Struggling to find the best face mask for your skin type? It seems like a new bizarre face mask hits the internet every day, we’ve gone from magnetic masks, bubbling formulas, to rubber masks and although they look like a lot of fun it’s hard to tell what will actually be beneficial to your skin type!
If you knew how many face masks I’ve stuffed in my beauty drawer you would think a whole pack of skincare fanatics lived in my little apartment, but you’d be wrong, there’s just little old me!
I’ve never understood those people who can’t leave the house or go to the office without a full face of makeup, but I’ll totally stay up past midnight doing an insanely complicated Korean beauty routine!
My train of thought is that keeping a consistent skincare routine gives long-term results as opposed to spending hours painting a temporary look on. That isn’t to say I never get primped up for a night out, I do every once in a while!
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Here’s how to pick the right face mask for your skin type:
I’m going to break down these suggestions into four categories:
- Dry
- Combination
- Acne-Prone Skin
- Sensitive
What kind of face mask is good for combination skin types?
Let’s start off with one of the most common skin types, combination skin! Combination skin is when you have a mix of dry and oily areas. Instead of applying a mask meant for oily skin everywhere when only your t-zone gets oily you can try multi-masking!
Multi-masking is when you apply different masks on specific areas of your face, for example, I’d use a charcoal mud mask for my oily t-zone and moisturizing collagen mask for my under eyes. Allure wrote a great guide here. If you don’t have oily skin everywhere it can wreak havoc to use a heavy-duty clay mask on dry patches. You can also use a mask around the edges of another product like undereye patches.
I also recommend using spot treatments for combination skin or products meant to target specific areas of the face. TonyMoly Tako Pore Scrub Stick is one of my favorite products for treating the oily blackhead prone areas of my nose and chin without drying out the other areas of my face. It’s a small scrub stick that makes targetting specific areas super easy. I have a full review posted here if you want to learn more!
I find it easier to separately treat oily areas and then use a moisturizing mask on the entire face. Otherwise finding a mask that will treat oil + moisturize dry areas in almost impossible!
What are the Best Face Masks for Acne Prone Skin?
I had extremely blemish-prone skin in the past which is the main reason I got fascinated by the world of skincare so young. Face masks are a great addition to add to your skincare routine to help keep your skin under control!
If you struggle with blackheads, exfoliating masks are going to be your best friend! There are quite a few masks that combine moisturizing with exfoliating; this is exactly what you need to battle blemishes while nourishing irritated skin.
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My favorite exfoliating mask for acne-prone skin is the AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution from The Ordinary. This is only $7.20 and packs a major punch for the price! I prefer chemical exfoliants over most scrubs because you’re guaranteed to get the same level of exfoliation on the entire face; it’s easy to miss a spot or go overboard in one area when using a standard face scrub.
If you have very sensitive acne-prone skin you don’t have to skip chemical exfoliants.
Here are the best face masks for oily skin types
Clay masks are a godsend for oily skin, one of my favorites is an avocado oatmeal clay mask from Freeman Beauty. Whenever I’m feeling extra shiny I’ll bust this mask out and it’s just the thing to solve my skin woes.
Even if you have oily skin you have to moisturize after using a mask, especially a drying one! I know it seems counterintuitive, but if you leave your skin dry it can actually cause your system to overcompensate and produce extra oil and sebum and leave you worse off than where you started.
What kind of face mask is best for sensitive skin?
If your skin is easily irritated I’d recommend you steer towards cream, gel, and sheet masks. If you notice a certain product irritates your skin, take a look at the main ingredients and keep them in mind the next time you’re shopping around so you can avoid them.
Charcoal is usually touted as a great ingredient for oily skin but I’ve found if there is too much of it in a mask it’s not great for my skin. It boils down to trial and error, but if you keep track of past offenders it becomes easy to avoid problem-child formulas and save yourself unnecessary irritation.
If you find a serum that you’re loving you can also make a DIY sheet mask to get an extra boost. You can buy dry sheet masks that come compressed into a small tablet, then just add your desired serum and voila! you have a custom-tailored sheet mask just the way you like it!
The Best Face Masks for Dry Skin Types
Moisturizing is the name of the game if you’re battling dry skin. Ingredients like collagen, hyaluronic acid, and glycolic acid are wonderful to banish dull skin and leave you feeling moisturized. Elizavecca has an awesome collagen mask that has done wonders for my dry skin during the winter, I love using this while taking a long bath. It does have a tendency to drip, so be careful with this one!
What’s your go-to face mask for your skin type? Let me know in the comments!