Red, Red Wine: Naisture Red Wine Mask Pack Review

Goes to mah faaace.

I love food-and-drink based skincare products. They may not be great if you have small children, curious pets, or just very confused adults—

—but otherwise, I just love the innovative novelty that some brands have been coming up with lately. Now, this Naisture Red Wine Mask Pack isn’t quite a Tony Moly fruit basket, but it smells amazing nonetheless. Plus, red wine as an ingredient has been making its rounds in the skincare industry for quite a while.

The Claims

Naisture is a Korean brand of sheet masks under the Yoonji Corporation that has been lurking around our local TJ Maxx and Marshalls for a while—you just have to be really lucky to get the “flavors” you want. Or to get anything at all, because as you know, stock is never definite at these places.

Red wine has long been known to contain antioxidant properties; in fact, the front of the box here says it “removes harmful oxygen from your skin.” While that’s a very, err, dangerously succinct and iffy way to explain it, antioxidants basically stabilize free radicals—molecules with unpaired electrons. Without the help of antioxidants, free radicals will “steal” from the other molecules around it to complete its molecular structure. This just leads to those poor victimized molecules to becoming incomplete and turning into free radicals themselves, creating an unfortunate chain reaction.

The lesson here is: Don’t steal from your neighbors, folks.

Here’s a key ingredients breakdown for the Naisture Red Wine Mask Pack:

• Resveratrol – An antioxidant. Yay!
• Red wine extract – Another antioxidant. Wine is also known to some to condition the skin.
• Hyaluronic acid – Hydration is popularly touted as an excellent way to appear younger by plumping up the skin, reducing the appearance of fine lines, and repairing the skin barrier, even when topically applied. In fact, hyaluronic acid holds about 1,000 times its weight and deserves its own ingredient spotlight! Sodium hyaluronate is somewhat low on the ingredients list here, though (assuming the order somewhat goes by U.S. standards), so I’m wary of how this plays into the mask’s actual effects.
• Allantoin – A moisturizer; it can condition, protect, and soothe the skin. It’s especially great for dry, rough, and/or irritated skin.
• Panthenol – A humectant, meaning it helps prevent moisture loss.
• Trehalose – A disaccharide that also retains moisture, though studies proving it definitively are not quite as strong. At least not yet.

Ingredients List:

See Cosdna for more details. Those with 1 or higher “Acne” or “Irritant” value, as well as a red “Safety” value, are bolded*:

Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Trehalose, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 60, Resveratrol, Wine Extract, Potassium Hydroxide, Panthenol, Allantoin, Sorbitan Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Citrus Junos Fruit Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Flower Extract, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Metha Piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Extract, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hyaluronate, Fragrance

Not on box: Carbomer, Triethanol amine, Propylparaben, Red 33, Blue 1

*Note that these values do not indicate universal truths. The amount of ingredient actually in the product, as well as the product’s overall formulation, greatly affect the potential for irritation. Not everyone will be sensitive to these bolded ingredients, and you may be sensitive to ingredients that are not bolded. Every individual’s skin may react differently. Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).

The Evidence

Yeah, you like that, you lurking Pusheenicorn behind me?

Performance:

I used this a couple of times in one week in the hopes of calming my skin. I’ve been having some mild breakouts in the past few months due to lack of sleep. I don’t know why, but my sleep schedule hasn’t changed much since I graduated. Come on, brain, I don’t have a full load of classes on top of 30-hour work weeks anymore!

The mask fits pretty alright; the cotton is about average quality, and slightly thick for my preference. It does leave a larger gap around my nose than I’d like. It’s no silk mask, that’s for sure, but that’s just me being spoiled by Taiwanese sheet masks…

22 mL of essence leaves a good amount for a couple of days if stored properly, or maybe one if you drop a compressed DIY mask in the packet. The essence is more viscous than I’m used to, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

MASKING PROTIP: Immediately after taking off the sheet mask, pat some of the extra essence all over your face and neck. This allows for even more essence absorption as it sinks in.

As usual, I leave my mask on for about an hour. After masking, I do feel very moisturized. Not hydrated (water) necessarily, but moisturized (oil). Now, I don’t mean that this is an oily product, but that this seems to help a little by contributing to the naturally-occurring  oil content in the skin. It does leave my face moist enough to make me wait a couple of minutes before moving on to the next step in my routine.

To be honest, I don’t feel the actual water-based hydration in this mask to have worked; I suspect the hyaluronic acid really was in just negligible amounts. I’d recommend using a proper hyaluronic-acid-based hydrating like the ever-popular Hada Labo Gokujyun Hyaluronic Lotion Moist before and after masking if you really need that extra kick of hydration.

I wish there was a way for me to prove the antioxidant properties to be working, too, but I guess that’s hard to do at home, huh?

Fragrance:

Okay, okay. The mask essence smells exactly like grape juice. Almost Kool-Aidy. I don’t know about you, but I’m actually pretty partial to the scent. It’s delicious! Okay, well, it would have been even better if it smelled just like red wine, but we can’t have nice things. I’ll settle for grape juice on this one. Plus, I’m not as tempted to drink it.

Value:

A lucky TJ Maxx find! Especially with how hard it is to acquire things in Hawai‘i. I mean, you would think in the 21st century, more retailers would know how to just stick something in a plain mailer and put a few stamps on it to, you know, another U.S. state, right?! Or dump it in a USPS flat rate box?! Anyway, I digress… This was only $4.99 for a box of 5 masks. At about $1 per mask, I can’t complain at all.

The Verdict

I would try Naisture masks again! In fact, I just bought two boxes of Tea Tree masks the other day. Finding sheet masks at my local TJ Maxxs have been like finding Easter eggs. I just feel like I’m obligated to buy them, just because it can be so hard to find reasonably-priced masks in nearby brick-and-mortar stores. I just can’t resist.

View this post on Instagram

Gimme all of the calming. Also, if you find these in-store, always get it. It will definitely be gone next time you go. #teatree #sheetmask #sheetmasks #Naisture #mysterybrand #TJMaxx #gudetama #ぐでたま #katespade #rAsianBeauty #bblogger #bbloggers #abbloggers #skincareblogger #blogger #beautyblogger #instablogger #skincare #kbeauty #korean #koreanskincare #koreanbeauty

A post shared by Lily (@leialily) on Mar 20, 2016 at 9:46pm PDT

The Naisture Red Wine Mask Pack isn’t anything groundbreaking by any means, but at this price, it’s not bad at all. It actually did a lot of what it promised, despite overselling a couple of ingredients it highlighted, in my opinion. Plenty of moisture, feels nice, and smells great. And what more could you ask for in such an affordable mask? You know I’m all ’bout those deals.

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5

Rating system:
5 / 5: HOLY GRAIL STATUS. I dare you to pry this from my cold, dead, kpop-glowy hands.
4 / 5: I really liked this! Would repurchase until I find a better alternative.
3 / 5: So-so. Unimpressive results, but may work better for others with different conditions.
2 / 5: Would not repurchase. Possibly caused some issues for me, but may work for others.
1 / 5: This lied to me. It did nothing that it said it would, and caused some issues.
0 / 5: Do not buy this. No one should have to suffer the way I did.

Don’t do this at home, kids. Also, if you’re actually a kid, maybe just don’t do this, period.

What’s your favorite wine- or alcohol-based or otherwise antioxidant product? Other than just the actual drinks, obviously. ☺