Disclaimer: This product was provided courtesy of Jolse, but all honest thoughts and opinions provided in this review are my own.
Beauty of Joseon is a brand that grew really popular via social media over the last few years with their iconic Dynasty Cream which has garnered a lot of positive reviews. I personally haven’t gotten round to trying it, but recently got the opportunity to test their new Revitalize Sleeping Mask courtesy of Jolse, who now stock the brand on their website.
Beauty of Joseon are slowly expanding their catalogue of products and I appreciate they are taking their time with it and have slowly introduced new products rather than launching about 20 different things at once. In addition to the cream and sleeping mask, they also do a peeling gel and a cleansing balm.
PRODUCT INFO
This Beauty of Joseon Revitalize Sleeping Mask markets itself on the dual purpose of brightening and anti-ageing. It claims to have a non-sticky formula and makes skin smoother and more resilient overnight with the inclusion of black soybean, ginseng and orchid extract in the ingredients.
This contains 80ml of product, is made in Korea and retails on Jolse for USD 35.45.
PACKAGING
Beautiful packaging with the paper cap
Comes with a spatula and an inner seal
A big part of the hype surrounding this brand and their products definitely comes from their unique packaging. It comes in a beautiful frosted jar (that looks like glass but is solid plastic), with a paper cap and tag covering the lid. It’s unnecessary and fanciful but really gets the brand identity across of being based on traditional and ancient Korean skincare. Not to mention how pleasing to the eye this looks displayed on your vanity.
This also comes with a big spatula (which I always appreciate) and has an inner cap on the inside of the jar. Please note that the product is not filled to the top; it looks about 3/4 full when you first open it and that is normal.
INGREDIENTS
The sleeping mask is touted for its 3 most important ingredients:
- Black soybean – moisturising, source of vitamin E, and reduces signs of ageing
- Ginseng – anti-ageing, tones, brightens and rejuvenates skin
- Orchid extract – antioxidant benefit, moisturising, smoothes and softens skin
3 main ingredients as shown: black soybean, ginseng and orchid
Ingredients
These ingredients certainly back up the claim of anti-ageing and brightening. However, what I find disappointing is that there is probably very minimal amounts of this in the product itself (as they come very low down on the list of ingredients) to even make a big difference. The rest of the ingredients list is very unexciting – from cosdna you can see the majority of the list is full of generic ingredients found in most moisturising skincare – emollients, solvents and moisturising agents.
TEXTURE/SCENT
This has the most unusual texture of any skincare product I’ve tried. When I first tested this I was really fascinated and kept poking it with the spatula. I can only describe it as a chewy, squidgy consistency. It’s like hot glue out of a glue gun that hasn’t yet cooled and solidified. It has a memory-shape texture, meaning that no matter how much you poke, stir or whirl the sleeping mask inside the jar, it returns back to its original smooth form, as if you’ve never used it before.
Smooth and slippery – definitely need a spatula to scoop out this product
Memory shape sleeping mask with a chewy, slightly runny and gluey consistency – I love it.
I have a few other sleeping masks with a memory shape texture but this one returns to its original form the quickest. I was having trouble getting a picture of it messy after stirring because it would immediately smooth out again.
This does have added fragrance which is quite perfumed. This may bother some people but I don’t really mind it since I’m not sensitive to fragrance unless it’s overly fake and artificial, which this isn’t.
APPLICATION
This should be applied on clean skin, in the evening, as the final step in your skincare routine before bed. I scoop out a small amount and spread it over my face, patting until it’s absorbed. You don’t need a lot of it because it is quite thick and creates a moisture barrier over your skin. It’s not thick and heavy in the sense it’s hard to spread, because it does apply easily, but once you massage it in you do feel a bit of the thick texture setting on top your skin and forming a barrier to protect it.
I use about half this amount for 1 application.
THOUGHTS/RESULTS
I believe if you’re going to promote a skincare product based on 3 main ingredients, they shouldn’t really come right at the end of the ingredients list. This is a downside because ultimately, aside from the interesting texture and packaging, this isn’t the most innovative of skincare products and you won’t see drastic results.
Compared to other sleeping masks I’ve used before, the Beauty of Joseon one probably has the least effective results I’ve come to expect in this type of product. My criteria for a great sleeping mask is that I expect to wake with brighter, calmer, softer and moisturised skin. The only difference I really see with this is that it’s very moisturising and slightly firming.
Has a shiny, reflective consistency.
It’s gel-like in texture, but thicker and more emollient than a typical gel moisturiser.
Spreads smoothly with only a tiny bit of resistance. Due to its thicker texture, it doesn’t slide around as much as it looks like it would.
Once massaged out it looks very dewy and shiny but this is before it’s properly absorbed and not the final finish.
After its properly absorbed for a minute or two, it leaves a hydrated finish which isn’t overly dewy or sticky.
My skin type is usually on the normal – dehydrated side. I can normally pack on a generous amount of sleeping mask before bed and my skin drinks it up by morning. This one however is really on the emollient, moisturising side and even with a pea size amount, I do wake up very oily on my t-zone area. (This is even the case when I cut out other hydrating layers in my routine and opt for toner and then this sleeping mask). Therefore I would only recommend this to people with very dry skin types and the best time to use this is in dry climates, air conditioned places or Winter time. This would really excel in locking in the moisture overnight and it doesn’t have a sticky or overly dewy finish. If you’re oily-combo though, I would skip this product altogether.
On a positive note, I do enjoy using this Revitalizing Sleeping Mask but mainly for superficial reasons. It’s enjoyable to have fun skincare and the weird chewy texture of this product and the beautiful packaging does make me reach for this.
If all you really look for is a very moisturising sleeping mask then you may want to try this. It doesn’t offer many other benefits though and while I do think sleeping masks are distinct from moisturisers/creams, this one does perform more like a regular moisturiser in my opinion.
To try this you can purchase at Jolse.com
