The Face Shop Real Nature Mask Mung Bean and Pomegranate Review

The Face Shop has a wide variety of face mask sheets with different price ranges. One of the lower lines is the Real Nature Mask line, which has masks with the essences of Raspberry (which I reviewed here), Lemon, Rice, Olive, Cucumber, Kelp, Red Ginseng and more. Here I'll review the Real Nature Mask Mung Bean sheet and the Real Nature Mask Pomegranate sheet.

I bought the Real Nature Mask Mung Bean sheet from The Face Shop's Markham, Canada branch just over a year ago, and the packaging has been updated since then. The front shows fresh mung beans on top of grounded up ones, giving an idea of the flavor to expect inside.

The back has full information in both Korean and English, along with illustrations of the steps. The bottom also has the expiration date (20151019) imprinted, meaning that these mask sheets have a shelf life of at least two and a half years.

This information can also be found on The Face Shop's international webpage for this product. The English states that this mask sheet has 1000 mg of grounded quality mung bean extract. This extract is meant to purify pours and result in clean and smooth skin. It also mentions the typical warning, along with to not use if you have "broken or abraded skin," meaning if your skin has been chafed off (ie. rope or rug burn). If that were the case, you would probably be putting ointment on rather than a dinky face mask sheet (no offense).

The directions state to use this product after washing your face and using toner. Then unfold and line the sheet onto your face according to the designated eye, nose and mouth holes and leave it on for 15 to 20 minutes. Afterwards, remove the sheet and pat the excess on your face for deeper absorption.

Once taking the mask out of its bag, I could smell a refreshing and subtle scent, like the scent of trees or a meadow. It's really hard to explain, but it doesn't smell sweet like flowers or "clean" like soap like other products I've tested. The mask itself is very moist and damp, and inside the bag there is still a lot of excess liquid. This liquid was very smooth, with a runny gel consistency.

It was a bit difficult to unfold the mask. Be careful not to rip it! But my pomegranate sheet easily unfolded. This is a circular mask sheet with slits around the border to fit over your face and huge, larger-than-life size holes for the eyes, nose and mouth. But the mask is so large anyways, that you can bunch up and fold over the mask at the temples to cover the eye holes. This is obvious, but make sure to line the mask perfectly and tap it so it lies directly on your face, with no air bubbles, for maximum absorption.

The Real Nature Mask Pomegranate sheet, which I have no idea when or from where I got it, has the same layout, information on the back, mask sheet dimensions, basically everything, as the mung bean mask sheet. The only difference is the pomegranate flavor, with its description as this mask containing 1000 mg of freshly grounded pomegranate extract, which has vitamins and minerals to lift, moisturize and make the skin radiant. This product's webpage also states that pomegranate extract provides elasticity and gives a glossy finish. This pomegranate mask has a sweet scent, like ripe cherries.

The Pros

• Both scents are refreshing, subtle, not too overpowering and linger for the full 20 minutes.
• On the face, the sheet is cooling and refreshing; perfect for those hot, summer months.
• The sheet stays on my face really well; I can be very mobile and move my face in all angles without worrying about it budging.
• There is so much excess liquid afterwards, it's nice to re-soak the sheet and use it as a cleansing towelette on my body.

The Cons

• The mask sheet is a very generic, one-size-fits-all sheet. The eye and mouth holes are especially big, so much of my face isn't covered by the sheet. Also the mung bean mask sheet is meant to clean pores, but the fit was so poor around my nose, that none of my blackheads were covered by the sheet (and I had to realize this after I had finished using the sheet -.-).
• After removing the mask sheet off my face, the excess quickly dries up, but leaves a sticky residue over my face.

Overall, both mask sheets felt very refreshing and using them was a good way to wind down and relax before bed, like a mini spa treatment. I liked that my skin absorbed a lot of liquid and felt clean and fresh afterwards. The one downfall, as always with mask sheets, is that the sheet and holes are way too big, so it doesn't rest on my entire face. Someday, I'll hope to find a perfect-sized mask sheet!