Review: Leaders Insolution AC Clear Treatment Mask

I only ran across Leaders Cosmetics a short time ago, and given that their sheet masks seemed to come highly recommended on some forums, I was disappointed to find that there were very few actual reviews.

…so I did what any sane person would do, and bought one of every type of their Insolution masks in stock (I’m looking to try the coconut gel ones as well, but they’re currently sold out).

So, why am I excited about this brand? Well, for one, they don’t test on animals. In the AB/kbeauty world, that’s like finding a goddamn unicorn. Their masks also don’t contain parabens, mineral oil, or alcohol. Given that my skin hates both mineral oil and alcohol, this is also a rare find. And, finally, they have a US website that ships from NY, so I can get my order in a matter of days instead of weeks/months! Cherry on top, they’re also really friendly and prompt about answering questions on social media (Facebook, Reddit, etc), whereas I have some emails to other brands that have gone unanswered for months now.

Anyway, on to the actual review.

Product Description: A thin sheet mask soaked in clear essence. The mask itself is definitely a thinner material than most other masks I’ve tried, so IMO it clings better. Also, while there was quite a bit of essence, it didn’t drip all over, which was nice. For me, the mask also fits great: narrow enough that it doesn’t get all over my hair, tall enough for my big honkin’ forehead, and with larger/longer eye openings than usual (I can’t stand the feeling of a mask clinging right near my lower lash line, it makes my eyes water like crazy).



I was initially wary because the essence had a much stronger scent than I’d expected. It wasn’t a bad smell or anything - quite fruity and nice, actually - but super heavily scented products usually aggravate my redness problems. However, my fears turned out to be unfounded: when I removed the mask after the recommended 20 minutes, my skin looked better than it ever has immediately post-masking. Not a bit of irritation in sight.

Massaging the essence in turned out to be super easy as well. It absorbed way faster and more thoroughly than my usual Etude House masks. Whereas the EH masks usually leave a semi-sticky film on my face, prompting me to change my pillowcase the next morning, the Leaders mask absorbed well enough that next time I might even add an extra occlusive on top of the essence. As it was, I just patted my usual CeraVe PM over the top and hit the hay.

Next morning, my skin was clearly pretty happy. Very little redness, no new CCs, smooth (at least, as smooth as my skin ever gets) and luminous. I had an extra, noticeable glow and reduced redness all day. Also, while I still don’t understand quite how this is possible, it really does seem like some of my PIH spots faded significantly overnight.



Now, as you can see from the picture, this mask is marketed toward redness and oil problems. Given that those are my two primary skin issues, this is right up my alley. However, I’m always hesitant to say anything about an oil/redness-control product after a single use, because my skin is so temperamental and my oil and redness level on a given day is seemingly determined by a million factors including the weather, my stress level, whether I took an extra nanosecond too long applying serum after my moisturizer, and presumably the alignment of the planets or something. So my opinion of long-term product effects is really based more on an average performance than absolute improvement.



What I will say is that, even now on day 2 post-mask, my skin is noticeably smoother than usual. I still have some CCs and blocked pores - is anyone really surprised? - but the overall texture is definitely smoother and firmer.



Overall: I really have nothing negative to say about this mask, other than that you should be careful if you’re sensitive to fragrance (or any of the other ingredients, obviously). I’m not sure whether I personally will repurchase it since it contains snail mucin, which is usually on my no-fly list because there’s no way I know of to harvest it without harming the snails. That being said, I think I might email Leaders and ask for info about how the mucin is harvested, because maybe there’s a non-invasive method I haven’t heard of yet. Either way, given how well this one went, I’m really excited to try (and review) the rest of the masks I purchased!

Review: 4.5/5

1: “I will never use this product again and intend to immediately throw it away or return it”

2: “I’m not a big fan of the product, but I’ll probably use it once in a while”



3: “I’ll use up what I have, but don’t plan to repurchase this product”

4: “I really like the product, and will keep using it unless I find a better replacement”

5: “I absolutely love this product, and will probably never look for a replacement unless it’s discontinued or the formula changes”