Review: Mizon Good Night White Sleeping Mask

I adore products with niacinamide because I'm sadly acne-prone and that pretty much means I have inflammation and hyperpigmentation on my face at any given time.  As many of us know, this awesome ingredient works to heal breakouts faster and lighten the dark aftermath.  It gives me a leg up in the never-ending race to conquer my troubled skin which lately I'm finally gaining on.  

Ever since introducing BHA and tretinoin into my skincare routine my complexion has made huge strides in appearing calmer, less spotty and just plain smoother! =)  However, the battle is not over because I still get breakouts around that special time of the month (harumph) and I'm still sensitive enough that using the wrong skincare product can make my face sprout angry fist-shaking bumps... sigh (more on that later).

I'm a huge fan of Mizon products because they tend to have minimal acne triggers, good ingredients and reliable results for decent prices.  It was a no-brainer to add their Good Night White Sleeping Mask to my last RoseRoseShop haul because tretinoin increases the dry spots around my nose/mouth and I'm constantly looking to add more moisture to these areas.  With niacinamide as such a prominent ingredient I figured I was hitting two birds with one stone! 


The Good Night White Sleeping Mask is meant to be a final product that layers over the essences, serums, creams, etc in a nighttime routine.  As an occlusive a good sleeping mask seals all the previous layers in and increases their efficacy.  Mizon's version comes in a 50 ml hygienic squeeze tube of flexible plastic and a screw-on cap.  I swapped out the cap with a flip-on version saved from another tube product because my lazy self prefers those versus the extra few seconds needed to unscrew the original.  By the time I'm at this last step in my lengthy routine I am tired and ready to dive into bed!  ^__^

I can detect a sharp smelling odor that reminds me of hairspray but it fades quickly.  I'm surprised because most Mizon products I've used have no odor or at least smell more pleasant (like fruit) so this was a miss for me.  Maybe it's the alcohol ingredient?  The rest of the ingredients list has triethanol amine at a 2 for acne trigger rating and a few 1s (dimethicone, butylene glycol & a pigment).  I'm not loving that some coloring was added. (It's just a sleep mask!  Why does it need to be pigmented?!)

The gray gel texture is very spreadable and so quick to absorb, even over multiple skincare products, it actually means I can use quite a bit at a time.  I started off applying this sleep mask each night for one week over Benton essence, gel, steam cream and a Mizon blemish cream.

The results?

The first few nights of use were as expected.  My skin was softer and felt more hydrated by morning time.  My under eye areas were plumper and I couldn't wait to spread the news.  However...

At the end of the week I unfortunately started seeing my forehead become rougher with closed comedones emerging.  Since this happened to coincide with the week before my period I assumed it may have been a hormonal coincidence so I stopped using the sleep mask for a short time.  Once my forehead texture recovered to its previously smooth appearance I added it back in.  Unfortunately I had a second breakout and this time it was my forehead AND my poor left cheek, full of three large and painful cystic bumps.  You know... the hard ones that don't drain and don't go away for weeks :(

I should have listened to my instincts the first time I used the mask because my forehead almost never breaks out (even around my period).  The lower half of my face is still an active war zone for acne so I'm not surprised that it reacted so strongly to a product it didn't like.  It's just sad that it got slapped so hard over a seemingly innocent sleep mask waaah....  Even now as I type up this post I can see the prominent 3D texture of those bumps catching the light.  >_<  I was planning an update post on how my Curology subscription is going but now I'm going to wait for this breakout to clear first because my current complexion doesn't reflect the nice results I've had these last few months... sighs.

An explanation?

My guess is that my face disliked the alcohol ingredient and maybe the dimethicone + cyclomethicone combo was too occlusive and pore-clogging for me.  I've used products (like BB cream) with silicones and had no issue so it could be the alcohol compromises my moisture barrier a bit and tips things over the edge.  Maybe I used too much of the product and it overwhelmed my poor skin... I've also been undergoing more stress at work lately blehh.

Whatever the reason or combination of issues causing the breakouts I'm going to pass on using this Good Night White Sleeping Mask on my face again.  Maybe I can use the rest up on my body where I have areas of healed eczema that left behind brown pigmentation.  There's just so much left in the tube... what a waste! =/

Summary:

• Packaging:     4/5 (hygienic; flexible tube; screw-on cap)
• Smell:             3/5 (not great but bearable)
• Performance:  2/5 (softens/hydrates well but breaks me out blehh)
• Value/Price:    5/5 (under $4 + shipping on RoseRoseShop and $5.50 on eBay)
• Recommend? Neutral (not for acne-prone or if sensitive to alcohol & silicones)
• Repurchase?  Nope