Mask-Off 01 : Esene Face Mask (Pink)

8:46:00 PM

Hellowww! I'm currently in Hong Kong :D, my feet feel like they are about to fall off after a full day at Ocean Park (apparently boots are nowhere near as comfy as sneakers? Or was it because i wore a cheapo pair? LOL)... But i have a little filler entry prepared so you won't miss me too much #teehee... enjoy!

It's been a while since the last time i reviewed a facial mask! (I can't even remember anymore, but i'm pretty sure my last review was on Dermal Sheet Masks *too lazy to check*) And as someone who uses facial masks weekly (and always up to try out different brands), the list of facial masks that i'm going to review, well... It gets super duper long. This time i'm gonna review a slightly different type of mask than i usually do (sheet type) though! It's not exactly sheet since it's made of, i dunno, they call it collagen i guess! It's kinda jelly like and very gummy *i do love the texture*! But again, i'm getting ahead of myself zzzz, i'm talking about Esene Face Mask!

Photo courtesy of Google

I have no idea why the package in that official (looking?) photo looked empty without any writings or whatever though, because this is how it actually looked like :

Esene Face Mask in Pink

Ya lah, i anyhow call it Pink because there's no information on the variant hehe. As you can see from the first picture, they actually have more than one variant (four lah) represented by different colors but they have no specific name of each variant! Weird, right!!! Why bother coming out with different colors if they all contains the same thing??? I pondered on the ingredients and the benefits of each different colors but they all stated the same thing! Then when i tried this pink one on and realized that it has a (nice) rose scent, i told myself "So i guess different color should have different scent!". LOL, i should stop coming up with my own explanation. I decided to not make a fool out of myself and did some research, stumbled into this review and apparently the white and yellow/gold one also has rose scent! Now i'm even more confused zzzz.

Anyway! I actually bought (and used) this face mask on July (LOL, Queen of procrastination here) when i went on that "business trip" with Donna. If you read this entry you'd know that we ended up visiting MKG and like everybody should guess already, i shopped. I bought this in Watsons (i said it many times and i'm not gonna stop, WATSONS WHEN ARE YOU COMING TO SURABAYA HUH??). I kept on telling myself to "Don't shop, don't shop, don't shop. YOU'RE NOT HERE TO SHOP, #PINK!!!", but of course... When Donna took her time checking out the displays (no, she's actually working. It's one the things she needed to do for her job hahaha), i ended up getting a few things *sigh*. IN MY DEFENSE, Watsons stocks a lot of brands that are not available in Surabaya okay! That's why i ~~hate~~ love Watsons so much!

So, after seeing this sparkling, pretty pink face mask (and collagen based! How unique! Don't see this kind much in local shelves, mostly spread on and sheet ones only), i couldn't resist. And you do not need to wonder why i choose the pink one, do you? I only bought one because i didn't know if it's gonna be any good (it is!) and i'd regret buying a lot if i didn't like it (and now i regret not buying more. The irony), and i was just going to put it on that night anyway (nothing much to do beside enjoying our comfy hotel room since Donna's burning the midnight oil to finish the presentation)... Here's a closer look into the packaging.

Can you see how pearly and iridescent the mask was? Sorry for yellowish lighting, the hotel room's lighting was yellow and dim (like most hotels are)

Oh yeah, this is a local made product (okay lah i know i shouldn't underestimate my own country, but i was pretty surprised when i realized that it's an Indonesian product. Pretty advance, collagen based and all. But of course, there are ~~a lot of~~ rooms for improvements) and it's stated in the packaging to be "Terobosan Pertama di Indonesia" or "The First Breakthrough in Indonesia". Fair claim i guess, it was the first local collagen face mask i've ever seen (and still the only one that i know of so far). It was very affordable too, i can't remember how much but it was under IDR 15.000 (i think it was IDR 12.000).

I did have my doubts about this product because... well, you can see how crumpled that mask looked in the packaging! I've tried (China made) collagen masks before and they usually were placed in a plastic container to maintain the shape. Something Esene producers ought to take note of. It's not very attractive, looking all crumpled like some kind of pickled veggies like that :p.

As you can see from the earlier pictures, the outer part of the packaging was clear and transparent while the back part was from gold colored aluminum foil.

Problem arise from it being all crumpled like that, i had to claw my way in to whip the mask back into shape. Even after struggling with it for quite a while, it was still very out of shape. Behold, my face looking like i've just been infected with flesh eating bacteria! (i am clearly watching too much reruns of The Big Bang Theory lately...)

HUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Unlike sheet masks, i actually ended up having to lie down and really relax because the mask kept on slipping off my face when i sat down!

I'm the kind of person that cannot really lie down and relax with nothing to occupy me (i usually still watch TV/blog/blog-walking, etc while having my sheet mask on) so it was a bit troublesome for me having to lie down like that! Other than that, i have nothing but praises for this mask! It was really cooling, refreshing and comfortable (nicer than sheet, i'd have to say) on my face. The rose aroma's soft and soothing (but if you're not a fan of rose scent then this might not be the right kind of mask for you), especially because i am a huge fan of rose scent hehe. It left my skin feeling soft and refreshed with none of the excessive sticky feeling some masks do.

I almost forgot, even after i laid down like that, the collagen mask still kinda "melted" even worse downwards hahahaha. I guess that's its way of telling you that it's time to remove it? LOL. I'm just taking a wild guess here :p.

They add a CRAZILY generous portion of serum in this mask!

Look! And this is after i've used it already

From the same blog i've linked up earlier, i learned that you don't have to waste the serum (i was really confused on what to do with it, for a second there i considered splashing my whole body with it-body splash style? I mean, it should be good for my skin and it smells good enough to be a "body mist" HAHAHAHAHA. Of course, i came to my senses soon), you can actually just wash the collagen mask (another advantage compared to sheet type!) and put it back into the packaging, store it somewhere (imagine the fridge would make a good storing place, no? So it'd be even more cooling the next time you put it on?) and bring it back out when you want to re-use it!

Great idea! I myself would've never in a million years come up with that, i'd just, you know... splash it around or something hehe. A great tip i'm definitely going to try next time i get my hands on these masks! Also if anyone interested in knowing the ingredients of this mask *i'm far too ignorant to care, sadly*, here it is :

Ingredients : aqua,betaine,carbomer,2-bromo-2nitropropane-1,3-diol,PEG-40 Hydrogenated castor oil,PotassiumHydroxide,Fragrance

(all credits to Lee Via Han's blog)

Bottom line, i really liked this Esene Face Mask, a lot more than i expected! Don't judge a mask by errr it's packaging and lack of information i guess hehe.

Would definitely recommend this for face masks fans (and non-fans alike, give it a try!) who are looking for affordable, cooling, soothing that would leave their skin soft and refreshed.

Not recommending this for... Lemme think... I guess for people who cannot stay still (even worse than me) for a minute (or in this case, 15-20 minutes. But i do like to leave my masks longer, 30-45 minutes hahaha) because it won't stay on your face if you move around too much (heck, it won't even stay on your face if you sit STILL and not move an inch! LOL) and those who doesn't enjoy floral scents on their mask.

Would i repurchase this? Definitely, but i haven't seen them around in Surabaya though! Anyone knows where i can get it in Surabaya? Or i'll just stock up the next time i go to Jakarta. Oh and also if anyone can enlighten me about what each color of the masks represents??? Different benefit, different something maybe???