face & never feel as though they are going to slide off which gives me a little freedom in being able to move around the house to do other things while my mask is working its magic.

I agree with Madam M about the way these masks adhere to the face well! However I have a harder (but not too hard) time fitting the masks to my face. I always find the nose and eye areas too small but simply adjust the mask and/or apply serum where needed. Here’s a pic of me with the mask on so you can get an idea of how it looks on me! (Yep you can have a bit of a laugh! )

And here’s a pic of the backing sheet that is attached to all of the MBD masks so that you can see what the general shape of their masks is like:

~ Quality of material ~

Quite firm & sturdy. I am able to move and reposition the mask again and again to get the right fit on my skin with being worried it will rip or tear. Holds very well to the skin so I able to move around the house and not have to worry about it falling or sliding off and having to lie down and not move.

I find this mask, as the others I’ve tried from the MBD range, to be made of high quality material. It is thin which helps it sit close to the skin and to facilitate the skin’s absorption of the serum. I agree with Madam M in that the material seems to be quite strong and none of the masks in this range, including the Black Pearl, have ripped or torn for me.

~How does it perform against product claims? ~

I honestly haven’t ever noticed a whitening effect on my skin from using this mask. I think this is due to the fact I use a fair few varieties of sheet masks for different applications. Perhaps if I was to use this one alone more regularly I’d have a bit more evidence in the whitening claim. I do find however that the added benefit of pineapple & lime acids give me a very light & effective biological exfoliation and the cucumber has a cooling and fresh feeling.

I hopped over to the sasa.com site to find out more about this mask, prior to reading Madam M’s thoughts on this aspect. Sasa.com claim that the Black Pearl mask whitens and restores elasticity to the skin. My experience with this mask was very interesting. When I removed it after 30 minutes, my skin looked much brighter but also felt a bit sticky. Another 15 minutes or so later, my skin looked and felt AMAZING. It was sooo smooth and soft!

~ Would you repurchase? ~

Absolutely yes, this is one of my staple sheet masks that I use quite regularly. I always have a few sachets in my stash.

I agree 100% with Madam M here. I plan to buy a couple of boxes from sasa.com so I can stock up (and also take advantage of free shipping! ).

***

What did you think of this post?

COMING SOON…. Our experiences with the Pearl Powder mask… Arr! Click here to read Part II!