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Illustration by Aaron Bengochea

Rarely do you hear about an invention in beauty that knocks you over like a ton of bricks due to shear ingenuity—especially in skincare. But on a recent morning, while listening to former L’Oreal CEO Sue Nabi explain her newest invention for her brand new, clean, high-end, highly-concentrated line Orveda, a light-bulb ‘aha!’moment shook me.

Nabi was discussing her brand new Prebiotic Emulsion, which is a 3-in-1 hybrid product (can be used as a daily moisturizer, primer or intensive weekly treatment) that comes with a reusable silicone sheet mask for that weekly treatment. I repeat: a reusable, silicone sheet mask. Why? What? Where? When? How?

“You don’t throw this in the bin like a normal sheet mask,” says Nabi. “[Single-use] sheet masks are full of [negative] products, and your skin only absorbs five percent of that mask anyway, so you’re also putting the rest in the bin. This you can wash and re-use.”

Your skin is able to absorb the healing mask or serum (or any products really) better because the silicone mask absorbs absolutely nothing, meaning nothing goes to waste, and less evaporation from the product being absorbed by the dry air. Which means all that money you’ve spent on the very high quality emulsion isn’t going literally down the drain.

Courtesy of Orveda

But this brilliant sheet mask-hack is totally DIY’able at home if the Prebiotic Emulsion, $330, isn’t quite in your price range just yet (totally worth it though, Nabi is a revolutionary skincare pioneer and creator, and my skin feels so happy and hydrated using it). Turns out reusable sheet masks are available from a few brands on the internet; here’s a popular Japanese version by Daiso on Ebay, or here’s another one.

Simply take a product you love—like this very calming, very lovely Pai BioRegenerate Rapid Radiance Mask, $60—and slather it on your face (or any other serum or oil or mask you love), put the silicone sheet mask over it (it’ll cover your entire face, and has ear tabs to keep it in place). Now it’ll take longer for the product to dry up than it normally would just sitting on your skin (meaning deeper penetration of products), and the silicone mask won’t absorb a thing. Hang out for 10-15 minutes, and then just simply wash the silicone mask off and let it dry, then store it away until next time.

A true life hack for happier skin!

Other trends we’re still loving:


The Outdated Beauty Trend We’re Totally Over Move Over K-Beauty, There’s a New Trend in Town Have You Been Butt Masking?