Mitomo: Aloe + Cherry Blossoms & Camellia Flower Oil + Matcha Essence Sheet Masks

Today at The Amazing Blog we’re talking about sheet masks. Did you know that they originated in Japan (not Korea)? Sheet Masks are thought to have been invented by the Japanese Geishas who would soak small silk squares in flower water, and then rest them on their faces as part of a skincare routine. We don’t have silk sheets but we do have Mitomo’s Essence Sheet Masks which are made from sustainable bamboo fibres and impregnated with botanical extracts.

Mitomo is a Japanese company that launched in 2006, which specialises in producing high-end sheet masks. Their products and branding reflect the culture, where you can’t miss the famous cherry blossom on their packaging and extracts in most of the ingredients. The symbolism cherry blossom in Japan means ‘a time of renewal’, as the blossom is only evident for two weeks before it starts for fall. In a bygone era, it signalled the rice-planting season, where its blooms were used to bless the forthcoming harvest. We’ve already tried many of their different sheet masks, see here; so, we’re looking forward to trying two new sheets masks that they have added to their Ukiyoe Essence Masks collection with the Aloe + Cherry Blossoms Essence Sheet Mask and the Camellia Flower Oil + Matcha Essence Sheet Mask. These are made from bamboo bio cellulose material and what we like about bamboo is that it’s biodegradable and the fibres have no chemicals. It also has good breathability and water absorption; together with being antibacterial. They also manufacture and designs sheet masks for other international beauty brands, and are known in more than 60 countries all over the world. 

Let’s start with our favourite, Aloe + Cherry Blossoms Essence Sheet Masks which are ideal for those who wish to enhance moisture and elasticity in the skin. It contains a rich source of caffeic acid and other phenolic antioxidants for antioxidants that prevent cellular damage; as well as arbutin known for reducing dark pigmentation spots. The cherry blossom extract is used as a soothing agent because it has an anti-inflammatory effect. It helps to repair skin damages and gives the skin a natural barrier. It is rich in collagen, therefore, not only can it improve skin elasticity, but also prevents the effect of glycation, a process in which the excess of sugar in the body destroys the elasticity and create wrinkles and sagging. This face mask is also rich in multivitamins and enzymes including vitamins A and C and stops skin breakouts thanks to the aloe vera extract here. Finally, the mask is rich in a boswellia serrata gum extract (also known as Indian frankincense)  known for its ability to keep the skin look firm and youthful. We used these once or twice a week, on cleansed skin, leaving for 20 minutes, removing and squeezing out any excess extracts which we gently massaging into the face. You can find it here for £2.70 each or a pack of 10 for £23.90.

The Camellia Flower Oil + Matcha Essence Sheet Mask is a very different mask, it’s a purifier. One of its main ingredients is the camellia flower oil, which is non-greasy and an excellent moisturiser for oily or combination skin. It absorbs quickly and reaches the dermal layers of the skin, therefore providing even deeper hydration. It’s also a great balancer rich in vitamins A, B, D, and, E as well as omega 3,6, and 9. The matcha (ground green tea) here is very popular in East Asia and is used for detoxing in both cosmetics and food. Good for the body and digestive system; it provides DNA restoration for the skin. The tea polyphenols in matcha powder offer protection against UV ray damage. It can reduce the redness of the skin and bring an overall feeling of smoothness. It also has properties that help with the reduction of sebum secretion. The boswellia serrata gum extract used in both masks is included for anti-ageing reasons and as an acne reliever. Alongside these great ingredients, it also contains refreshing and soothing aloe vera. You can find this purifier mask for £2.70 each or a set of 10 for £23.90 here 

Friday Favourites – Sheet Masks

Since the 10-step Korean skin care method and its corresponding products have become a full-on trend, you cannot walk into a beauty department without seeing a plethora of sheet masks and The Amazing Blog can see why. Sheet masks are so easy to travel with, just throw one into your bag and you’re good to go! They leave your skin looking ten times brighter in just 15-30 minutes. However, with hundreds of options, it’s so hard to choose the right one. For this month’s Friday Favourites, we have four #amazingfinds face masks, something for everyone. These will leave your skin feeling rejuvenated while you sit back, relax with a cup of tea and watch the telly.

