Bloggin’ about Wei Rice Sprout Express Glow Illuminating Mask

I have tried Wei East products in the past and Wei is the “higher-end” brand of Wei East.  Wei is sold at places like Birchbox and Sephora, as well as having their own online store, and Wei East has its own online store and also sold at HSN.  

About Wei

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Years back, in the heartland of China, a young tomboy found her joy in running around fields, climbing trees, digging in the dirt, picking herbs, and discovering their many uses. Her favorite afterschool activity was studying Traditional Chinese Medicine with herbal Doctor Li and she dreamed of someday winning a Nobel Prize for a modern application of TCM studies. Little did this girl know that as an adult TCM would save her son’s life when western medicine saw little success in treating complicated medical conditions.

Wei Brian’s love and appreciation for herbal medicine has led her to a profound and impassioned belief in TCM that she shares with everyone in her life, and it has inspired her to create the only prestige TCM beauty brand – Wei Beauty.

The roots of Traditional Chinese Medicine date back more than 5000 years, starting with an ancient text between an emperor and his family doctor. This document presents the concept of holistic balance with yin and yang in a curve to show its fluidity. Later, during the Ming Dynasty, Li Shi Zhen traveled all over China and wrote the TCM bible “本草纲目.” This methodology is the foundations of Wei Beauty. Where there is balance, there is beauty.  from Wei

 

 

So, I was poking around Sephora the other week and found Wei’s facial masks.  I am familiar with the wash off mask pods ~ and in fact, I will be doing mini reviews on those ~ but I had NO idea that Wei had facial sheet masks.  And what is even more cool and made me insanely happy ~ they come in a tube.   Yeah, I bought one ~ cause, you know, reasons… Since this is just so cool, I decided to write a review on my experience with Wei mask-in-a-tube. 

I chose the Rice Sprout mask, as it is a brightening mask.   The packaging is just beautiful ~ very soft looking and with a lovely branch/flower design.  And sturdy too ~ that plastic box is stronger than it looks and it is taped down with some heavy duty round stickers.  I had to break out the scissors to open up the box.   

The prize!! Look at how cool this is ~ the silk sheet mask is suspended in all of that nutrient-rich, sprouted-grain essence inside a plastic tube,  like a caterpillar in a cocoon.  Wei processes the grain sprout extract by pressing them at the time of  germination, as it is thought this is when the sprout’s benefits are at their zenith.   Primera brand also uses sprouts based on that principle.

As a plant rises from its seed, it is a moment of pure power releasing all its protected and stored energy to ultimately bloom and flower. WEI captures the precise moment of life and presses the essential enzymes, nutrients and vitamins when they are most dynamic and concentrated.

The cap is a twist off cap and after removing it, I took the tweezers that come with the product and started to pull out the mask.  I was worried that I would tear the sheet mask, as it is silk and has been sitting in liquid.  The mask is a tight fit in the tube, so I had to gently coax it out, bit by bit and then when I enough of the mask out, I just used my fingers to pull it out completely.   UnboxingBeauty Tip:  Have a bowl underneath the tube while you do this, to catch the essence that will come spilling out. 

As you can see by the photos below, the mask is tightly rolled up, but has not been damaged by the tweezers.  Lots of essence too.  I used all of mine, but if you wanted to pour some it back into the tube and save it for later as a serum, you could do that.  Just put it in the frig and use within a couple of days.

Description: Rice has been used to cleanse and perfect skin by many generations of Chinese women seeking to achieve an immaculate porcelain complexion.  This restorative sheet mask floats in a potent, nutrient-rich essence made from Rice at the point of germination. Following a 10-minute treatment, there is a visible reduction in appearance of dark spots; skin is invigorated, bright and glowing

Now to the unfolding!!  It was not as difficult as I thought it might be ~ I just had to unroll the mask “tube” and then unfold it.  I am surprised how sturdy this silk mask is, without being thick.  It held up well after being in that tube, dragged with tweezers and unfolded.  No tears, no ripping ~ the mask feels gelatinous due to all of the essence ~ it is soaked in it, but because the essence is so thick, it is not dripping.   You can see below how thick that essence is and a look at a partial unfolding of the mask.  The essence does not have a scent, as far as I can tell. 

