Extreme Cream Mask
Ingredients
water, butylene glycol, glycerin, niacinamide, 1, 2-hexanediol, polysorbate 60, dimethicone, caprylic/capric triglyceride, glycereth-26, pentylene glycol, cetearyl alcohol, caprylyl methicone, betaine, cetearyl olivate, allantoin, sorbitan olivate, hydroxyethyl acrylate/sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer, acrylates/c10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, xanthan gum, adenosine, ethylhexylglycerin, disodium edta, arginine, sodium polyacrylate, panthenol, myristoyl/palmitoyl oxostearamide/arachamide mea, dihydroxyisopropyl palmoylpalmamide, sorbitan isostearate, xylitylglucoside, anhydroxylitol, sodium hyaluronate, xylitol, lavandula angustifolia oil, bis-capryloyloxypalmitamido isopropanol, sorbitan laurate, glucose, hydroxyethylcellulose, madecassoside, acetyl dipeptide-1 cetyl ester, caprylyl glycol, tocopherol, acetyl heptapeptide-4, madecassic acid, asiaticoside, centella asiatica extract, asiatic acid
This product is as straightforward as it gets. It's fabric sheet mask soaked in a very hydrating formula. Quite literally: the moment I put it on, it felt like I had applied a very heavy layer of moisturiser to my face. It caused no irritation, and I also didn't experience any congestion or breakouts afterwards - which I was slightly worried about, given that's how my skin reacts to some heavy moisturisers - although this does not feel like a particularly occlusive formula. It's more like a heavy serum than a thick cream, if that makes sense.
The ingredient list contains glycerin and niacinamide, which I always like to see and make perfect sense for this mask, followed by other humectants and emollients, and there is also panthenol, allantoin and sodium hyaluronate, so there is plenty here to attract and retain water while also making the skin feel softer and more comfortable.
Then there is a fairly impressive collection of Centella components — madecassoside, madecassic acid, asiaticoside and asiatic acid — covering the main compounds associated with Centella’s soothing, antioxidant and skin-repair properties.
There are some other interesting actives here too. Adenosine has evidence for improving the appearance of fine lines, but I wouldn't expect a single sheet-mask application to suddenly deliver those benefits. In a daily moisturiser, though, that's a different story.
If I had one issue with this mask (which I don't), that would be it. The formula is good, but I'm not sure the sheet-mask format adds that much to it. Most of the ingredients I'd actually be interested in using are ingredients that make more sense as part of a regular leave-on routine. For a one-off treatment, you do notice increased hydration with no side effects, but that would probably also be true if I had put a disproportionately thick moisturiser on my face for 15–20 minutes.
It's inexpensive, so not an outrageous product to try (and the main reason why I don't have an issue with it), but instead of repurchasing, it made me want to get the actual Extreme Cream moisturiser.