The first set of masks we have for you is by Mitomo, a Japanese company that specialises in creating high-quality beauty and wellbeing products, particularly face masks. We’ve already tried their Anti-Wrinkle Eye Mask with Gold and Bee Venom and Eye & Nasolabial Mask with Snail Extract and EGF in January, and recently their Collagen + Lithosperium, Hyaluronic + Lithospermum and Q10 + Lithospermum Essence masks. So we were even more excited to try their latest launch of Facial Essence Masks which targets, moisturises and heals sensitive skin.

The Facial Essence Masks come in six different types: Camellia (nourishing), Green Tea (purifying), Rice Leaven (protecting), Sake (moisturising and heat retaining), Soy Bean (irritation reducing and skin improving), and Tea Tree (soothing). Each includes a combination of antioxidants, vitamins, omegas, and organic acids depending on your changing skin needs. It is ideal to use these masks at night so your skin can soak up the ingredients while you sleep. You should use the mask after you’ve cleansed and toned your face (you can also throw in an exfoliating scrub and serum too). After 20-30 minutes, you can gently remove it and rub in the excess essence before following with a moisturiser.

Our two personal favourite masks were the camellia and soy bean. Camellia contains more natural antioxidants than practically any other botanical oil and the results are noticeable. The vitamins and omegas of the mask quickly absorb and instantly reveal more nourished and moisturised skin. While a soybean mask doesn’t sound as lavish as some of the other types Mitomo has to offer, it greatly reduces skin irritation, evens rough spots and texture, and fights any sun damage. After using this mask, your face instantly feels calmer and smoother. These were our favourites, but the line of masks offers a huge variety and each was made with a high quality that you can see and feel.

 You purchase a single sheet mask here for £3.49 and you can also purchase each in a pack of four for £12.50.

The next line of face masks we tried were also from a beauty and skin care brand that we’ve tried, BeautyPro. Previously we’ve tested their Rejuvenating and Brightening Collagen Masks, both of which are for anti-ageing like all of BeautyPro’s sheet masks. Their masks are intended for use by both women and men and are cruelty-free and dermatologically tested in South Korea, the heart of the Korean skin care movement.

Unlike the above Mitomo masks, these BeautyPro’s Natura Sheet Masks are targeted speficially for anti-ageing. They have a range of six naturally infused types for your various skin needs. They each have a unique combination of marine collagen to nourish skin with key vitamins and herbs and botanicals to even skin complexion. The types include Avocado (hydrating and repairing), Rose (soothing and redness reducing), Turmeric (protecting), Multi-Grain (complexion boosting and firming), and Herb (pore minimising and rebalancing). The line of sheet masks also has a Potato & Parsley Under Eye Mask.

While each sheet mask created fast-acting results, the Natura mask that stood out the most to us was the Eye Mask. We don’t often think of ordinary potatoes offering such nice skin effects, but we are sold now. The potato brightened our under eye area, making us look more awake and alive on Monday mornings, while the parsley reduced the puffiness and dark colour of our eye bags. The masks worked so well that we received compliments from our family members on our more ‘awake appearance’.

The sheet masks are available here for £4.95 and a set of three Potato & Parsley Under Eye Masks here for £5.95.

The next sheet mask we have for you is MILU’s Mud Sheet Mask. While the thought of slathering mud onto your face does not sound very enticing, we can assure you that this is a luxe product that isn’t messy and leaves your skin feeling nourished, purified, and soft.

What draws us to this brand’s ethos is the fact that MILU is like a friend who wants to help you with all your beauty and skin care woes—and better yet provides solutions to enhance your natural features. The radiant and glowing skin of Korean women inspired the company to create products that are additions, rather than replacements, to your daily skin care routine and contain ‘skin loving ingredients’.

Of these skin-loving ingredients that are found in the Mud Sheet Mask, a few jump out at us namely the two types of clay used. Bentonite clay extracts impurities from pores and reduces skin blemishes while kaolin clay minimises and deeply purifies pores. With these benefits, it’s no surprise why these clays are the main or key ingredients in many face masks currently on the market. However, many of these masks only use one of these clays in their formulas, not both like this sheet mask. Together they create a dynamic combination that softens, tightens, and evens your skin. The mask also has soybean to soothe your skin and rose flower to reduce pollution effects, and it has been dermatologically tested for sensitive skin.

