Masks we group for exfoliation

The short read

• At €1.13 an application this is the cheapest median of any concern in the catalogue, against €1.75 across all 215 masks. The shelf itself runs from €0.09 to €10.29 a use.

• The grouping is ours: a mask is here because its stated purpose and its formula point at surface build-up, not because we found the word “exfoliating” on the box.

• All seven of the catalogue's exfoliating masks are here. The other 13 are wash-off, sheet, clay and cream.

• Nine of the 20 leave fragrance off the list and 11 carry nothing the encyclopaedia flags to check in pregnancy. Eighteen contain no essential oil and 14 no drying alcohol - readings of the list, not a verdict on the mask.

What these lists print that others do not

Not the most common ingredients - water is on nearly every list ever written and tells you nothing about who a mask is for. These are the entries that appear far more often on this shelf than across the 215 masks as a whole, counted by encyclopaedia entry rather than by printed name. A name appearing here is a reading of the label, not a statement that it does anything.

• Glycolic Acid5 of 20 here·5 of 215 overall
• Salicylic Acid9 of 20 here·15 of 215 overall
• Cetyl Alcohol5 of 20 here·16 of 215 overall
• Lactic Acid5 of 20 here·19 of 215 overall
• CI 77499 / Iron Oxides5 of 20 here·19 of 215 overall
• Kaolin7 of 20 here·30 of 215 overall
• Sodium Hydroxide8 of 20 here·38 of 215 overall
• CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)5 of 20 here·24 of 215 overall

Names without a link have no encyclopaedia entry yet, so we make no claim about them beyond the count.

The sixteen concerns side by side

The dataset sorts masks into sixteen concerns, and only four have a page. Hydration covers 70% of the catalogue, so a page over it is the catalogue with a new heading, and two more are too small to carry one. Seven are already published under another heading - every oil-control mask is on the oily skin page, every firmness mask on the mature skin page - and re-heading our own indexed shelf is worse than re-heading the catalogue. The last two clear every mechanical test and are left out on a judgement instead: soothing sits exactly on the catalogue median of €1.75 an application and 26 entries, dullness within €0.10 and one entry of both, and four pages was the scope set for this family. Neither is excluded for good. Every figure here is counted across all sixteen, so the superlatives above are scoped honestly.

A mask is usually grouped under more than one concern, so the columns do not sum to 215. The grouping is ours throughout, read from what each mask sets out to do and what its formula suggests.

All 20 masks we group for exfoliation

Cheapest use first. Every one is on sale in the EU and has a published ingredient list we could source and check.

• 

  Balea

  Reinigung, Peeling & Maske hautrein 3in1

  18ingredients

  !3 ingredients we would look at twice

  ≈€0.09 per use

• 

  Garnier

  Pure Active 3-in-1 Charcoal Wash, Scrub & Mask

  25ingredients

  !6 ingredients we would look at twice

  ≈€0.19 per use

• 

  Luvos-Heilerde

  Clean-Peel-Maske

  29ingredients

  !7 ingredients we would look at twice

  €0.38 per use

• 

  Beauty of Joseon

  Apricot Blossom Peeling Gel

  19ingredients

  ≈€0.45 per use

• 

  Santé Naturkosmetik

  Glow Boost Maske AHA

  29ingredients

  !8 ingredients we would look at twice

  €0.48 per use

• 

  Santé Naturkosmetik

  Pore Control Maske BHA

  29ingredients

  !4 ingredients we would look at twice

  €0.48 per use

• 

  Beauty of Joseon

  Ground Rice and Honey Glow Mask

  35ingredients

  ≈€0.64 per use

• 

  Vichy

  Normaderm 3-in-1 Peeling + Reinigungs-Creme + Maske

  23ingredients

  !6 ingredients we would look at twice

  ≈€0.77 per use

• 

  Luvos-Heilerde

  Peeling-Maske

  29ingredients

  !7 ingredients we would look at twice

  €0.85 per use

• 

  Balea

  AHA & BHA Tuchmaske

  16ingredients

  !4 ingredients we would look at twice

  €0.95 per use

• 

  I'm From

  Rice Mask

  43ingredients

  ≈€1.30 per use

• 

  Schaebens

  Tuchmaske AHA Peeling

  17ingredients

  !4 ingredients we would look at twice

  €1.45 per use

• 

  DERMASEL

  SPA Totes Meer Maske Peeling

  16ingredients

  !1 ingredient we would look at twice

  ≈€1.50 per use

• 

  Garnier

  Salicylic Tissue Mask

  26ingredients

  !3 ingredients we would look at twice

  €1.65 per use

• 

  The Ordinary

  AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution

  24ingredients

  !3 ingredients we would look at twice

  ≈€1.80 per use

• 

  The Ordinary

  Salicylic Acid 2% Masque

  19ingredients

  !2 ingredients we would look at twice

  ≈€2.07 per use

• 

  Dr. Rimpler

  SPECIAL Peel AHA

  16ingredients

  !2 ingredients we would look at twice

  ≈€2.20 per use

• 

  SOME BY MI

  Real AHA-BHA-PHA Calming Care Mask

  19ingredients

  !1 ingredient we would look at twice

  €2.85 per use

• 

  SKIN1004

  Madagascar Centella Poremizing Quick Clay Stick Mask

  23ingredients

  !1 ingredient we would look at twice

  ≈€5.68 per use

• 

  Susanne Kaufmann

  Glow Mask

  45ingredients

  !7 ingredients we would look at twice

  ≈€10.29 per use