African Botanics Le Masque Hydralift Intense

African Botanics continues to be a top favorite brand of mine. The eco luxe brand never disappoints with it's superb formulations. The newest launch is the Le Masque Hydralift Intense. This one took me a while to review as I really wanted to be sure of what I thought about it. Details per African Botanics:

AN INNOVATIVE SERUM-STRENGTH INTENSIVE MASK THAT IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO INSTANTLY INCREASE MOISTURE LEVELS, REPLENISH, LIFT, RESTRUCTURE, FIRM, SMOOTH AND ENERGIZE THE SKIN WHILE PROVIDING MITOCHONDRION PROTECTION AND EPIDERMAL REGENERATION

Promotes intensive hydration with dynamic concentrations of advanced ingredients: micro and mini Hyaluronic Acids, South African Aloe Ferox, fermented Yeast, Saccharides, Resurrection Plant and Mallow. Together with African adaptogenic plants, this mask draws multi-level hydration, helps fortify the skin’s barrier while feeding the skin at a deeper level.

Instant or overnight use. Designed for all skin types. Can be used everyday or occasionally to help lift, plump, soothe and revitalize.

Powered by a unique combination of highly advanced and active marine glycobiology with oligo-elements, water-binding Red Seaweed, micronutrient-rich Microalga Glucans, Laminaria Algae and Chlorella Sorokiniana.

Key Active benefits:

• Driven by advanced Marine biochemistry and African adaptogenic medicinal plants.
• Provides optimized hydration and improves moisture retention.
• Helps contour, lift, plump and firm.
• Helps restore lost moisture.
• Antioxidant protection and anti-pollution benefits.
• Brightens with stabilized Vitamin C and Niacinamide.

Directions: After cleansing and toning, apply a thick layer to clean dry or moist face and neck with fingertips or a brush. Massage in and allow the mask to infuse skin for 15-20 minutes then rinse. For best results may also be left on overnight. Use as a thin layer mixed with a few drops of oil for extra nourishment.

Skin Type: Designed for dry, dehydrated, dull, tired, thirsty, sun damaged and stressed-out skin.
Formulation: hydrogel-serum texture

This is a wash off or leave on firming & hydrating mask. It's a pricey one so I tend to lean towards leave on as it feels like I'm wasting the valuable ingredients if I wash it off. African Botanics never skimps on ingredients and this product is no different. This has hyaluronic acid, hydrating saccharides, aloe ferox, yeast extract, the usual African Botanics African adaptogenic plants like resurrection, baobab, honeybush, rooibos & marula plus their marine glycobiology ingredients. African Botanics uses marine ingredients in both Infusion and Fleurs d'Afrique Intensive Recovery Cream which are two of my favorites from the line.

This has a slippery gel like texture. It feels like a light sleeping mask meets serum texture wise. Hydro-gel serum sounds like an appropriate way to describe it. Because of the unique texture I had to find the best way to layer this at night to be able to sleep in it. I prefer my sleeping masks to be before my cream at night. They can go above or below my oil. I tend to do either: oil, sleeping mask, cream or sleeping mask, oil, cream. Either way is about the same for me to be honest. I found this product pills easily. So I tried it a variety of ways & with different products to find the best way to layer it.

I found this worked best in a thinner layer, don't do a heavy a layer as you would if you were only leaving it on for twenty minutes. I used about a dime sized amount. I found it worked well in several ways and not so well in a few. This doesn't play nice with balms on top. So this isn't a sleeping mask to use with a balm. Something about the heavier oil makes it pill terribly. Don't apply a really thick layer or it will pill. This works well either above or under an oil. This works well with creams that are more fluid and spread easy. A thick cream that requires a lot of work to spread it onto the skin can make this pill. I actually had good results applying this then going straight into misting, oil and cream before it set. I also tried applying a facial oil above it after letting it set and dry a bit. Both help the oil keep the mask from pilling. Though it wasn't a huge difference overall to do it either way. The best thing was to not apply oil over night cream and not to rub my face after the cream was on. That tended to make it pill again. Apply and go to bed.

This has no real scent, it's just a natural light scent from the ingredients. The packaging is a plastic squeeze tube. Not exactly luxe for a $180 product. The product is a bit runny so it tends to kind of spill out a little when you open it. I feel like this would be best packaged in a pump. Normally African Botanics uses really nice luxury glass bottles and I think switching this to a glass pump would help make it feel more luxurious and in that $180 price range. I love the practicality of a squeeze tube but there is something about a nice luxury heavy weight bottle to help make something feel like it's worth the splurge. May be a vanity thing but I'm OK with that.

Even with the price, pilling issue and packaging is it worth it? I had to think about that one for a while. The products requires a lot of effort to make it not pill. Usually I'm not into that. It reminds me of the issues I had with Allies of Skin Bright Facial before they reformulated it. However, like Bright Facial, this product was worth the hassle. It gives fabulous results overnight. I would love to see them reformulate it to pill less and I would even keep the plastic tube if it didn't pill. Now a new formula with no pilling and a glass pump would keep this in my favorites pile forever. It manages to firm and hydrate giving a nice lifted effect overnight. There is a visible difference in my skin when I sleep with it on overnight. It's worth the hassle. I still feel washing this off is wasting the beautiful ingredients. I think if you're an African Botanics lover you'll like it, if this was the first African Botanics product you tried the pilling might affect your opinion of the rest of the line which would be a tragedy because the line is brilliant.

*Gifted by brand but all thoughts are my own.

 

Ingredients

Aqua (Water), Squalane, Hamamelis Virginia (Witch Hazel) Extract, Glycerin (Botanical), Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Phospholipids, Glycine Soja Sterols, Stearic Acid, Safflower Oil/Palm Oil Aminopropanediol Esters, Yeast Extract, Kappaphycus Alvarezii Extract, Caesalpinia Spinosa Fruit Extract, Helichrysum Stoechas Extract, Chlorella Sorokiniana Extract, Saccharide Hydrolysate, Butylene Glycol (Sugar Cane), Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula)** Seed Oil, Hyaluronic Acid, Hydrolyzed F-fucoidan (Laminaria) Algae, Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, Xanthan Gum, Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C), Myrothamus Flabellifolius (Resurrection) Plant Oil, Hydrolyzed Candida Saitoana Extract, Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Citrillus Lanatus (Kalahari Melon)** Seed Oil, Rosa Centifolia (Rose)* Flower Extract, Cape Aloe (Aloe Ferox)* Leaf, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Extract, Malva Sylvestris (Mallow) Extract, Adansonia Digitata (Baobab)** Seed Oil, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Aspalathus Linearis (Green Rooibos)* Tea Extract, Cyclopia Genistoides (Honeybush)* Leaf Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol. *Organic, **Wild-Harvested Ingredients. Formulated without silicones, mineral oils, parabens, allergens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances, PEGs and SLSs.