REVIEW: My Scheming Black Pearl Brightening Black Mask

Hello everyone.

As usual, masks review! Haha. Masks reviews can actually help my blog to keep being updated. I don’t have the resources to purchase random beauty products and purchasing masks are within my budget. LOL. I love trying out random masks especially from Japan but Japanese masks seldom being sold here in Malaysia. Can’t really sure why. And yes, this is another black cotton mask review! I can’t stop myself from purchasing black cotton masks because it’s so comfortable to use. I’ve tried previously on whitening mask by Sexylook (which comes with black cotton masks too); I decided to purchase My Scheming Black Pearl Brightening Black Mask. When I used this, I actually forgot to take pictures of it and I immediately took the picture after I tear up the opening. It costs me RM6 of approximately 2 USD per piece and I bought this at Watsons, KLCC. Here are the photos.

My Scheming Black Pearl Brightening Black Mask

Claims, ingredients and direction of use

Product

This mask comes with a shiny packaging which is rather cute as it is black with some gold prints (or the other way around) and unique. I think all black cotton masks comes with black packaging but some other brands don’t – which you have to read on first before purchasing (i.e. Beauty Clinic Mediheal). Through the pictures, it looks pretty wet (because I just took it out from the fridge) and I accidentally tear up the packaging for usage before taking pictures of it. You can see how much I’m excited to use this. LOL. The mask is folded inside the packaging and there's no plastic layer in between to ease unfolding. I almost tear it up because it's too soft and I really need to be careful while unfolding.

Since I started to love black cotton masks, I can’t stop raving on how soft and comfortable it is on skin. My scheming offers the softest of them all (comparisons to other masks I’ve tried) and I love it. The scent of the essence is nothing overpowering, it’s more towards refreshing and flowery kind of smell. I can’t really remember the exact smell of it but if I don’t hate it, I think it should be fine by me. LOL. The essence too is colorless and slightly gooey but slightly runny too. The essence of it is so much that I applied it on my neck and hands and I still have excess essence left. The good thing about using black cotton masks is that the mask itself absorbs so much essence that normal sheet masks don’t – which I prefer as I don’t like wasting essence.

The holes of the mask fit me perfectly but the sides of the mask are a bit long that it covers my sideburns a bit – nothing too serious by the way. The thing I like about this mask is that it has cuts on the inner corner of the eye holes that I don’t have to tear it up to fix the mask in accordance to my facial figures. The nose hole is a bit too short for my nose but I don’t really bother about it. The mouth hole fits me well. Here is the look of the mask.

The mask

How I use it

As usual, I used this to end my mask routine. I have weekly mask routine where I started off deep cleansing my skin through peeling gels, charcoal masks and pore packs and I’ll close the routine using sheet masks. It took me approximately 3 hours to settle off my mask routine so I do it only once a week (yeah, I’m lazy). On my clean face at night before bed, I applied this mask for approximately 45 minutes or until it is partly dry – I always remove it only when the forehead area started to dry regardless whether or not the other portion of the mask is completely dried up. Upon removal, I left the essence on my skin throughout the night.

Effects

I thought I could trust whitening/brightening sheet masks again after I got amazing results on Sexylook’s, this one turns me down. I didn’t expect it to flush out my pigments – I’m not considering myself as albino – but I do prefer if it does what it is supposed to do (aka brightening). But, to some extent, brightening is not whitening. Brightening is like you have a warm colored light that turns dim and you want it to turn bright again. Whitening is like you have a warm colored light and you demand for fluorescent white. LOL.

So from this simple (or not?) explanation of the differences, I accepted this mask’s effect as it is. It does brighten my skin though. My skin looks clearer and my redness simply disappeared. It looks more translucent and bright but of course it’s not that significant. On the other hand, the next morning after I washed my face, my skin feels so smooth and I love it. And yes, it helps in bringing up my skin elasticity (temporarily) and it makes my skin glossy. I decided to go moisturizer-free the next day and just dab on my sun block and my skin looks healthy actually – despite the fact that I don’t have perfect complexion, it’s a bonus for me. Pores and scars remain the same and it didn't break me out.

My ratings:

Effectiveness: ★★★★☆ (it is supposed to brighten up my skin to my expectation but it doesn't do much on that particular area, other matters are to my preferences)

Packaging: ★★★★☆ (elegant but I do prefer if it comes with a plastic layer in between the folded mask to ease unfolding)

Price: ★★★☆☆ (it is slightly expensive to compare it with other mask of the same brand but I think it is okay to me)

Long term effect: ★★★☆☆ (with the fact that it does makes my skin turns glossy and stuff, I give it a 3)

Overall, I do recommend this mask to those who wants brighter complexion and expecting for excessive essence to be dabbed throughout your body. It does not stabilize serum secretion but it does what it claimed but do not expect too much. I hope this review helps!

Regards