We all know to keep our eye creams in the fridge to amp up their refreshing properties, but tweaking the temperature of your favourite beauty products doesn’t end there: apparently, we should all be warming up our sheet masks.
Sounds crazy? It might not be. So we learned via Allure, which learned via Reddit, that slightly heating sheet masks has the ability to “open up your pores and allow more of the serum to get in.”
We’ll let this Reddit user explain: “I read someone in this forum say that they heated up their sheet masks in water before using them,” they write. “I decided to not only try that method, but to sort of steam (just the warm air moisture coming off from bath – nothing direct) my face while wearing it.”
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“I drew a warm bath, heated up the mask, and put it on, and then wore it while in the bath reading a magazine. I have to tell you, when I removed the mask, my skin looked ten times better than using the cold method.”
For the record, we’re a little unsure about heating face masks, especially with direct heat, and so is skin whisperer Anna Field of The Paddington Beauty Room in Sydney. “Temperature extremes can dramatically affect the efficacy of ingredients,” she points out. “Also, pending your skin and skin conditions, temperatures could have different effects, both positive and negative.”
Field does, however, see the benefit in warm skin pre-treatment. “When the skin has increased heat it stimulates blood flow, which improves penetration of some ingredients,” she concedes. “However, that can be counter-intuitive if you are using products created to calm the skin.”
Subtext: applying a face mask while you take time out in a steamy bath: yes. Actually heating up a face mask and slapping it on your face: probably not.
Kaye Scott, co-founder of The Clinic in Bondi, agrees. “At The Clinic we stock cosmeceutical grade products and none of them call for heating,” she says. “We do, however, place our sheet masks in the fridge prior to application as this helps cool and calm inflamed skin.”
They recommend regular gentle exfoliation, not heat, to ensure optimal product penetration.
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