Wednesday, 26 February 2014

AKANE Mask Cocoon Nocturne - Review

So this is my first review, and I'm afraid it's not the most positive one!  photo 0d214804-cd4c-425d-a27a-7c25534fc7a2_zps47d7ba1f.jpg

I got a little pot of this stuff in my Birchbox in December, I think. It went in my box of stuff that I know I'll use, I just don't know when...

I was having a sort out and rediscovered it, just at the right time too - Winter has just about ruined my skin. I tend to have very dry skin but for the past 6 months or so it's completely flipped round and been excessively oily - what's that all about?! I'm currently in the process of getting to the bottom of why the sudden change, and suspect it may be something to do with those darn hormones as I've recently changed to a new birth control pill. I digress. Winter has sent my skin back to Dryville so I wanted to restore some moisture.

I found this mask and thought 'Brilliant!' I loved the fact that you could just whack it on and leave it overnight - that implied that it was some really hard-working stuff to me.

I read some other reviews online and there was a good balance of good and not so good, so I thought I'd try for myself.

I read the instructions on the pot, which were pretty straightforward, and the pot itself is really professional looking - nice and simple. Opening it up I was hit by the wall of odour which I can only describe as fruity Play-Doh (there's a market for that, no?). Not an unpleasant smell, just odd. It's a strange consistency - like porridge that's been cooked too long - stodgy and wobbly.

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The pot tells you to apply a thin layer so I complied. It's surprisingly easy to rub in considering it's not exactly a smooth cream!

Once my face was suitably sticky, I washed my hands, and as I glanced in the bathroom mirror I noticed I was shiny. Like, REALLY shiny. This stuff literally forms a glaze over your skin, to really lock in the moisture I suppose. It tightens up a little, as you would expect from any face mask, but does loosen up again quite quickly, it's not uncomfortable. The only way I can describe it is as if you've painted PVA glue onto your face. We all did this to our hands at school, waited for it to dry and then peel it off and pretend it was our skin. Weird kids. But that's really how it felt!

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Then I went to sleep. I couldn't wait to see my 'luscious and refreshed skin' in the morning, without a 'hint of fatigue' as I always seem to look so knackered and dull-skinned. I was half expecting it to all rub off during the night, given the amount I fidget in my sleep, but I was pleasantly surprised. This stuff is resilient, I have to admit. The instructions say to simply wash it off so I used a muslin cloth and warm-hot water. Turns out when you add water to this stuff it goes super slimy and it's very stubborn, so you have to be quite firm with it, maybe going over the same area a few times, squeezing out the cloth/flannel in between. A few bits had started to roll up and peel off during the night, and some just sort of formed little air bubbles, but most of it was still intact.

Make sure you get it all off. I left some on my neck and didn't realise for quite some time. People probably thought I had some awful skin disease which caused me to peel. Eesh.

After a thorough rinse, I patted my face dry with a towel expecting to look like I'd had a thousand hours of beauty sleep. But there was no difference to be seen! I still had dull, tired looking skin. The only difference was in the touch, it felt a lot smoother than usual, like I'd had a good cleanse.

To make sure it wasn't a fluke, I used this 3 nights in a row, and asked my mum to try it too. She was thrilled to try it - "No hint of fatigue?! Gimme!" But we were both disapointed. Mum thinks maybe she didn't use enough, but I know I did and it didn't make a difference.

Overall, I wasn't satisfied with this product and am still on the hunt for something to brighten my face up in the mornings.

Thanks for reading! x

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