Laneige Water Sleeping Mask

Written by: Swati on: 8/19/2021

When Laneige first launched in India, one of the first few products that I tried from the brand was their much loved & raved about Lip Sleeping Mask. I was so impressed with it that I wanted to explore more from the brand and very quickly their Water Sleeping Mask was added to my stash.

I should have spoken about it sooner considering I first tried it a little over 2 years ago, but I wasn't 100% sure about it then. It took me a long time to make up my mind & figure out what I felt about it. It's such an iconic product in the K-beauty & western world, but I have had a mixed experience with it. So, here I am today, finally ready with my opinion. Read on!

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The Laneige Water Sleeping Mask was probably the product that put sleeping masks on the map for most of the world, didn't it? I wasn't aware of sleeping masks before I heard about this one.

What the brand says?

An overnight, hydrating gel mask that quickly absorbs while you sleep to deeply hydrate skin. Recharge your dehydrated skin while you sleep with this innovative mask. Formulated with highly concentrated Hydro Ionized Mineral Water to deliver high doses of moisture to stressed, parched skin. Calming Sleepscent™, infused with orange flower, rose, and sandalwood provides a relaxing and comforting scent while apricot and evening primrose extracts helps visibly brighten and purify fatigued skin. The result: skin looks and feels radiant, refreshed, and soft so you wake up with soft, glowing skin.

Ingredients: WATER, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, GLYCERIN, CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, TREHALOSE, SODIUM HYALURONATE, OENOTHERA BIENNIS (EVENING PRIMROSE) ROOT EXTRACT, PRUNUS ARMENIACA (APRICOT) FRUIT EXTRACT, BETA-GLUCAN, CHENOPODIUM QUINOA SEED EXTRACT, ASCORBYL GLUCOSIDE, MAGNESIUM SULFATE, ZINC SULFATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, POTASSIUM ALGINATE, AMMONIUM ACRYLOYLDIMETHYLTAURATE / VP COPOLYMER, POLYSORBATE 20, DIMETHICONE, DIMETHICONOL, DIMETHICONE / VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, PROPANEDIOL, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, STEARYL BEHENATE, POLYGLYCERYL-3 METHYLGLUCOSE DISTEARATE, HYDROXYPROPYL BISPALMITAMIDE MEA, INULIN LAURYL CARBAMATE, ALCOHOL, 1,2-HEXANEDIOL, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, CARBOMER, TROMETHAMINE, DISODIUM EDTA, PHENOXYETHANOL, FRAGRANCE, BLUE 1 (CI 42090)

Ingredient breakdown:

The good?

Butylene glycol & Beta-glucan are moisturizing, Glycerin which is a lovely humectant, Sodium Hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid) which is a humectant & moisturizer, Evening Primrose extract, Ascorbyl Glucoside (a form of Vit C) antioxidant which is brightening & 6 minerals.

The not so good?

It has added fragrance and drying alcohol. They are on the bottom of the ingredient list. I personally do not mind either but keep it in mind if you are sensitive to them.

My experience:

The product comes in a blue plastic jar which any skincare enthusiast can identify from a mile away :D I like the fragrance. To me, it smells lightly floral. I'm not sure about the whole sleepscent technology, (I don't think it calms me down or anything because aroma therapy needs a little longer than a minute to work & I usually don't have the time to sniff the product out of the jar for 5 minutes) but the fragrance is nice.

The texture is beautiful. A light gel-like which spreads extremely well and does not feel heavy. In fact, it has a cool watery feeling on the skin. It gets absorbed super quickly with no heavy, greasy or sticky feeling. My skin feels hydrated & smooth immediately. Here's a video of mine showing you what the texture is like.

However, to me this was more like a moisturizer. It doesn't really perform well as a sleeping mask for my combination skin. I can use it as a moisturizer in the summer when is it very hot and humid. But it is not deeply hydrating or occlusive enough to be a sleeping mask for me. I feel this would be more suited, as a moisturizer even, for those who have oily skin.

Now here's a bit of backstory

I initially bought & used it quite early on in my skincare journey. I was still trying out products to understand what worked best for me. I was also going through a phase of active acne then. I used half of it, didn't really like how it performed, I suspect it caused more irritation on my already sensitive & irritated skin. And during that time, I think it also aggravated breakouts. So, I passed it on to Smriti, who has dry & non-sensitive skin. She used it up as a light summer moisturizer. It didn't cause any problems for her, but she wasn't wowed by it either.

After taking a long break and once my acne subsided, I picked up a 2nd jar (I just wanted to give it go again and be sure about what I felt) and this time I used it up completely. My skin barrier was better and it did not irritate my skin. But it didn't perform well as a sleeping mask. It doesn't keep my skin hydrated and moisturized all night long, which I want a sleeping mask to do. So, I used it as a summer moisturizer and it worked fine on hot humid days.

Price : 700 INR for 25ml ; 1850 INR for 70ml Available HERE

So, what do I think?

Mixed feelings! I like this product, it feels nice on the skin especially in the hot humid summer and makes my skin look and feel hydrated. But I don't love it, you know? It did not wow me enough and I wish it gave deeper more long lasting hydration. Even though it worked like a decent summer moisturizer for me, I have others that I like and reach out for more. So it won't replace them and this is not something I will repurchase over and over again. (Both Smriti and me have used the Laneige Water Bank Gel cream and prefer that over this).

I haven't tried any other sleeping mask yet, but I know that I want a sleeping mask to do more. For the past 2 years, I have been exploring Korean skincare more and I am sure there are better sleeping masks out there (I have my eyes on a few and might try then out during the winter). This is more like a gel moisturizer for me & not occlusive enough for my combination skin.

But it is well-loved by many, so it might work for you as a moisturizer if you have oily skin which isn't too sensitive or irritated. I strongly recommend you to try out the small size or a sample first just to be sure.

xoxo,

Swati