Beauteque Mask Maven is a monthly K-beauty subscription box dedicated to masks. If you love trying new Korean sheet masks, this subscription is for you!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Beauteque Mask Maven
The Subscription Box: Beauteque Mask Maven
The Cost: $18.95 month-to-month ($15 subscription + $3.95 US shipping). Save with 6- and 12-month subscriptions.
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 10% off of your subscription
CODE: SHEETFACED
The Products: 9 masks of all kinds, straight from Korea and Taiwan. Most are facial sheet masks, but you will sometimes see a hair mask, hand mask, or lip mask, too.
Ships to: The US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia (see international shipping costs during checkout)
Beauteque Mask Maven December 2019 Review
The number of sheet masks out there for sale must be incredibly large. Mask Maven almost never sends repeat items, and I discover something new every month:
1 of 4
The box came with this information card. This month's theme was "all about tea" but it kind of wasn't, because there were some tea-based masks, and some honey-based masks, and then we get into blueberries and rice and macarons...
Deoproce Color Synergy Wine and Blueberry Effect Mask
I couldn't find this from any US-based source (not counting eBay and Amazon) and I spent awhile looking. So, no link. After looking at an Australian website, it seems this has sodium hyaluronate, making it good for moisture (hyaluronate is a long carbohydrate that holds on to a lot of water, so although it's too large to penetrate the surface of the skin, it may reduce the appearance of fine lines temporarily). Of course it also has antioxidants from wine and blueberries (although I kind of wonder how many since the mask sheet was not colored and a lot of antioxidants, especially those in wine and blueberries, are highly colored). It did not have a strong scent and was completely non-irritating.
Natureby Green Tea Essence Mask
Here is another one I couldn't find from a US-based source (honestly this is a bit weird, I had this problem with at least three items this month and I don't think I've ever had this problem before). Green tea has a lot of antioxidants, which may help fight free radical damage from sun exposure, but it's the kind of effect you will probably never actually observe the goal is prevention, unless, I suppose, after you are up there in years, you look younger than you are. I would not rely on antioxidants in place of a good sunscreen, though. This also has sodium hyaluronate and snail secretion filtrate (another moisturizing ingredient that works on a similar principle to sodium hyaluronate). This one is also supposed to reduce puffiness although I didn't feel particularly puffy the day I used it so I can't say whether I think that's true or not. It was good for a winter morning, though!
Papa Recipe Ginseng Red Honey Oil Mask - Estimated Value $2.49 (Buy 10 masks for $24.90, found here for $23.41)
I guess tea can be made from ginseng and honey is put in tea, so this relates more to the theme than some of the others. Honey has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and so may be good for broken-out and/or irritated skin. I have been having a bad skin month due to stress and I did find this soothing (and not overly scented with that artificial honey scent common to sheet masks). The ingredients I found for this consisted of some images of flowers and berries and Korean labels so there's not much else I can tell you, unfortunately. For what it's worth, ginseng also contains antioxidants and is supposed to help with skin elasticity.
Double and Zero Orange Fruit Macaron Mask
I could not find this for sale anywhere, in the US or otherwise. I can conclude from the images on the package that this has papaya, peach, orange, and grapefruit, so you are getting a lot of vitamin C and perhaps some gentle enzymatic exfoliation from the papaya. This *may* also have some milk and egg proteins (don't expect K-beauty products to be vegan because many aren't) based on an old page I found for the Red Fruit variety (a lot of sheet mask companies use similar ingredients among products in a single product line and then vary just the featured ingredients). Those will be moisturizing and also have some amino acids. This did not have a particularly strong scent and the serum was clear.
Dr. Morita Green Tea Moisture Mask - Retail Value $1.99
This has green tea extract and sodium hyaluronate, which we've already talked about. It also has niacinamide, which may help reduce redness (it seems to, with me, if I use face creams with niacinamide over a long period of time). This also has aloe extract and squalane so it is really hitting the moisturizing from a lot of different angles. I particularly like masks like this in winter when my skin seems extra dry. This also has hydrolyzed royal jelly protein, and I'm not sure what it will do when it is hydrolyzed (enzymatically digested, most likely) as that may destroy the anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects of the full proteins. At any rate, this was soothing and moisturizing and it didn't take the serum too long to dry.
