Catrice

Catrice The Great Christmas Advent Calendar Hydrating Lip Mask Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - December 15, 2024

Ah, it’s always nice to get lip care products! After all, the goal is to have supple, soft lips, not cracked, dried out lips, right? And a lip mask is one of the more nourishing things you can put on your lips. Though they also tend to be heavy, so I prefer lip oils. But, at the same time, I need something that will be able to survive the night and keep my lips hydrated until the morning. Something like... a lip mask! I hope this can help my lips, I have terrible issues with them becoming chapped, especially now in winter, when the dry, cold air and central heating both cause excessive drying. Now, let’s check it out!
 
 
 
 
Packaging: ah, it’s a plastic pot. Once again, I must point out how much I despise this kind of packaging, as it is very unhygienic. Unless you use a silicone spatula, you’ll be dipping your fingers again and again into it, just spreading more bacteria each time. And you know nobody disinfects their hands prior to every single use. I do wish it was either a traditional lip balm in a stick, or a liquid lip mask in a tube. This is just not hygienic. Anyways, the pot is plain red, but it has gold text, which is a great choice! And it goes with the calendar’s theme of 1920’s. Though it does look and feel pretty cheap. It’s super light and doesn’t feel very high quality. Let’s hope the mask itself isn’t like this. The cap is light pink, interesting choice. Wonder why? It closes very tightly. 
 
 
The pot is very deep but not very wide, which will make it a pain to scoop out lip mask once I start using it up. And no, I am not cutting my nails just for this. I guess that not everything can be as deluxe as the lipsticks, there has to be balance in how expensive things look in the calendar?
 
 
 
Ingredients: shea (Butyrospermum parkii) butter, almond (Prunus amygdalus dulcis) oil, vitamin E, meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba) seed oil, hyaluronic acid for nourishment. No parabens. A bunch of oils, like I thought. This might be heavy; also, peep how far down the list hyaluronic acid is... it really ought to be closer to the top. The scent is kinda like strawberry or cherry, but it smells very synthetic and sweet. It is a bit sickeningly sweet. But the scent definitely matches the swirly appearance of the mask! The expiration date is 18 months after opening.
 
 
No arm swatch for this because... I mean, it’s lip mask? But I will use it tonight, instead of lip oil, and see what my lips think about this mask! I have to point out, though, that the mask has begun to ‘sweat’ already, even though it’s been kept in relatively cool places thus far. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.
 
Okay, scratch that last part, this is a actually a very pigmented lip mask!

 
 
So, this lip mask is actually red! But it is much redder in the pot than on the lips. On lips, it takes on a much subtler reddish colour, but it is still red enough to stain clothes and pillowcases, which is annoying. This is precisely why I prefer colourless lip masks. Although, that gentle shade of red gives the lips a nice, healthy tint, which is nice. 

 
Pigmentation is decent, although I prefer it this way. It would be too hard to use if it were truly bright red. You know, I just need it to be able to be slapped on and that’s it. Although, you can get it to be slightly more red with a few layers.

 
 
This is a very thick formula. It is thick and greasy and occlusive, but it is a lip mask, so this is to be expected. It feels slippery on my lips, almost like some sort of vinyl. I don’t mind it being this thick as that will ensure that the lips are able to recover overnight. But it is definitely a bit too heavy for use during the day. And since it is so slippery, it is not at all tacky. This is what separates a lip balm from a lip mask; lip masks are usually slippery like this and so occlusive. And they need to be like that because they are meant as a sort of SOS for your lips. 

 
 
The biggest peeve I have with this mask is the pot container. I hate these because they are unhygienic and almost impossible to use once your nails grow a bit longer. If I try to grab the mask with my fingers, I am guaranteed to get a lot of it under my nails, and I am not putting that on my lips (the underside of nails is not the most hygienic place), so this leads to a lot of product waste. The best way to apply this mask is to use one of those silicone lip mask applicators. I have been using a lip mask brush, which was almost as effective. This way, you can actually use up all of it. However, it still needs to be spread across the lips, and for this it is simplest to use fingers. But remember, this is pigmented, so you’ll have red on your fingers that will need to be removed. Of course, before bed, this is all a bit of a hassle,  but at least it spreads easily across the lips, without any tugging or pulling. Makes sense, since it is so slippery. Now, if only it came in a better packaging so that I don’t have to dip my fingers in all the time...

 
 
Well, this is definitely long-lasting enough to be used as an overnight lip mask! I am glad, because that’s when I use deep conditioning lip products 99% of the time! I put it on before bed, and, while some it does get wiped off, most of it remains when I wake up. My lips are still slippery and greasy in the morning, so they never feel more dry. But, that slipperiness comes at a cost: it is not food-proof nor waterproof. In fact, it is very easy to smudge with both eating and drinking. And it also transfers, so you’ll need to reapply it after meals. Annoying, but as long as it is durable enough to last an entire night, I am happy!

 
 
Now, the most important feature: how well does it nourish the lips? Well, pretty decently! But how successful it is in healing lips depends on the level of damage and/or dryness. If the lips are just slightly damaged and/or dry, it will hydrate them enough to make them supple and soft, but if they are severely dried or cracked, this mask won’t be able to heal the damage. My lips tend to be dry by default (and my lip biting isn’t helping), but they still feel soft and healed by morning. Usually, they are soft enough for lipsticks, lip pencils and such to apply well, but sometimes, my lips still stay a bit chapped. Like when I had severely dried out lips from one lip liner, my lips were so dry that there was a thick, cracked crust on my lower lip, and it stayed in almost the same condition in the morning. Which meant that I had to reapply the mask during the day. But most of the time, it heals the lips enough. And since it is so slippery, it prevents chapped bits from being torn. Could this be a better lip mask? Oh for sure, but it is good enough for me. I am mostly glad that it doesn’t create a crust on my lower lip like many other lip balms do.

 
This mask is super easy to remove since it isn’t very waterproof. You can remove most of it with just water, but it leaves a greasy residue if you do that. It’s best to remove it with micellar water. It doesn’t stain lips, btw!

 
 
Overall, a pretty decent lip mask, though it isn’t as powerful as it ought to be. See, it can heal minor damage, but if you have severely chapped or dry lips, it won’t be able to do much during the night. Or during the day, if you apply it then. I prefer to use it before bed as most of the body's regeneration happens during sleep. I figure that this gives the best possible chance for lip masks to actually work... but this one sometimes leaves my lips still feeling cracked and dry like before. And since lip masks are supposed to be stronger than lip balms, this isn’t very good. Another thing that isn’t good is the packaging; a tub isn’t a hygienic way to store a lip mask as you need to dip in your fingers into it to get the mask out. No need to explain why this is unhygienic, I think. I vastly prefer other ways to apply it, like applicators and tubes you squeeze. The mask itself is slippery and heavy, which is standard stuff for lip masks. They often feel like this. It feels occlusive, but it doesn’t feel particularly nourishing or hydrating, just slippery. But it is for sure occlusive enough to prevent my lips from drying out overnight. I like how it manages to survive until the morning, and it’s still in great condition! But a lot of it does get wiped off if you like to sleep on your side or stomach like I do. It’s also red, so prepare to have it on your sleeves and pillowcase! I like this mask, even if it is not the best one out there!



Rating: 6/10

 



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