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Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask: The Future of Masking?

From the moment I saw the Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask I knew I needed to try it. Six sheet masks packaged in plastic test tube-looking containers, all hanging in a test tube rack, someone hold me, we may have reached the height of sciencey skincaretainment.

The mask appears to solve a portion of the problem a number of skincare fans are grappling with: the impact of frequent sheet masking on the environment. The sheet, made of cellulose, can easily break down, and the test tubes and rack are made of recyclable plastic. I live in NYC, where recycling is mandatory or else you face a fine, so this seems like a potentially efficient (though imperfect) way of working through some of the issues related to masks.

A video posted by Tracy (@fanserviced) on May 24, 2016 at 6:46pm PDT

This video I posted to my Instagram and Facebook met with a lot of interest, but also skepticism. Would people actually recycle all that plastic (including the rack), or toss it in the garbage some wondered. Was the mask as advanced as the packaging or was this another sciencey packaging gimmick that wasn’t actually all that different from regular sheet masks–like the Oozoo Face Injection Mask?

Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask Types

The First Amouple Masks come in four flavors: Snail Therapy, Aquaringer, Wrinkle-Tox, and Mela-Tox. I went with snail because snail, man. #slideordie

PSA: Where to Put Masks in Your Routine

Uncertain about where to put sheet masks in your routine? Stick them in the essence slot. Check out my visual guide to skincare for a printable chart. The Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask has a pretty thick essence, so if you have any doubts, just put it at the end of your routine, just before cream or lotion.

Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask Review (Version: Snail Therapy)

Let’s Talk Some Sheet

Sheet Size

In terms of top-to-bottom and side-to-side coverage, the Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask was perfectly reasonable for my giant face. The nose coverage fell short of what I needed by a lot; I have a giant nose, but plenty of masks at least come closer to giving me some moisture on the flaky tip. The areas around my mouth similarly had coverage issues related to the size of the mouth hole. Again, that’s where I have a lot of flaky skin, so that was a bummer. In terms of nose and mouth coverage, this felt a lot like My Scheming Silk masks, which are quite affordable and overall pleasant aside from the no-sheet zones around my sensory organs. The illi Silk Cocoon Anti-Aging Mask costs about half as much as this Leaders mask and offers much better coverage, so it can be done even for those of us with “strong features,” as my husband puts it lovingly.

Sheet Material

The material is pretty basic cellulose. Vaguely resembling a single-ply paper towel of the sort you might find at a college town dollar store.

Sheet Thickness

The sheet is thin-to-medium thickness, but it has excellent cling.

Sheet Shape

It’s a one-piece, fairly standard sheet mask. Nothing crazy.

Getting to the Essence

Ingredients

Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Snail Secretion Filtrate, Methylpropanediol, PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer, Glycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Butylene Glycol, Propanediol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Betaine, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Adenosine, Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylyl Glycol.

CosDNA analysis. This ingredient list looks great on paper–only butylene glycol, rated one out of five as a potential acne trigger, sets off a CosDNA flag.

Interestingly, the essence ingredient list deviates from the standard water, glycerin, butylene glycol base at the start of the list, which we see from the vast majority of sheet masks. Although I’ve demonstrated that Korean ingredient lists don’t order by concentration in the same way U.S. ingredient lists do, the mask moisture trio is still usually present in the first three slots.

I was excited to see a different sort of essence cocktail in this mask…but now I see the wisdom of using the fairly boring three core ingredients–this mask reminds me of the time I tried to dump a bunch of serum on a sheet mask tablet and use it like a regular sheet mask; I ended up with a sticky, heavy concoction sitting on the surface of my skin. This isn’t THAT bad, but there are certainly similarities.

Essence Thickness

The essence feels really good when applied in a thin layer on my fairly dry hand, but once on my face, my oily-to-normal skin starts to go into suffocation panic mode. This is a standard course of events when I try to use Leaders masks; the essence style just isn’t working for my skin.

Scent

This mask appears to have no added scent and any scent is subtle, making this a great mask for people who can’t deal with added fragrances. I happen to like certain sheet mask scents, so this wasn’t a super happy thing for me.

Drying Time and Wetness

Urgh, the Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask struck out big time here–the tiny strip above my mouth, where I had slathered on extra essence in hopes of keeping things moist, dried out fast. The edges of the mask near my chin actually dried before I even hit the 30-minute mark, meaning I had to pull crispy mask off my skin, yuck. In fact, the mask felt dry in some areas from the moment I put it on my face–the excess essence in the bottom of the tube allowed me to pat extra essence into the mask, but even that wasn’t enough to give me a long, wet, snaily soak.

Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask Overall

Mask Results

I woke up after I used this with fairly sticky, essence-logged skin on most of my face, but my nose and mouth remained dry and flaky due to the gaps in mask coverage. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Is It Good?

If you love Leaders’ “face condom”-style bio cellulose masks with their thick, gloopy essence, there’s a chance you’ll like this. That said, the paper towel-ish sheet doesn’t feel nearly as fun as the bio cellulose and tends to dry quickly in some areas of my face.

If you’re having trouble embracing sheet masking due to environmental concerns related to the discarded packaging and you’re able to recycle this type of plastic in your area, the Leaders Insolution First Ampoule Mask might be what you’re looking for, on an intellectual level at least. I guess. I don’t know that shipping a fairly heavy set of test tube containers and their decorative rack from Korea is really going to set minds at ease.

If you’re the other 95% of people who just want a good mask, this is probably going to be merely ok and feel like an expensive gimmick for a pretty average to disappointing payoff. I personally am delighted that I will never have to wear one of these masks again. The test tube honestly functions something like a giant bedazzled codpiece for a dick that never rises above half-mast.

The future of masking?

I think not.

The search continues.

Where to Find It

Amazon | eBay | BeautyBoxKorea (Aquaringer version only)

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