TEARS OF JOY
I've not written a bubble facial mask review in quite a while. In fact, the last one I did was in September 2017! That's almost nine months ago! Speaking of which, I've also been working for nine months now and I just can't believe how time flies. But nothing compares to the shock that us Malaysian just delivered to the whole world on last Wednesday. We have finally gotten rid of a corrupted kleptocracy and for the first time in my life, I feel there's hope for my country. 😢
This post contains affiliate links.
BRIGHTEN IT ALL
The future of my country is now brightened by the ray of hope. To celebrate, I wanna do a review of a brightening mask to sort of match back to the whole 'brightening' thing. So today here we have the b.liv O2 Bubbly Bright Oxygenating Mask, which is designed to brighten up dark and uneven skin tone. It also has the ability to purify and exfoliate the skin as it contains red soft beads that will gently melt away once in contact with the skin.
INGREDIENT LIST
Without further ado, let us take a look at the ingredient list of this b.liv oxygenating mask (also generally known as bubble mask).
Water, Triethylhexanoin, Methyl Perfluorobutyl Ether, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Butylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Sodium Myristoyl Glutamate, Xanthan Gum, Cetearyl Alcohol, *Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Powder, Panthenol, Sorbitan Olivate, Betaine, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Sorbitan Stearate, Hyaluronic Acid, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, *Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, *Origanum Vulgare Leaf Oil, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract, *Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Leaf Extract, Origanum Vulgare Leaf Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Mannitol, Cellulose, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Tocopheryl Acetate, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Cinnamomum Cassia Bark Extract, Lactobacillus, Bacillus/Soybean Ferment Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Bixa Orellana Seed Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), CI 77491
You can read other product reviews containing the ingredients by clicking on them in the ingredient list above.
Bolded are the good/star ingredients in the product whereas underlined are those flagged as 4 & above under 'Safety index' in by EWG. Safety index ranges from 1-9 and the lower the number means the less hazardous. Those with asterisk (*) are more likely to cause acne or irritate skin than those without.
Note: This is free of paraben, sulphate and alcohol
YAS, THE GOOD ONES
Butylene Glycol, Panthenol and Hyaluronic Acid are all powerful moisturisers. Hence this could be great for those of you with extremely dry skin! Glycerin can help keep the skin hydrated and keep the overactive oil glands under control.
Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract is good for fighting acne, skin brightening and calming the skin. It can also diminish the appearance of under-eye dark circles, discolouration and even age spots as well as acting as a powerful antioxidant to protect the skin from environmental stressors and balance oil.
Tocopheryl Acetate and Tocopherol (Vitamin E) are major lipid-soluble antioxidants in the skin. Vitamin E protects the skin against peroxide and pro-oxidants and prevents oxidation in cosmetics. If Insufficient Vitamin E level allows harmful foreign substances to easily invade our skin as the protective function is weakened and cause our skin to age faster. Hence, by ensuring our skin gets the vitamin E it needs, we can slow down cell ageing by reducing lipid peroxidation. Vitamin E can also soften our skin, soothe inflammation and protect our skin against sun damage.
Acne-Fighting: Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract
Brightening: Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract
Promotes Wound Healing: Panthenol, Hyaluronic Acid
Anti-Aging: Tocopherol (Vitamin E)
NAH, THE BAD ONES
Because this is going to foam/bubble up, it needs Methyl Perfluorobutyl Ether, a viscosity decreasing agent.
For oily skin beauty lovers, Stearic Acid and Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil may potentially block pores as they both have a comedogenic rating of 3 according to SkinCarisma. Just do a quick patch test before using and make sure to wash off the mask completely to prevent potential breakouts. I personally have combination skin but I've not had any breakout from using this mask. Instead, I felt that my skin is brighter and clearer because of this!
For sensitive skin beauty lovers, Origanum Vulgare Leaf Oil and Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil may potentially irritate your skin if it is at a concentration too high. I would recommend patch testing (I always do) before applying it to your whole face.
ABOUT BUBBLE/OXYGEN MASKS
In my Rivecowe Bubble Mask review, I mentioned that one popular opinion on the benefits of bubble/oxygen masks is that such masks deliver extra oxygen to our skin, enabling the production of collagen. We all know collagen is the basic building block of our skin and it can hold onto water, giving our skin a younger, plumper and less wrinkly look. Oxygen can also kill acne-causing bacteria, calm breakouts and stop future ones in their tracks as the mask works its way into our pores, pushes out dirt and unclogs pores.
