Few skin saviors rival the best face masks in their efficacy. Packed with potent actives, clays, and hydrating, soothing ingredients, these formulas have the power to improve skin texture, tone, and radiance in a matter of minutes. Ahead, six experts weigh in on everything you need to know about using and choosing the best face mask, along with Vogue’s favorite ones to shop.
Vogue’s Favorite Face Masks
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Best Overall: Sisley Paris Black Rose Cream Mask
- Why We Love It: Sisley’s Black Rose formula is sure to go down in history as one of the best face masks of all time. Powered by plant-focused ingredients (specifically, Black Rose, Padina pavonica, and Alkekengi calyx extracts), this reenergizes skin in just one 15 minute treatment. Apt for boosting radiance and moisture levels, this creamy mask offers timeless appeal for all skin types.
- Key Ingredients: Black Rose, Padina pavonica, Alkekengi calyx extracts, red vine, chlorella, shea butter, vitamin B5, rose and magnolia essential oils
- How to Apply: Sisley Paris recommends applying this two to three times per weeka cross the face and neck. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and wipe away excess.
- Size: 2 fl. oz. / 60 mL
Best Korean: Then I Met You Rosé Resurfacing Facial Mask
- Why We Love It: Then I Met You’s Rosé Resurfacing Facial Mask makes getting glass skin that much easier via a powerful AHA/BHA rose complex that sloughs away dead skin cells and unclogs pores with ease. But remember, the glass skin look is as much about smoothing and refining as it is hydrating and plumping—which is achieved here with nourishing ingredients like damask rose petals and sweet almond oil.
- Key Ingredients: 6% glycolic acid, 0.4% salicylic acid, damask rose petals, resveratrol
- How to Apply: Apply a dime-sized amount of mask to clean, dry skin, leave on for 15 minutes, then rinse with water.
- Size: 1.76 oz / 50 g
For Mature Skin: Natura Bissé Diamond Extreme Mask
- Why We Love It: Wrinkles, dark spots, and other signs of aging don’t stand a chance agaist Natura Bissé’s Diamond Extreme Mask. It’s benefits come from a supercharged blend of retinol, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and copper peptides to rejuvenate skin while you sleep. Expect a refreshed complexion come morning.
- Key Ingredients: Retinol, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, copper peptides
- How to Apply: According to Natura Bissé, apply an even layer to clean, dry skin and leave on overnight. Follow with a cleanse in the morning.
- Size: 2.5 oz
Best Sheet Mask: 111Skin Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask
- Why We Love It: Enriched with colloidal gold, peptides, and rose damask, 111Skin promises to tighten, plump, and smooth skin. Perfect for a quick pick-me-up to awaken fatigued skin, it’s no surprise some of the industry’s most acclaimed facialists and makeup artists (like Danuta Mieloch, esthetician and founder of Rescue Spa in New York City, and Georgie Eisdell) are keen to recommend it to their clientele.
- Key Ingredients: Rose extract, colloidal gold, pomegranate seed cell culture, peptides, glycerin, allantoin, silk amino acid, hydrolyzed collagen
- How to Apply: Just leave the hydrogel mask on for 20 minutes to experience an instant glow-up.
- Size: 5 masks
Best Exfoliating: Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask Enzymatic Dermal Resurfacer
- Why We Love It: To treat enlarged pores, occasional breakouts, and dull skin, Mack recommends this Peter Thomas Roth mask. “This contains pumpkin enzymes to help resurface the skin and AHAs to help chemically exfoliate the skin resulting in smoother, brighter skin.” There are also aluminum oxide crystals to gently polish the skin’s surface.
- Key Ingredients: Pumpkin enzyme, AHA, aluminum oxide crystals
- How to Apply: According to Peter Thomas Roth, massage a thin layer in circular motions with wet fingertips to activate the crystals. Leave on for three to seven minutes, and rinse thoroughly.
