Sleep has been quite the buzzword recently, and with it, the enviable goal of “good sleep”, a modern conundrum that eludes and frustrates us all the same. We all want a good night’s rest — and we know how important it is for our health, mental state, and even overall well-being — but boy is that hard to achieve. Still, good sleep or not, there’s been a slew of skincare products that promise, at least, the effects of a full night’s rest, a difference you’ll notice in the mirror by the following morning.
Skin Inc’s latest sleeping mask manages such a feat — and it’s no ordinary one either. The My Nightly Dose™ Custom Recovery Sleep Mask is an intensive overnight treatment that’s touted to be the world’s first custom sleeping mask. This is done by choosing from five new Serum Booster Shots, each with their own specialised benefits, and mixing these together with a mask base in order to customise our personal skincare.
Keen-eyed fans of the homegrown brand might notice that these booster shots look very much like the colourful little My Daily Dose® serums we often see on Skin Inc shelves, and you’re not wrong; the idea did spring forth from their beloved signature serums, where these use the same idea of encapsulated active ingredients that enable the formula to be as fresh and effective as possible. Read on for how it works, and for our review of this skincare innovation.
HOW IT WORKS
This is a customisable sleeping mask, where you start off by choosing from two mask bases — either a Hydro Gel, suitable for those with oily skin, or Hydro Cream, for dry, dehydrated skin. Each contains a combination of various skincare ingredients that deliver 24-hour hydration and more; the former contains Hyaluronic Acid, Caffeine, Witch Hazel, Zinc PCA + Sodium PCA, while the latter combines ingredients such as Vitamin B3, Hyaluronic Acid, Ceramides, and Squalene.
You’re then encouraged to pair them with two Serum Booster Shots, each addressing a different skincare concern. These contain 1,000 microbeads each, which hold encapsulated active ingredients in order to keep these actives as fresh as possible; the ingredients are activated only when they burst while in contact with your skin. Additionally, the “delivery system”, or the way the syringe-like booster shots are mixed in with the mask is designed to be easy to use — but more on that later.
Here are the five Serum Booster Shots:
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- SOOTHE — contains 4 types of Hyaluronic Acid, Ceramide; to help strengthen the skin barrier and enable it to better hold moisture across various skin layers.
- DETOX — Antioxidants, Coenzyme Q10 + Thioctic Acid; an anti-pollution duo that protects skin from environmental stressors that may cause premature ageing.
- GLOW — Ferulic Acid, Multivitamins (B3, B5, C, E); to brighten dull and uneven complexions for a radiant glow.
- CLARIFY — 5% Niacinamide, 0.6% Salicylic Acid; balances skin in order to minimise the appearance of pores and keep skin clear and shine-free.
- AGE-PROOF — Bakuchiol, Zinc PCA + Sodium PCA; the plant-based retinol alternative helps improve visible signs of ageing and renews the skin tone.
A good thing we managed to clarify with the Skin Inc team is that you’re free to mix and match across these serum booster shots in any combination, without having to worry whether they’d cause an unpleasant reaction. All of the serums are made with a stable pH formula, and proven to work on all skin types.
Another pro tip is that you can also use these boosters as spot correctors, to treat specific areas of your skin that you feel need more care — maskne, blemishes, or dark spots, for instance. If you’re not sure which serums are the the right one for you, you can also do a quick Skin Identity Check on their website, a quiz that recommends items based on your skin concerns, lifestyle, and environment.
REVIEW
Firstly, I loved how fully customisable this Skin Inc sleeping mask was, and was most impressed by the way the serum booster shots are incorporated into the mask base. You can tell that there was thought behind the design of the booster shots — shaped like a syringe, I removed the cap of the item, then placed it at the top of the “syringe” to easily push its contents into the mask base. It’s honestly not as complicated as it sounds. Good to know too — the shots are made with recyclable plastic, so you can toss them into a blue recycling bin once you’re done.
I must say, that each of these little syringes contain 1,000 caviar-like microbeads is pretty generous too. After incorporating two serum booster shots into my mask formula, I then proceeded to shake the bottle so the little capsules are well-mixed; this was the hardest part as it required some intense shaking for the microbeads to be evenly distributed. Once I was done though, I just needed a few pumps of the sleeping mask to get going.
HYDRO CREAM + SOOTHE + DETOX
The first combination I tried was one with the Hydro Cream mask base, since I was used to sleeping in an air-conditioned room at night. This was paired with the Soothe and Detox serum boosters. The texture was rich and creamy, non-sticky, and I did feel like it absorbed well into my skin without greasy streaks on the pillowcase. I’d recommend this for more dehydrated skin though as the texture is quite rich. The next morning, I woke up with plump and nourished skin, and this was a difference I could both see in the mirror and feel from the tips of my fingers.
The Soothe formula does contain hydrating Hyaluronic Acid of course, so I wasn’t surprised at the results, while the mask base also had other skin-strengthening ingredients such as ceramides and squalene in order to build a strong skin barrier. I felt that these worked quite well together to lock in moisture throughout the night, hence the difference.
HYDRO GEL + AGE-PROOF + GLOW
Next, I tried the Hydro Gel mask with the Age-Proof and Glow serum boosters. While I was initially worried that I might have made the formula too potent, since this contains Bakuchiol (a retinol alternative), Niacinamide, and Salicylic Acid when mixed together, I was reassured by Skin Inc that these were stable formulas that won’t react negatively even when layered or mixed together. The texture of the Hydro Gel mask here was more lightweight and refreshing, and understandably so since this is made for oily skin types, though I personally prefer the skin-enveloping richness of the cream type mask. Still, I’d say this held up well overnight, and gave me decently plump skin in the morning.
As for my last serum booster, the Clarify, I also tried it on its own to test the “pure” efficacy of the product. Since this was a skin-balancing formula, I tried it over the early pre-zits around my chin area, hoping that it’d take care of these blemishes before they fully develop. True enough, with just two doses within a day, and a not-all-that-generous pump of the serum, it managed to effectively clear my skin. With the versatility of the serum boosters, and the customisable aspect of the Skin Inc sleeping mask, I’d recommend it if you’ve got targeted skin concerns in mind.
Skin Inc My Nightly Dose™ Custom Recovery Sleep Mask. $168 for a Mask + 2 Serum Booster Shots set. $48 for each Serum Booster Shot. Available at iloveskininc.com, Skin Inc Concept Stores, Sephora, Lazada, and Shopee.
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