For smaller and smoother looking pores, put the mask on for 30-40 minutes until it dries then peel it off. Remove excess mud with warm water. You can purchase the Mud Sheet Mask here for £9.

Finally, to complete our Friday Favourites, we have the Oh K! Mix Your Own Gold Dust Peel Off Mask. After testing their Cooling Eye Pads and Coconut Water Face Masks, we couldn’t wait to see what else the Korean mask brand had to offer.

Using the expertise, skills, and passion of Korean dermatologists, Oh K! creates high-performance skin care essentials for every type of skin. Did we mention their products and masks also come in cute packaging? The Cooling Eye Pads came in panda-shaped packets and the Gold Dust Peel Off Mask came in a vibrant yellow box with bubbly letters and gold powder on the front.

The mask is designed to give you a natural and radiant glow. The box comes with two gold dust sachets, two gold liquid formula sachets, a spoon, and a container. The gold powder is enriched with hyaluronic acid, allantoin, gold, purslane extract, gotu kola extract, and peppermint oil while the gold liquid is infused with collagen, gold, hyaluronic acid, and pearl extract. These luxurious and precious ingredients give the mask its nourishing, replenishing, and glowing properties. Hyaluronic acid, gold extracts, and collagen provide deep moisture, rejuvenate skin, and promote a supple, younger-looking complexion.

This mask offers the ultimate at-home pampering experience. In just 15-20 minutes, you peel off the mask and your skin has been transformed. After application, our skin looked immediately more luminous, radiant, and refreshed. It’s the perfect mask for anyone looking for a brightening boost. Just mix the gold dust and gold liquid in the mixing pot, apply it to your face, and enjoy having a golden goddess glow. The Mix Your Own Gold Dust Peel Mask is available here for £12.50.

Whether you want to perk up your skin, have some ‘me time’, or both, we hope we’ve helped you navigate the complicated yet exciting world of sheet masks. So, relax and let the sheet mask do all the work!

Mitomo's Face Masks

Most of The Amazing Blog team swear by a weekly face mask. It’s our (not so) secret method of maintaining a clear complexion, but equally, is a ritual we don’t always have the patience for. This was until we discovered Mitomo, a brand producing sheet face masks packed full of goodness. For the past month or so, a weekly face mask has been firmly back in our regime!

Mitomo provide high-quality beauty and healthcare products, with ingredients sourced from Japan. We tried their innovative Eye Masks (see here) in January, so were keen to see whether our face masks would live up to the hype. The verdict? We were highly impressed, and although we don't like to speak for others, we know we’re not the only one in the office to have snaffled a few extras to take home! We tried three of their face masks: Hyaluronic + Lithospermum, Q10 + Lithospermum and Collagen + Lithospermum - all part of their Essence Mask collection.

The Hyaluronic + Lithospermum Essence Mask is a hydrating and anti-ageing solution for your skin. Hyaluronan is a highly moisturising ingredient, injecting your skin with much-needed plumpness, thus decreasing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Lithospermum, on the other hand, is a plant extract well documented as soothing and antiseptic. The combination of these two ingredients left our skin feeling supple, less inflamed and smoother; making for a brighter and clearer complexion. We were also big fans of the Q10 + Lithospermum Essence Mask, a profoundly anti-ageing mask, enriched with Coenzyme Q10. It regenerates the skin, working well on deep-set wrinkles, and as with all three masks, it cools and soothes even sensitive skin. The added bonus? They are eco-friendly and all masks are made solely from bamboo.

Finally, the Collagen + Lithospermum Essence Mask proved effective at making skin more elastic, promoting skin renewal and smoothing imperfections. We noticed a decrease in mild acne scarring from the first use, as this masks help to plump up the skin; simply apply for 20-30 minutes (the same with all three masks) and once removed, pat any excess product into the skin. We recommend using each mask before bed, for a glowing and refreshed complexion. To try these anti-ageing gems for yourself, visit the Mitomo website here, where a pack of 10 masks are from £27 and an individual mask is available from £2.99.

Friday Favourites: Eye Products

We’ve almost finished our first working week of the year, and that means only one thing: it’s time for our Friday Favourites! At The Amazing Blog, we have to admit that we’re pretty lax when it comes to eye care. While we all agree that having a sparkle in our eyes is important, the constant strains of staring at a screen, working late nights, or even applying eye makeup, can take their toll. Today we present our recent finds that have helped us to look a little more awake - and ready to take on a New Year!.

