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Sleep masks are our latest skin-care obsession — and not just because we're such huge fans of sleep. "Sleeping masks are hugely popular in South Korea," says Charlotte Cho, a New York City-based esthetician and co-founder of Soko Glam, a curated K-beauty online retailer that also sells in-house brands. Designed to be applied before bed and rinsed off in the morning, the one common goal of the different formulas is to moisturize. "Skin can lose a lot of water while you sleep," says Doris Day, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City. "The purpose [of overnight masks] is to create a permeable seal on top of your skin that makes anything underneath it penetrate better."
Another thing that sets sleep masks apart from your average night creams is that they're lighter, so you can actually wear them overnight without creating a mess on your pillowcase. Case in point: if you want great skin, sleep on it — literally. So, before you doze off, consider adding one of these 12 overnight treatments to your skin-care routine.
Below, we have picked options for all skin types, including sensitive skin and acne-prone skin. So what are you waiting for? Add one (or more) of the best overnight sleeping masks to your cart and wake up with your most glowing skin yet.
Just as its name suggests, the lavender-hued Herbivore Moon Fruit Retinol Alternative Sleep Mask is jam-packed with antioxidant-rich superfruits, including prickly pear, goji berry, and red raspberry seed, to illuminate your skin come morning.
The Youth to the People Superberry Hydrate and Glow Dream Mask snagged a Best of Beauty Award in 2019 for its powerful-yet-gentle formula. With four plumping, moisture-boosting ingredients — squalane, hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and betaine — your skin will start the morning feeling refreshed and replenished. Plus, vitamin C and prickly pear extract help turn up skin's natural brightness.
Although most overnight treatments mostly work to hydrate, this cream is formulated to fight fine lines and wrinkles. Pro tip: gently massage the Perricone MD Multi-Action Overnight Treatment in circular motions to allow the formula to truly penetrate deeply into the skin for prime smoothing results.
The first thing I noticed when I tried the Best of Beauty Award-winning Laneige Water Sleeping Mask was the subtle smell and lightweight gel formula — a great aspect because I don't love being aware that something's on my face when I'm falling asleep.
And while I now understand why so many people are so obsessed with this stuff, I felt like I needed to reach out to a longtime Laneige Water Sleeping Mask disciple to do it justice: "I love the texture and how it makes my skin softer, and I especially love using it after a flight to rehydrate my skin after being in all that stale airplane air," says Allure contributor Kathleen Suico. "Sometimes, depending on how high-maintenance I'm feeling, I'll put it on before the flight, or I'll wear it on a cold day under makeup to keep my skin from drying out."
The 2022 Best of Beauty-winning Dr. Jart Cicapair Tiger Grass Sleepair Intensive Mask is all about soothing the skin. Its star ingredient is tiger grass, also known as cica or Centella asiatica — a leafy green herb that has been used for centuries for its regenerative powers — to attract moisture to the skin and deeply soothe irritation.
The Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Sleeping Mask is a leave-on treatment that boosts your skin's radiance and seals everything in for the night with nourishing herbs, squalane, shea butter, and more. It feels buttery on the skin but doesn't leave your skin feeling sticky after it's dried down.
The Burt's Bees Hydrating Overnight Face Mask is a steal at $15 considering what it's made with. The list includes avocados (rich in fatty acids) and prebiotics to support a healthy microbiome.
The Kiehl's Ultra Facial Hydrating Overnight Face Mask With 10.5% Squalane is a rich balm that not only replenishes lost moisture but helps lock it in, so you wake up looking like you went to bed in a room full of humidifiers — and your skin stays that way for up to three mega-moisturized days.
To help tackle dark spots and hyperpigmentation while you sleep consider trying the Farmacy 10% Niacinamide Night Mask. Its formula contains niacinamide to balance oil and even the complexion, panthenol and blueberry seed oil to moisturize — so you wake up with soft, supple skin.
Dealing with redness? Skinfix's Redness Recovery+ Antioxidant Redness Treatment Overnight Mask is for you. It's made with a honey and peptide complex to calm and soothe redness and green tea, which protects the skin from environmental aggressors.
Glow Recipe recently revamped its original Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask to include AHA (alpha hydroxy acids). This means that now, after globbing this sweetly-scented concoction onto your skin, upon waking up, your skin is exfoliated and hydrated, thanks to the hyaluronic acid and niacinamide in the formula.
Missha's Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Sleeping Mask is yet another must-have to add to your nightly rotation. What sets this treatment apart from the others on our list is the fact that this one is part sleep mask, part essence. Plus, this goo contains 15 percent snail slime extract. Gross, but also kind of cool and very soothing.
For more of our favorite skin-care products, keep reading:
- Best of Beauty 2022: Skin Care
- 10 Skin-Care Product Winners From the 2022 Readers' Choice Awards
- The 13 Best E.L.F. Makeup and Skin-Care Products
Done reading? Now, watch this TikToker's 10-Minute beauty routine:
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