Natureby Essence Blueberry Mask - Estimated Value $0.50 (Buy 10 masks for $4.99, found here for $2.29)
I only found this from a Korean source, and it's one I haven't run across before, so do research before ordering from them. I can't find an ingredients list in English for this one. It was a similar experience to the green tea mask from Natureby pictured above, but with a slight fruity fragrance and perhaps a different antioxidant profile from the green tea mask. If you like to use sheet masks regularly but balk at the cost, this might be a good option as it is not nearly as expensive as some of the others I've run across (but shipping from Korea will take some time).
Botanic Farm Rice Energy Mask - Retail Value $2
This one has rice extract, which I always find to be soothing (this is true of a lot of grains -- it's true for oat-based masks, as well, I think). This will be rich in vitamin C because it has bell pepper extracts and it also has other antioxidants from green tea, grapefruit, and several other plants. It also has niacinamide and sodium hyaluronate, which we've talked about above. This one has a three-layered sheet (or at least that's what they say on the product page) which is supposed to help prevent serum evaporation while you're using the mask. I will say, this one took a bit of time to dry, but as I was at home all week without having to leave the house, that was not such a problem (it is why you are not hearing me mention how these interact with makeup, which I often do take note of).
AM Piggy Head Sun Moon Lake Black Tea Instant Repairing Mask - Retail Value $1.99
There were two possibilities for this mask and here is the one I received. I have to say, this must have very little black tea in it because it is a light color (not completely white, so there will be some tea). But then, I guess you don't want to stain your face, either. Black tea also has a lot of antioxidants, it's just tea plants at a different stage of processing than green tea. This also has sodium hyaluronate, as well as lavender and chamomile which are soothing (you can't smell them here so it's not like you can use their scents to relax at night, but I find their extracts generally soothing to the skin). This one also has marine collagen. Collagen, like hyaluronate, is a large molecule that holds on to water molecules but is too big to penetrate the skin. (Collagen is a protein instead of a carbohydrate, though.) Marine collagen means it comes from fish cartilage, but that's not so surprising as collagen is typically sourced from meat/fish industry byproducts. This one wasn't too heavy on the serum.
Farmstay Honey Visible Difference Mask Sheet - Retail Value $1.99
We've talked a bit about honey up above. This one did have a slight honey scent. (If you use a lot of K-beauty products that say "honey" on the package you will know exactly what scent I am talking about because it is universal.) This has sodium hyaluronate as well (surprise!) and matricaria, which I find soothing. It also has witch hazel so it may tone the skin a bit. I think I noticed this but not as much as if I had used toner straight from a bottle. (It is gentler than most toners.)
Verdict: I couldn't calculate a value for December 2019 Beauteque Mask Maven. This was the first time I haven't been able to find some of the products for sale since I've been reviewing this subscription. I would say this is a pretty typical package from them. A lot of these brands are familiar from past packages although except for the honey mask from Farmstay, I don't know that I've tried any of these before, or at least I don't remember them. (They do kind of run together after a few years, though...) Although the masks didn't adhere well to the theme (macarons? rice? what do those have to do with tea?) I thought all the antioxidants and moisturizers were great for winter, and the honey was appreciated since my skin has been not in the best shape lately due to stress.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, this was the December package. You have to sign up by the 15th to get a box for the month, so your first box would probably be February’s box and arrive in early March.
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 10% off of your subscription
CODE: SHEETFACED
Value Breakdown: At $18.95 for this box, you are paying approximately $2.11 per mask.
Check out all of our past Mask Maven reviews and the best skincare boxes of 2020 as voted by MSA readers!
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What did you think of the December 2019 Beauteque Mask Maven? Do you get any K-Beauty or Asian Beauty subscriptions?
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