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The 9 Best Korean Sleeping Masks For Maximizing Your Beauty Sleep

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by Lisa Fogarty
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Bustle/Amazon

The best beauty routine is an effortless one — and what could be more simple than applying an amazing Korean sleeping mask before bed and letting your skin soak in luxurious, effective ingredients while you snooze?

The best Korean sleeping masks are like night creams that have been kicked up a notch. They contain the benefits of a face mask, but dry clear like a night cream. If your skin could use a dose of major hydration or you've noticed dry patches and dullness that your ordinary night cream or moisturizer can't tackle, a sleeping mask — which is sometimes referred to as a sleeping pack — is the way to go. The mask is used once or twice weekly, after cleanser, toner, and serum, and in place of your night cream. Each sleeping mask differs in terms of the ingredients it packs, but you can generally expect to find peptides, herbal extracts, essential oils, hyaluronic acid, and ceramides to protect your skin, and maybe one or two wild card ingredients like snail mucus extract.

Apply a thin layer of the mask to your face right before bed, wait a few minutes before hitting your pillow, and then sleep easy knowing these masks aren't as greasy as you might think — and they won't ruin your pillowcase. In the morning, you'll wake up to find a more radiant and hydrated complexion — wash the mask off with water, cleanse your face as you normally would, don't forget sunscreen, and off you go. Easy, breezy, right?

These nine Korean sleeping masks are sure to turn you into a fan of overnight skincare solutions.

1This Cult-Favorite Sleeping Mask With Brightening Snow Water

Considered one of the gold-standard Korean sleeping masks, Laneige Water Sleeping Mask is a cult favorite because it boasts innovative ingredients like Snow Water to brighten and tone skin, ceramides to help your skin retain moisture, and a relaxing and luxurious blend of aromatic botanicals to soften and plump up parched, tired skin.

Helpful Review: “[...] a 5-star rating is not enough for this product. I have a friend who is an "influencer" or whatever, and she posted this product on her Instagram. She was raving about it so much that I got curious and bit the bullet. I have started to use it every night and I can already tell my face is a lot clearer than it was before. I'm OBSESSED! I would buy a million times over. It's so light, it feels and smells nice and delicate.”

2An Exfoliating Mask With Green Tea

This green tea-enriched sleeping mask from Innisfree has a refreshing gel texture that feels cooling and soothing on dry skin. It works to hydrate, soften, and very mildly exfoliate skin, so you wake up with a clearer, more radiant complexion in the morning.

Helpful Review: “It's like a mask moisturizer. It leaves your face feeling like after you use those face sheet masks, except you don't have to remove anything after putting it on your face. You don't have to worry about falling asleep with the sheet mask on your face and drying out. It's a gel-type texture and has a great fresh scent. I use in place of a moisturizer before I sleep and it leaves my skin feeling very moisturized and soft just like after using a sheet mask. Also, a great value for the price.”

3A 3-In-1 Mask With Rice Extract For Uneven Skin Tones

If uneven skin tone is your number one concern, try this 3-in-1 sleeping mask with 65% price extract, which helps brighten, hydrate, and address hyperpigmentation and dullness. The nice thing about this mask is that it can be used as a sleeping mask, a moisturizing cream, or as a wash-off mask, if you prefer. The result is the same: smoother, healthier-looking skin.

Helpful Review: “I’ve been in desperate need of a mask that was fairly priced and actually worked/didn’t make me break out like a teenager and this product seems to be exactly that! I have combination skin but some spots get dry and flaky, especially in the winter and my regular moisturizer wasn’t cutting it. I tried this and when I woke up in the morning my skin was brighter and more clear.”

4A 5-In-1 Mask With Egg White For Dry Skin

A 5-in-1 skincare solution to combat dryness and keep your skin smooth and supple, this sleeping pack (which can also be used as a cleanser, moisturizer, serum, eye cream, and neck cream) is packed with nourishing ingredients like egg white, yolk extract, collagen, and Inca omega oil. It has earned a high 4.7-star rating.

