Review: Aromatherapy Associates Hydrating Rose Face Mask

I received the Aromatherapy Associates Hydrating Rose Face Mask as a magazine freebie in around April and honestly, completely neglected it until fairly recently as I didn't feel like hydration was something my skin was lacking; it's easy to forget that oily skin needs hydration too, and I wish I'd started using this sooner!
Described as "Moisturising and renewing", the Rose Face Masks claims to be suitable for all skin types.
The packaging is a nice, simple white tube with a screw cap, and gold and blue writing. According to the back of the tube, this is "A deeply hydrating mask to restore vital moisture to dry skin. Aloe vera and sodium hyaluronate, renowned for their hydrating properties, are combined with rose water, distilled from Bulgarian roses, in a cooling, transparent mask to bring radiance and vitality to dry complexions." From that description, it's easy to see why I wrote it off, but I actually agree with the claim that it's suitable for oily skin too (obviously I can't say for all skin types, as I don't have all skin types!) The directions instruct you to "Apply to face and neck after exfoliation, leave for ten minutes, then rinse off with warm water."

Ingredients: Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Benzyl Alcohol, 

Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, 

Dehydroacetic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate.

The inclusion of Benzyl Alcohol (a preservative) seems a bit odd in a product aimed at dry skin, since alcohol does dry the skin out, but other than the ingredients list seems friendly enough to me.

The mask itself is a transparent, colourless gel which is easy to dispense from the tube and spreads nicely over the skin, leaving a cooling sensation. It has a beautiful rose scent; I'm not one for rose-scented products but this really is lovely! The mask leaves the skin slightly sticky to begin with but as it dries, it sinks in beautifully, leaving no residue behind. Although the instructions suggest ten minutes, I often leave this on for longer than that whilst watching a film, and I imagine you could leave it on overnight with no problems as once it's dry, you wouldn't know it's there at all. It's really easy to remove, I just use a muslin cloth soaked in warm water to rub it off, rinse and repeat to be sure of having removed all traces. My skin is left soft, smooth and glowing; it really does bring radiance and vitality to the skin, as well as hydrating beautifully to plump up the skin without leaving it oily or greasy. It might be aimed predominantly at dry skin, but other skin types can definitely benefit from this mask!

Aromatherapy Associates Hydrating Rose Face Mask is available to purchase direct from the Aromatherapy Associates online store, priced at £36 for 100ml, or I've also found it on FeelUnique for the same price, and LookFantastic at £34.50 for 100ml. I do think it's quite expensive, but it works well to really hydrate and brighten the skin, and is definitely a product I'll consider repurchasing once I have a steady income.

Have you tried this face mask, or any other Aromatherapy Associates products? Do you try products aimed at skin types other than your own?

xo

This month's Featured Blogger is Sophie Jane - have a peek at her lovely blog for reviews, recipes, and more!