Product Review: Karuna Hydrating+ Face Mask

With all of the heat and humidity we've had the past couple of months, I haven't really felt like I needed to use a sheet mask for hydration like I do during the rest of the year. But for some reason, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the skin on my face was feeling a bit tight during the day. I wasn't using any new products to cause any kind of reaction, so I thought maybe a face mask would perk things up a bit.


I decided to use the Karuna Hydrating+ Face Mask that I had on hand since I wanted to see what it was like compared to some of the other masks I've used.


The package says it is a serum-infused cloth mask for dry, dull, dehydrated skin. It claims to improve hydration by 40% after one use, promote elasticity, and replenish the skin's moisture barrier.

As you may remember, I try to avoid products that contain added fragrance - or I at least try to make sure the fragrance is one of the last ingredients. Fragrance is listed as the last ingredient for this product, so I hoped it wouldn't be an issue.

Like most sheet masks, this one was sealed inside a pouch. Inside the pouch was a good bit of serum, and the mask was folded into fourths with a white plastic sheet backing on it. It's cloth, much like the Sephora masks (my review here), Tony Moly masks (my review here), and When™ masks (my review here).


The instructions say to unfold the mask, place it on your face, THEN remove the white backing. Interesting. I never thought of doing it that way - and if other masks said to do it that way, I've obviously been misreading the directions. HA! Once it's on, it should stay on for 10-20 minutes, although it also says you can wear it longer for a more intense treatment. Again, interesting, because some other masks say not to leave on longer than the recommended time because it could possibly cause irritation.


Like most of the cloth masks I've tried, this one did not fit well despite the slits that are there to help fit it to your face. It was very wide with large eye and mouth openings. Despite being last on the ingredient list, the fragrance was very strong and "perfumey", and not in a good way. I didn't care for it at all.


I left the mask on for 20 minutes, and instead of enjoying it, I couldn't wait to get it off my face. I felt like it was irritating the skin around my eyes, so I ended up pulling it away from that area (in the photo you can see I originally applied it to my undereye area - and you can also see how loosely it fit my face, instead of fitting tightly to my skin). When I removed the mask, there was a ton of serum on my face. It felt like very little actually absorbed into my skin. I tried to rub it in, but it just wouldn't absorb. I wiped away all but a thin film. After another 30 minutes, my face still felt tacky, so I used a damp washcloth to wipe the residue away. Just to clarify - we keep the temperature around 73, and I was also using a ceiling fan and an electric fan. There's no reason it shouldn't have absorbed or at least dried.

I've tried a lot of different face masks, and while there have been some that I like better than others, this is the first one that I really dislike. Maybe someone who is less sensitive to fragrance and who has dry skin would have better luck with it. But in my opinion, for the price, there are much better products available. That said, this wouldn't stop me from trying some of their other products. I would be a little pickier, and I would definitely check the ingredient list, but I would still be willing to give some of the others a try.