WATERY THAN EXPECTED
I honestly didn't expect the mask to be this watery and I certainly didn't expect it to be pink in colour. To be frank, I actually didn't know what I was expecting LOL. All I know is it will bubble up once in contact with the skin 😂. But I really liked that this mask comes with a spatula. For a mask this watery, my brush needs a little help in digging up the mask product and by providing me with a spatula makes everything much easier.
WHAT ARE THOSE?
Another thing that I noticed in the mask is there are some little red beads sitting in between the pink watery cream. According to b.liv, these are in there to help in exfoliation. But I haven't actually felt it on my skin when I put on and remove the mask. That makes me wonder how big of an effect these beads have in exfoliating the skin. Seeing that it is not an exfoliating mask in the first place, I'm gonna focus on its ability to temporarily brighten up my skin. It's good if it can exfoliate, but I won't be utterly disappointed if it can't!
Can you see a red dot there? That's the bead I was talking about. The watery mask almost flowed out of the tub while I was taking this shot HAHA.
I'M GENEROUS
Oh yeah. I put on a lot. So much so that that tub looks like it has less than half left now although I've only used it twice. I would use the spatula given to dig up the mask and put on my cheeks, forehead, nose and my chin before I use a brush to spread it out. I always try to make sure to act quickly before the mask sizzles up (that's the foaming process in progress!) so that I'm not 'disturbing' the bubbling process.
WAIT ABOUT 5-10 MINUTES
That's how long b.līv recommends the mask to be put on before washing off. By then, the mask would have already finished bubbling up and it would have even 'shrunken' a little and disappeared into a transparent but dewy finish on the skin. I've noticed that both times I used the mask! When I was washing it off, I could still feel the slippery mask layer on my skin although it has seemingly 'disappeared'. But, no worries because it is easy to wash off, especially with the help of a sponge.
CLEAN IT ALL
Be sure to clean off the mask residue entirely, especially if you have sensitive/oily skin which might react to the ingredients I highlighted above. I have to clean my face with a sponge multiple times before I can declare that I have removed 100% of the residue. I kept emphasising that because I had a bad experience with one of the wash-off masks I've tried simply due to insufficient post-masking cleaning. The mask turned out to be a really good one once I've corrected my mistake 😂.
BEING IN ACTION
This mask has a really similar scent to the Swissvita Acne Soothing Cleansing Cream, although it smells a little more plasticky and slightly stronger. I couldn't actually detect any smell of it when I put it on so if you're particularly sensitive to smell, this should work okay! The mask bubbles up very quickly when I put it on but it doesn't bubble up as crazily as this Rivecowe Bubble Mask Pack from Jolse which I reviewed last year.
ONE LAST THING TO NOTE
Oh! Before I go ahead and give you my recommendation, here's one very important thing that you must know: don't ever shake that little tub of fragile liquid and leave it open too long. It can bubble up inside the tub before it even reaches your skin. I was playing with mine and trying to take photos of the liquid to showcase here. And I accidentally shook it too much that the mask product inside has bubbled up! You certainly don't want to do that as it can greatly diminish its working power.
TO BUY OR NOT TO
It is a wash-off bubble mask that is fun to play with and fun to use. On weekdays, I would actually still reach for the Rivecowe Bubble Mask Pack simply because it is much more convenient being a sheet mask. But coming to weekends, this is definitely something that I would use. I have become a fan of the temporary moisturising effect that this b.liv bubble mask gives me and how it tames itself down without bubbling my face into a big mess. Is it affordable? That I'll leave to you to decide haha.
So, my answer is: grab it and have fun!
Malaysia only
Hermo - RM99
*WM: RM6.80 / Buy two free shipping
*EM: RM12 / Min. purchase of RM150 for free shipping
You can use Shopback to save some money (save 2% for every purchase) when buying from Hermo. Just sign up using my link: https://www.shopback.my/hermo?raf=OxeI66, and you'll be rewarded with RM5 immediately, followed by RM5 when you make your first purchase on Hermo through Shopback. That's RM10 in total. It works in the form of cash back which you can cash out to your bank account. You'll can learn more on their website here.
International
Amazon - USD39 (approx. RM155)
*Free shipping for purchase above USD50
Thank you for reading, see you in the next post!
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The product was sent to me for review purposes. The review is 100% my personal opinion of the product after personally trying it out. Please make sure you consult whoever is selling you the product and ask for samples if you can! Read my disclaimer here.
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