Let’s start with Mitomo, a brand that provide high-quality beauty and health care products, all of which contain ingredients sourced in Japan. Their Eye Masks serve you with natural moisture, giving a unique treatment to the under eye region. We tried both the Snail + EGF Gold Mask and the Gold + Bee Venom Mask (both of which sounded very intriguing), and we were more than pleasantly surprised with the results.

The Eye & Nasolabial Mask with Snail Extract and EGF helps to regenerate damaged cells, both under the eyes, and around the nose, with natural components that improve your overall skin condition. The use of Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) helps to regenerate new cells, encouraging your under eye area to look brighter and smoother. On the other hand, the Anti-wrinkle Eye Mask with Gold and Bee Venom does exactly what it suggests, helping to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. By promoting the production of collagen and elastin, this mask helps to create a radiant glow, deeply moisturising the area and promoting skin elasticity. Both masks are best applied for 20-30 minutes, and to make the most of the ingredients, the excess should be gently patted into the skin. You can buy each pack seperately for £3.29, the Snail and EGF mask here or the Gold and Bee Venom here. Alternatively each mask is available in a pack of 10 for £29.61.

Our second step for perfect eye care is Elizabeth Grant’s Supreme Cell Vitality Victory Eye Serum . We’ve reviewed Elizabeth Grant’s products before, namely her Suprême Cell Vitality Neck Creme. We were therefore keen to try an eyecare product, hoping it would prove equally moisturising and luxury. We were not disappointed!

The Supreme Cell Vitality Victory Eye Cream is a lifting and energising serum for the delicate eye area, perfectly suitable for all skin types. Inducing anti-ageing effects, it contains natural actives to reduce the appearance of under-eye puffiness, creating tighter feeling skin, while making the eye-area look more youthful. Leaving your skin plumped and nourished thanks to Elizabeth Grant’s own innovation Torricelumn, vitality is produced in a bottle, and dark shadows are reduced. To apply, pat a small amount around your eye area both morning and at night. Containing CoQ10, this product also promotes collagen renewal, revitalising your under eye area. To purchase your own 30ml bottle for $70, click here.

Now our under eyes are suitably moisturised, it’s time to turn to our eyelashes. We discovered Apraise, a brand providing an exclusive collection of professional eyelash and eyebrow products. They particularly specialise in water resistant and smudge proof tints, but have equally turned their hand to lashcare. This is the area that interested us most, with the use of Optiplex growth technology. We tried their Power Serum, a product promising thicker and stronger eyelashes in just 15 days. We were keen to put this to the test!

This serum contains active ingredients that stimulate hair follicles, leading to fuller and stronger lashes and brows. All too often, similar products do nothing but moisturise your eyelashes, and although this is no bad thing, we were pleased to find that this Power Serum has real (and visible) results. By reducing the loss of eyelashes, your lashes look healthy and full, and as it is packaged like conventional mascara, it is simple to apply. Apply a thin coat over your lashes and brows twice a day (mornings and evenings) and you won’t have to wait long for baffling results! To try this product for yourself, visit the Amazon website here, where you will find the Power Serum available for £9.99.

Last but not least, nothing completes an eye look quite like a good coating of mascara. On our quest to find a new favourite, we discovered the brand Lavera, and were keen to try their Powerful Lashes product. Lavera provide certified natural cosmetics, with the use of high quality ingredients, packaging and production processes, so we were keen to see whether their mascara would live up to the high performance ethos.

The Powerful Lashes mascara is organic and vegan, leaving your lashes looking fuller and longer. Unlike many mascaras, this formula is multi-purpose, giving your eyelashes the benefit of a volumised, defined and lengthened look. Additionally, thanks to the rubber brush, our natural curl is held, catching each lash seperately, giving optimum volume without clumping. Being ophthalmologically tested, this product is also suitable for contact lense wearers, and thanks to the dermatological testing, you can be safe in the knowledge that your eyes will not react to the ingredients. There’s nothing worse than streaming panda eyes! To purchase Powerful Lashes, visit the Lavera website here where you will find it available for £14.90.

There you have it - our newfound products for a New Year eyecare routine. Give them a try, and be sure to let us know how you get on!