Etude House I need you, Pearl Extract! Mask Review

As regular readers might have noticed, I've changed my blog layout! (: I also got my Wisdom teeth removed yesterday! :( I'm in a bit of pain/the pain medication makes me nauseated, but I'm hoping it will improve by the weekend so I can work a bit. Anyway, Etude House's Pearl Extract mask has some nice things going for it, but also a couple of bizarre issues (weird eye holes, makes my eyes water, etc). More after the jump.

Where to buy:

prettyandcute.com 1 Mask- $1.99

roseroseshop.com 3 masks - $2.40
w2beauty.com 1 mask- $3.13
testerkorea.com 1 mask - $0.86
koreadepart.com 5 masks - $5.86

Description: Etude House Pearl Extract Mask is a moisture -enriched facial mask sheet that is infused with skin-brightening pearl powder. Pearl Powder provides a fairer complexion and a translucent glow. This thick mask sheet soaks skin in rich and hydrating moisture for noticeable improved skin texture and elasticity. (from prettyandcute.com)

Claims:
 Brightens

 Moisturizes
 Improves Elasticity

 Translucent Glow

 Improved Skin Texture

Ingredients: WATER, GLYCERIN, HYDROLYZED PEARL, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, CYCHLOPENTASILOXANE, CITRUS PARADISI (GRAPEFRUIT) FRUIT EXTRACT, ALCOHOL, CYCLOHEXASILOXAN, POLYSORBATE 20, PHENOXYETHANOL, DIMETHICONOL, ACRYLATES C10-30 ALKYL ACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER, TRIETHANOLAMINE, DISODIUM EDTA, FRAGRANCE, SQUALANE, SEA WATER, HYDROLYZED COLLAGEN, CHLORELLA MINUTISSIMA EXTRACT

So there are some things I like about this ingredients list and some things I don't. I like: how the top three ingredients are water, glycerin, and hydrolyzed pearl. I really appreciate that Etude House actually includes quite a lot of the ingredient they base the mask off of. I don't like: How it has plain alcohol, and how high up on the ingredients list it is. I'm neutral about: the fact that is has actual sea water in the ingredients. Never seen that before! :o

Scent: As with the other two Etude House masks I've reviewed, the scent is quite mild. However, it's also unlike anything I've smelled before. I asked my mom to smell it, and she described it as "Clean, fresh, simple... almost like the ocean." I'm prone to agree with the ocean smell, it doesn't immediately make me think of pearls, but once you realize that it's a pearl extract mask you're kind of like, oh I guess it might smell like pearls. I like the scent though- it's definitely unique. Maybe that's where the sea water comes in.

Packaging: As always, Etude House's I need you, X! line has very nice outer packaging. It's easy to tear open, and the sheet mask is thick so you don't need to worry about tearing it. Cute illustrations as always :)

Fit: The fit of this sheet mask was different to the others I tried. In fact, it was even worse. For whatever reason the eye holes were literally 3 times as long as they needed to be, and everything was just really messed up. I don't even know how they thought that fit was a good idea, unless I got a faulty mask? I took a couple of pictures so y'all can see just what I mean. I'm kind of in awe of how terrible the fit is. As the sheet mask is quite thick, it's impossible to customize. :/ Whatever.

I literally cannot imagine what they were thinking then they decided to cute the eyeholes so large.

Results: So the mask feels very nice while it's on- or what actually covers my face feels nice. Immediately after my skin is very moisturized and smooth. I do see some brightening/redness reduction after the serum has sunk in, which I think you can see in the before and after pictures. I didn't see any 'translucent glow' nonsense, but I don't think you can get that from a 3x a week sheet mask- I'd imagine that sort of change happens from a daily serum or something like that. Additionally, something in the serum irritated my eyes. Even after taking the sheet mask off, my eyes were watery/kind of sore for most of the night after. I've never had that reaction to a sheet mask before, and in general I'm not very sensitive to those sorts of things. Very unrelaxing. :/ Regardless, I thought the mask had pretty nice results. It's not as brightening as MBD's Arbutin or Apply Polyphenol mask, however... and coupled with the terrible fit and eye irritation I don't see myself repurchasing it. :(

Before

After

Conclusion: Final Score: 2/5

Pros:

• smells unique and Ocean-y
• Pearl Extract is high up on the ingredients list
• not as artificially cooling as the others
• feels very nice and relaxing on

Cons:

• most ridiculously terrible fitting mask ever
• irritated my eyes, made them water/hurt a bit all evening