Farmacy
Farmacy's Honey Potion Mask ($38).
- I tried Farmacy's warming Honey Potion Mask ($38), which uses antioxidant-rich honey, vitamins, and glycerin to attract moisture and seal hydration into the skin.
- The best part of the mask, aside from how long the jar lasts, is that it physically warms against your skin when you rub it in.
- Farmacy's products are included in Sephora's Clean category, and the Honey Potion mask is cruelty-free and made with all naturally derived ingredients.
Farmacy, the clean-beauty brand known for natural ingredients, proprietary honey, and Sephora fan-favorites like their melting makeup cleansing balm and mineral face sunscreen, also has a hydrating face mask that heats up on contact with the skin.
It's called the Honey Potion Mask ($38), and it combats dry, dull skin with natural humectants. Honey pumps the skin with antioxidants that keep it smooth and glowy, and cichoric acid helps protect collagen and address hyperpigmentation. Amino acids and B vitamins make the skin look brighter. And as glycerin attracts moisture to the skin, honey helps to seal it in. After, skin should appear softer, brighter, and better nourished.
Like the rest of Farmacy's products, it's formulated with locally grown ingredients and without parabens, synthetics, artificial coloring, fragrances, phthalates, or animal testing. Farmacy is another clean-beauty brand, like Beautycounter, that meets the EU's relatively strict ingredient guidelines, which prohibit the use of more than 1,300 ingredients. And the little honey-pot-like jar comes in a package made with FSC-certified paper and naturally renewable inks.
I've been using the Honey Potion Mask at home for the last six months, and I've laid out the nitty-gritty of what to know before you buy below.
How to use Farmacy's Honey Potion Mask
Mara Leighton/Business Insider
Out of the jar, the Farmacy Honey Potion looks like a jar of slightly less sticky honey.
Wash your face and pat it dry so you're starting with a clean canvas. Dig into the Farmacy jar with the magnetic metal spatula that comes included (and handily attaches to the lid when not in use) and spread a thick layer of the Honey Potion Mask onto your face, avoiding lip and eye areas. Then massage it into your skin with your fingertips for one to two minutes. The mask will warm underneath your fingertips and against your skin, and melt from orange to white and from goop to a creamy lotion-like consistency. Leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes, and then rinse it off. If you're sensitive to heat, Farmacy recommends patch testing.
You can find a video of how to do the above steps on Sephora's site here.
My experience using the Honey Potion Mask for 6 months
Mara Leighton/Business Insider
Once you rub the mask into your skin, it warms and turns into a white cream.
I've been using the Honey Potion Mask for the last six months. In the summer, I'd slather it on a few times per month for a little extra luminosity and, to be honest, because it's just really fun to use.
Now that winter has hit and my skin has shifted from the dewy glow of a person living on top of an urban heat island to a dull, dry mask, I've upped usage to a few times per week.
After washing the mask off, my skin looks a few degrees better. It looks naturally plump, moisturized, and a little glowy, and it feels hydrated and very soft. The aftermath isn't slick like face oils can be, and it doesn't leave a resin that pills under other lotions or clumps under makeup. Instead, my complexion kind of looks like what I expect my insides to look like after drinking a kale smoothie.
I've stuck with the Honey Potion Mask over the last few months because it makes my skin look glowing and hydrated, and because it contains ingredients that I feel good about using on a regular basis. And, honestly, because it's pretty addicting to use. I love that self-care can feel decadent and relaxing, and the Honey Potion Mask is a good example of that.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it's effective enough to replace all the other hydrating products I use in the winter. I still rely on lush micellar waters to grab makeup without stripping my skin, good moisturizers, bacitracin for healing non-active blemishes without scarring, and weird foreign drugstore holy grails like Homeoplasmine for my lips. It takes a village. But it's a really great product to have in the arsenal.
It's not ideal to pay $40 for a face mask, but that's pretty standard pricing for competitors. And even sheet masks add up over time. Plus, it's helpful that one jar of a little over an ounce of Honey Potion Mask has lasted me for six months of regular use.
The bottom line
The Honey Potion is a good product for a few reasons: It does what it's supposed to, it uses natural ingredients, and it's really fun to use. If you're looking for a hydrating mask with clean ingredients and like your self-care to feel a little special and decadent, then this is worth checking out.
Farmacy Honey Potion Renewing Antioxidant Hydration Mask, from $38
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