Helpful Review: “The title says it all but seriously this is the only cream I will use on my face now. It's helped with everything on my face. I recommend this entire skincare line! I have INSANE levels of dry skin and I have tried almost everything from drugstores to the priciest brands and this is well priced and fantastic! Not to mention to you need just one pump for your face and neck so it lasts a long time.”

5A Skin Brightening Mask For Dark Spots & Post-Acne Marks

Restore lost hydration and improve the brightness of your skin with this sleeping mask, which contains a blend of hydrating glycerin and hyaluronic acid. Reviewers say this mask helps fade acne scars and hyperpigmentation and that its main purpose is brightening. If you have dry skin, you may want to consider applying a light moisturizer before this mask.

Helpful Review: “Absolutely love this product. It has brightened my skin, it absorbs fantastic with or without dermablading, doesn't leave my skin greasy and zero break outs! I use this every night before bed. A little goes a long way. I'm so happy to have found something that helps my skin.”

6A Non-Greasy Sleeping Mask For Oily Skin

If you have oily or acne-prone skin, you might be fearful to try a sleeping pack because you figure it's going to be too greasy and clog your pores — but this super light formula has a gel consistency that reviewers say is perfect for oily skin. This mask is described as refreshing and soothing — a pea-size amount is all you need to ensure you'll wake up with baby-soft skin.

Helpful Review: “I'll repurchase this a million times over. I wish I knew about sleeping packs much earlier. What you do is, you do your normal night skincare, and put o your oils and your night cream, then you slather this over all of it- liberally. It will dry down, so if you are a stomach sleeper, I'd do this while before bed. When you wake up, rinse it off and SURPRISE, your skin is soft and hydrated, and feels amazing. No lie. It saved me this winter.”

7A Soothing, Cooling Night Gel With A Watermelon Scent

Cool down your skin with the lightweight texture of this gel overnight mask treatment. The mask counts on ingredients like macadamia oil, hyaluronic acid, and watermelon extract to make your skin smoother, brighter, and softer. The one also comes in a money-saving pack of two and features a refreshing watermelon scent.

Helpful Review: “This is spectacular. I was initially thrown off by the jello-like texture, but once I put it on, it was perfect. I have combination skin (dry/oily) so I do have trouble finding moisturizing products for my skin that won’t leave me shiny looking. This absolutely fits that need. I truly couldn’t be happier. And it’s about $35 cheaper than Watermelon Glow sleeping mask and I honestly like it much better.”

8A Mask With Pumpkin Extract For Super Soft Skin

This pumpkin sleeping mask is all sorts of adorable, but it's more than just that: it contains exfoliating and hydrating Vitamin A and carotene to create a superior moisture barrier that locks in serums and helps them penetrate deeper into your skin. Reviewers with dry and even sensitive skin say it helps them wake up with hydrated and soft skin that lasts all day.

Helpful Review: “I have fairly sensitive skin and break out really easily, but this product didn't break me out or cause any rashes. My skin is very textured, I have large pores and very very very dry patches on my skin that make almost every single foundation look cakey on me. This sleeping pack gives my face a lot of moisture which has also made my foundation look a lot smoother and less cakey. My skin feels softer and fresh.”

9A Nourishing Sleeping Pack With Snail Extract

It’s been a few years since snail extract made a name for itself in dozens of Korean beauty products. The nourishing ingredient has since become ubiquitous, but this Mizon snail sleeping pack is an original contender that deserves your attention because it delivers an intense level of hydration, yet is as lightweight as can be. Several reviewers with sensitive and dry skin rave about this cream, which they say truly delivers on its promises.

Helpful Review: “I at first hated this cream. It came highly recommended to me, and like a lot of users complain about I too found it horribly gooey and sticky. With winter hitting hard this year, my poor face is so dry I decided to give it another go. What I've found? LESS IS MORE. seriously. A tiny pea-size amount, rubbed into my hands and applied to my face and neck. Voila, no more sticky. Now I wake up with the softest skin I've had in years. I've even started applying it to my hands before bed too, and it's made a marked difference there as well. I've tried many other sleep masks, but this is hands down the best as long as you remember just to use a tiny bit.”

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