- Size: 150 mL / 5 fl oz
Best for Sensitive Skin: SkinCeuticals Biocellulose Restorative Mask
- Why We Love It: SkinCeuticals’s Biocellulose Restorative Mask is a skin expert favorite. Mack likes it because it “provides intense and immediate hydration resulting in a calming, soothing effect.” Murphy-Rose agrees with these benefits, calling it an excellent post-procedure to heal compromised skin. A thoughtful sheet mask for all skin types, this utilizes biocellulose fibers impregnated with water for instant skin TLC.
- Key Ingredients: Impregnated Biocellulose Fibers
- How to Apply: To experience its soothing benefits, apply the sheet mask for 10 to 15 minutes, then discard.
- Size: 6 masks
Best for Enlarged Pores: Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Minimizing Cleansing Clay Mask
- Why We Love It: “Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Minimizing Cleansing Clay Mask uses kaolin clay to draw out oil and impurities from your pores and minimize the appearance of them,” explains dermatologist Dr. Chris Tomassian, who says this is great for all skin types. And though this is powered by two types of clay (kaolin plus bentonite), it manages to keep skin balanced via aloe vera, glycerin, and allantoin.
- Key Ingredients: Kaolin clay, aloe vera, bentonite clay, allantoin, glycerin
- How to Apply: To smooth the look of pores, Kiehl’s recommends applying the mask to damp skin, leave on for ten minutes, then remove using a damp towel.
- Size: 4.2 fl oz / 125 mL
Best Clarifying: Lesse Bioactive Face Mask
- Why We Love It: I loved Lesse’s Bioactive Face Mask from the moment it touched my face. The mask feels almost cooling to skin—important for those interested in sensorial benefits. Charcoal, organic flame tree, flavanoids, vitamin C, and aloe come together into a thin clarifying treatment that decongests pores, limits blemishes, fades darks pots, and soothes signs of skin irritation.
- Key Ingredients: Charcoal, rare flame tree, aloe leaf juice, calendula flower extract, glycerine, mango seed butter, cocoa seed butter, rosemary leaf oil
- How to Apply: According to Lesse, apply a tablespoon amount and let sit for up to 20 minutes.
- Size: 2 fl oz / 60 mL
Best Brightening: Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask
- Why We Love It: Interested in a glowing complexion? Look no further than the Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask. Through a blend of pomegranate enzymes, willow bark extract, pink clay, and other powerhouse botanicals, this mask promises to transform dull skin for brighter, smoother, softer skin after each use.
- Key Ingredients: Pomegrante enzymes, white willow bark, pink clay, beet root extract, olive oil, caleldnula, arnica
- How to Apply: According to Tata Harper, apply a thick layer to the face and neck, leave on for 20 minutes, and rinse with warm water.
- Size: 1 fl oz
Best Overnight Mask: Laneige Cica Sleeping Mask
- Why We Love It: Long live the overnight mask! Of the best formulas that work overtime while you sleep, Laneige has a few sttandouts. I’m personally fond of its Water Sleeping Mask for hydration and this Cica Sleeping Mask for soothing stressed skin. “This contains cica, also known as centella asiatica, [which is] well known for reducing inflammation and redness,” Mack explains, citing it as a useful solve for sensitive skin types. “[It] also incorporates shea butter and squalene, adding moisture to the skin and locking in hydration overnight.”
- Key Ingredients: Forest yeast, panthenol, shea butter, asiatic acid, tea tree leaf oil
- How to Apply: The mask is best applied as the last step in your nighttime regimen and then rinsed off in the morning.
- Size: 60 mL / 2 fl oz
Best Multitasking: Danucera Cerabalm
- Why We Love It: Think of Cerabalm as the do-it-all product in your beauty cabinet, particularly if you’re low on time. From Mieloch’s line, Danucera, the balm is powered by a blend of botanical oils (hibiscus, apricot kernel, meadowfoam, and sea buckthorn) and spirulina proteins to quench thirsty skin, reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation, smooth texture, and impart a radiant glow.
