People might complain about the Internet being a cesspool of garbage—but for me, the Internet has brought people in my life that I consider friends—even if we’ve never met.
Friends I’ve cheered for, sent funny DMs to, supported however I could...which brings me to the topic at hand today. One of my best skincare buddies (honestly, we’ve known each other nearly a decade), is launching her very own skincare brand! And I couldn’t be more happy or proud.
Jude Chao, aka @fiddysnails and her legendary sheet mask line, Love, Jude Skincare, is coming to Glowie Co., and I have the great honor of introducing all of you to this incredible collection of honestly, (and I’m not saying this because Jude is a friend), some of the best sheet masks I’ve ever used. They’re iconic. Truly!
So, let’s back up and talk about the brand itself. Love, Jude Skincare is co-founded by Jude and Eric H. W. Wu, a product designer and developer. They were brought together by their love of Asian skincare, or specifically, they’re love of Taiwanese sheet masks. Chao says, “My business partner Eric is actually someone who originally followed me for the usual reasons. Skincare reviews, juvenile humor, etc. We had gotten to chatting over DMs and became real friends. We share a love of Taiwanese sheet masks, so when he discovered that he has a great sheet mask manufacturing connection in Taiwan and brought the opportunity to me, I jumped right on it.”
Chao says that the Asian Beauty community also inspired her to start the brand. She adds, “I've always wanted to create basically my ideal masks. I also have a huge ego and always wanted to see my name on things, so that's a reason too. But ultimately it's just a dream come true to be able to do this in exactly the way I want to, with full creative control over it, and be able to bring it to the community that made me who I am!”
And of course, I had to ask: Why sheet masks? “As I think most of us know after some time in the community, skin is very individual and very very trial and error. With full size products like toners and serums, things that are meant to be used consistently over time, there's a higher risk of investing the price of the product and then finding out that it doesn't work out for your skin, or that you just aren't in a place to commit to using it daily,” explains Chao.
She continues, “Sheet masks are a perfect gateway to skincare because you can see improvement right away. And they’re fun enough that using them can feel like giving yourself a little spa night. They're way less investment and risk--if you buy a couple of masks and find out they're not your thing, you're not stuck with 100ml of some product that you aren't going to use up. You don't have to feel obligated to do them every day (unless you want to!). And they're how I got started with Asian skincare too. I believe they'll be a great intro to the concepts for a lot of people, and hopefully they'll make people happy too.”
The Love, Jude skincare collection includes three masks:
Sexy Radish — A deeply soothing mask inspired by Jude’s favorite plush to relax with
Three Fingers — An after-sun mask named after Jude’s legendary three finger sunscreen rule
Cat Pouch — A firming mask inspired after a cat’s primordial pouch (aka the jiggly stomach on a cat)
Each Love, Jude mask is made with 28mL of essence that’s just viscous enough to not drip all over the place, but not so thick or sticky that you hate your life after you take the mask off. They’re recommended to leave on for about 15-25 minutes, but I’ve personally left mine on as long as 30 to 45 minutes. They truly never get dry, which is a pretty incredible feat.
The Fit
One of the best things about the Love, Jude Skincare masks is the fit. I don’t know about you, but I’ve run the gamut of bad masks. Some are way too thin and too saturated with essence, making them a pain to put on (and they dry out quicker, too). Then, of course, you have to deal with a drippy face for 15 to 20 minutes, which is not exactly ideal. On the other side of the coin, there is the super thick mask that doesn’t even adhere to the skin, and because the mask is so thick, the essence can’t really seem to penetrate it. And don’t even get me started on masks that are too big, too small, or ones you have to basically perform surgery on to get them to fit your face.The Love, Jude masks seem to somehow eliminate all of these problems in one fell swoop. I’m honestly not exaggerating when I say that these are some of the best fitting masks I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. They are designed with a black medium thickness natural fiber cellulose material. The brand chose this material because it, “gives the best of both worlds. It's substantial enough to hold plenty of essence and to unfold and apply without the help of a pearl paper. It's also soft and pliable enough to mold and cling well to your face, providing an ideal fit and maximum effects.” They literally mold to my face like a second skin and don’t budge. I’ve read books while laying down, washed dishes, painted my toes, scrolled on Instagram...and the masks stay put. Again, iconic behavior.
The Sexy Radish Mask
The Sexy Radish Mask is designed to calm, soothe, and hydrate stressed out skin. I don’t know about you, but this pandemic situation changed me from an easy-going, carefree Black girl to a balled up mess of anxiety. Of course, anxiety and stress are really harmful to the skin—it showed on mine in the form of excess dryness and tiny white bumps. This mask helped soothe my irritated skin pretty much instantaneously. After just one use, my skin was noticeably less red and dry. I was able to leave it on for about 30 minutes and hardly noticed it was there. That’s how comfy it is!
The Three Fingers Mask
The Three Fingers Mask is designed to help bring the moisture and hydration back into your skin after a long day out in the sun. It’s formulated with good-for-your-skin ingredients like allantoin, squalene, and panthenol to help nourish skin, a healthy dose of soothing aloe vera and my all-time favorite ingredient, niacinamide, to help combat those pesky PIH spots that the sun can sometimes make worse. If you really want something special, put a couple in the fridge before you know you'll be spending a day out in the sun. I recently had the chance to use this mask after a long day out on the trails and I gotta say, there is nothing better than putting on such a comfortable, soothing mask after your skin feels a bit tired.
The Cat Pouch Mask
So, if you’re ready to upgrade your skincare and sheet mask experience, I highly recommend that you do yourself a favor and try a box (or three) of Love, Jude Skincare sheet masks, available now at Glowie Co.