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!
FYI: This box has had significant shipping delays. However, they seem to be improving lately.
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 U.S. 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 U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia (see international shipping costs during checkout)
Beauteque Mask Maven October 2020 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 "Heal Troubled Skin."
On to the items:
The Face Shop Real Nature Tea Tree Mask - Estimated Value $0.94 (buy 10 for $9.39)
Tea tree oil is perfect for troubled skin. It has antimicrobial properties and is commonly found in natural blemish and anti-acne remedies. This mask is also supposed to help control excess sebum. (Sorry for the short write-up on this one, I don't have an ingredients list in English and it's an image file so I can't do Google Translate.) This is one of the first masks I've used because although while working from home I've stopped wearing makeup and my skin is doing better, I was having a bit of skin trouble recently. I do feel that my breakout healed faster after using the masks from this shipment, though I couldn't attribute it to one of them alone. This was also nicely hydrating, which becomes more of a concern of mine as the weather gets colder.
Skinmaman Herbs Fit Chamomile Mask - Estimated Value $1.59 (buy 10 for $15.90)
This is actually a repeat item. Chamomile is soothing and calming to the skin. This also has jasmine, hydrangea, and lavender (also soothing) but is not strongly scented. The mask sheet has some gold foil flowers on it but is not so stiff as those all-over foil masks. This one also has some nice moisturizing ingredients like aloe, sodium hyaluronate, and bamboo extract, as well as a ton of antioxidants from lemon, tea leaf, and a few other fruits. This has allantoin to smooth out rough skin, as well. This is a good one to hit a couple of skincare concerns with one product. Also, I think the see-through packaging is fun (and pretty).
Cedia Rebalancing Soothing Care Green Tea Mask - Retail Value $0.45 (buy 10 for $4.49)
This is a new brand for me and this month we received two masks from this product line to try. This one has green tea, which has a lot of antioxidants that may help fight free radical damage (of course you should also use a good SPF product too). I can't find much about the ingredients here, either, although this one also has rosemary which may help puffiness and hyperpigmentation, peppermint, which is antimicrobial, and something called "apple mint," which is new to me. I looked it up and didn't find a lot of useful information; apparently, it can help fibroblast cells in skin culture survive heat shock but I am not sure how that translates to actual skin on your face. Anyway, this one was another good one for just soothing my irritated skin, in general.
NOHJ Skin Traveller Peel-Off No Sebum - Estimated Value $1.29 (buy 10 for $12.90)
This is a peel-off mask that has a silver color. You end up looking like one of those people who dresses up like a statue in touristy areas when you put it on! I find peel-off masks to require a delicate balance between putting enough on to create a continuous layer and not making it too thick, so it will actually dry. I did not quite get there with this, but I came close. Some of it came off in big sheets (other bits, I had to scrub off with water). This has honey, which has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as collagen and sodium hyaluronate for moisture (both of these are long polymers that hold water near the skin surface). I do feel this was helpful at controlling oil without stripping moisture from my skin.
Cedia Rebalancing Pore Care Charcoal Mask - Retail Value $0.45 (buy 10 for $4.49)
I love charcoal in skincare; I find that it is great at cleaning gunk out of my pores. (In chemistry labs it can be put into reaction mixtures to help bind impurities and side products.) This one also has apple mint, discussed above, and chamomile also discussed above. I thought this was nicely hydrating and I do feel like the pores on my nose looked better after using it. (This is another one where I did not have access to a complete ingredients list in English.)
Esfolio Volcanic Ash Essence Facial Mask - Estimated Value $1.79 (buy 10 for $17.90)
Volcanic ash has really similar effects to charcoal for me. This also has purslane, which is generally soothing, and quince extract (I find this to be helpful with toning, which is a nice combination effect with the charcoal), and sodium hyaluronate for moisture. I felt this cleared out my pores and offered a decent level of hydration without making my face too oily at the end of the day, which is nice as it keeps my glasses from sliding down my nose!
Mediheal HDP Pore-Stamping Black Mask - Retail Value $3.50 (found here for $2.65)
I'm never sure if the black mask sheets are just a gimmick or if they do something special; the serum here was clear. I am pretty sure this was a new product line for me although I have tried other Mediheal products in the past. This has charcoal which we discussed above (and which also helped with my pores). This also has zinc and some other minerals. And then the product page says something about far-infrared radiation and I just don't even know what to say about that because this is not a lamp. Also, it mentions "anion" and although I know what that means in a chemical sense (a negatively charged ion) I have no earthly idea what they are getting at here. Use this for the charcoal and minerals and hydration and don't worry about the pseudo-scientific language!
Mediheal WHP White Hydrating Black Mask - Retail Value $3.50 (found here for $3)
This one also has charcoal. It also has castor oil, which is a plant-based oil moisturizer/fatty acid, and fruit extracts (I'm not sure which ones, but fruit extracts typically have a lot of vitamins and antioxidants). This also has niacinamide, which can reduce redness. The product page for this one uses slightly different language and says that the black charcoal mask sheet has an infrared function that smooths and brightens skin. I guess they are referring to dark colors absorbing heat with the infrared language, but I'm really not buying that that has any kind of effect in terms of using the mask (it might make your skin warm if you use this in a bright room? That's all I've got).
Farm Stay Red Ginseng Visible Difference Mask Sheet - Retail Value $1.39 (buy 10 for $13.90, found here for $13.07)
This was my mystery mask for the month. Mask Maven has taken to including a mystery mask every month; these don't always fit the theme (even if the rest of the masks do pretty well). Red ginseng is supposed to help reduce puffiness and has antioxidants so it may help fight sun damage. I haven't been getting much sleep lately so puffiness is definitely a concern. I think it helped. With respect to antioxidants and aging properties, that's one of those things that you don't really see immediately but hope to have small, preventive effects over time.
Verdict: I calculated a total value of $14.90 for the October 2020 Beauteque Mask Maven. Although that is somewhat below the month-to-month cost of the box, I had to calculate most of the values using 10-mask prorated prices and those are going to include a box discount that you wouldn't get for purchasing a single mask. Also, of course, K-beauty prices are all over the place, depending on whether you buy from a U.S. or Korean source, whether you pay for shipping, etc. Alternatively, you are paying about $2.11 per mask. I loved this month's theme as it was particularly appropriate for my skin concerns. I also liked that they didn't try to do a Halloween box for October like they have the past few years since the box absolutely never ships until almost the end of the month so you always get the package the following month.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, this was the October package. You have to sign up by the 15th to get a current month's box, so your first box would probably be December’s box, arriving in early January.
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 10% off of your subscription
CODE: SHEETFACED
Value Breakdown: At $18.95 for this box, you are paying approximately the following per mask:
- Tea tree mask $1.20
- Chamomile mask $2.02
- Green tea mask $0.57
- Peel-off mask $1.64
- Charcoal mask $0.57
- Volcanic ash mask $2.28
- HDP mask $4.45
- WHP mask $4.45
- Red ginseng mask $1.77
Check out all of our past Mask Maven reviews and the best skincare boxes of 2020 as voted by MSA readers!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What did you think of the October 2020 Beauteque Mask Maven? Do you get any K-Beauty or Asian Beauty subscriptions?
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