- Key Ingredients: Spirulina proteins, zinc, copper, magnesium, hibiscus, apricot kernel, meadowfoal, and sea buckthorn oil
- How to Apply: Touting multi-use benefits, this can be left on for two to five minutes as a face mask, or can slough away impurities during a double cleanse.
- Size: 1.7 oz
For Acne-Prone Skin: Biologique Recherche Masque Vivant
- Why We Love It: As someone with oily-skewing, acne-prone skin, I cannot tell you how many facialists have recommended me Biologique Recherche’s Masque Vivant. But why do the pros love it so much? “This contains vitamin B, which is like the energy vitamin for the skin,” says Mieloch. “It gives your skin brightness, [purifies] pores, and targets acne.” And to treat oil and shine, this is also enriched with live yeast extracts and lactic acid to regulate sebum production and reduce breakouts over time. For what it’s worth, Masque Vivant is known for its unique beer-like smell courtesy of the fermented yeast; so, this is best for someone who doesn’t mind a scent.
- Key Ingredients: Fermented yeast extract, kaolin, cucumber fruit extract, lactic acid, glycerin
- How to Apply: As a potent acne-fighting treatment, Biologique Recherche’s Masque Vivant should be left on the face, neck, and décolleté for 15 minutes and removed with a wet washcloth.
- Size: 3.4 oz / 100 mL
What are face masks?
“Face masks are skin treatments intended to be left on for a duration of time to deliver concentrated ingredients to the skin,” explains dermatologist Dr. Blair Murphy-Rose. These treatments arrive in various forms—creams, gels, clays and sheet-like materials. Of the latter, the best sheet masks are typically crafted from biocellulose, hydrogel, or fabric and soaked in nourishing ingredients that treat the skin as soon as the its placed on the face.
How do face masks work?
“Think about a face mask like putting water on a sponge—your skin is the sponge and the mask is the water,” details aesthetic nurse practioner Katie Mann. “The mask is going to fill up the sponge (your skin) with hydration until it’s at max capacity.”
What are the benefits of face masks?
“Incorporating face masks into your regimen has many benefits,” says board-certified dermatologist Dr. Lian Mack. “Depending on the mask and the desired outcome, masks can improve exfoliation, unclog pores, hydrate, create a mattifying effect, or reduce inflammation.” Per Mann, if you have dry skin and fine lines, look for something with glycerin or hyaluronic acid to hydrate your skin a plump it up a bit. “Peptides and growth factors are also amazing for anti-aging!” Those with acne, on the other hand, can benefit from clay masks or formulas featuring salicylic acid or sulfur—well-researched blemish-clearing agents. “If you need brightening, a vitamin C mask can be helpful.”
Keep in mind that face masks for skin care are not quite necessities but rather supplemental. As Tomassian puts it, “Face masks are definitely not a must in a skin-care routine but can be a great addition to an existing routine to help further target a specific concern.” Mieloch, agrees—emphasizing that because our skin constantly changes, we must treat it accordingly each day.
Are face masks actually good for your skin?
All of our experts agree that face masks are great so long as you choose one with great ingredients that are right for your skin type.
How to Choose a Face Mask
So, how exactly do you discern which face mask is best for you? “In general, face masks are higher concentrations of ingredients that you likely use in your routine already, so focus on the ingredient you want to highlight,” says Tomassian. Formulations aside, Mack says how the mask feels on the skin is equally important. “The mask should feel hydrating and should easily spread across the skin when stretched.” With this guidance in mind, read on to discover the best face masks to treat every concern.
How often should you use face masks?
“Depending on your treatment goals and the type of mask, you could use them once or twice weekly to once a month or less!” Murphy-Rose instructs. “Gentle hydrating masks could be used daily while some stronger exfoliating masks, for example, should be used only monthly.”