I took the essence and placed a lot of it on my face first and then applied the sheet mask.  Since I still had essence left in the bowl, I then patted the remainder on top of the mask. 

Ingredients

This mask is made from silk, so I do not know how they can say the product is cruelty-free. Silk worms did die to bring you this mask.  This mask does not contain parabens.

Descriptions in italics from Wei

• Rich Rice Embryo: Contains proteins that help skin to retain moisture. Rice has been used to cleanse and perfect skin by many generations of Chinese women seeking to achieve an immaculate porcelain complexion.   Sprouted rice helps supply moisture and contains a slew of nutritious compounds that your skin requires ~ such as amino acids, vitamins B1, B2 and E,  phosphorus, iron, lysine, selenium, calcium, minerals and proteins.   Rice will help promote skin cellular activity that has slowed down due to age and external factors, such as stress and pollution, and will help restore your skin’s youthful appearance. 
  

• Amino Acids and Flavonoids from Chinese Licorice: Work to improve skin’s clarity and strengthen its resilience..  Known as the “Elixir of Life”, Chinese Licorice is one of the most vital herbs in TCM. Rich in amino acids, flavonoids, enzymes, vitamins and minerals, its effectiveness in anti-aging, detoxifying, and fighting skin discoloration has gained Chinese Licorice the nickname “Beauty Grass”.   Licorice Root is also a brightening ingredient as well as reducing flaking and smoothing your skin. It is also an anti-oxidant, anti-irritant and anti-inflammatory and one of its key components, glabridin, helps soothe sensitive skin and reduce swelling and redness. 
  

• Vitamin C:  Defends the skin from free radicals, illuminates a dull complexion, and works to slow the signs of aging. (Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate/SAP ~ a stabilized form of Vitamin C)
  

• Glycerin helps with healing of wounds, is an humectant, sealing in moisture, maintains the skin’s water balance on an intercellular level, which makes the skin look healthy, moist (not dry and scaly), soft to touch, and is also an emollient, leaving your skin looking radiant and supple

Ingredients: Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Extract, Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Glycyrrhiza Uralensis (Chinese Licorice) Root Extract, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Phenoxyethanol, Tromethamine, Benzoic Acid, Sodium Metaphosphate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Xanthan Gum, Disodium EDTA, Polysorbate 20 cosDNA.com analysis

 

The Mask

I am not going to lie here ~ I hated the fit of this mask.  I loved the mask itself as it was silky smooth, strong but not a thick sheet mask ~ you can see how translucent it is on my face and I was able to keep this mask on for over 1 hour and it still moist, with just some drying out around the edges.   The fit, however, was bad.  The mask did cover my face, but the eye and mouth opening was horrible.  I do not have big eyes or a wide mouth, yet the mask was covering part of my eye area that was uncomfortable and the sides of my mouth were also covered by this mask.   This is a strangely fitting mask and I guess in the future, after I place the mask on my face, I will have to get some nail scissors and snip into those corners. I cannot tear the mask, like I would normally, because the mask is so strong ~ seriously, I couldn’t rip this mask if I wanted to!!

I guess one good way of looking at this is that my eyes and mouth received the benefits of this mask (always look on the bright side of life!)

After removing the mask, I was surprised how well the essence had absorbed into my skin ~ I guess leaving it on for an hour helped ~ my face was very moist and dewy looking, so I guess I got that glow!  I did a moisture reading test about 3 minutes after removing the mask and my moisture level was at 57.5 and the lipids (oil) reading was at 25.8.  This is a very moisturizing and hydrating mask.

I do not recommend, unless you have dry skin, using this mask in the morning, as your face will be very moist.  If you have oily or oily/combo skin like me, you should use this mask at night time, and let the essence work on your face overnight.  I used this in the morning and I can tell you, I didn’t need to use any facial products other than eye cream and blemish spot treatment as that is how moisturized my skin was.

What effects did I see?  Well, I didn’t really see a brightening effect, but I did see a glow effect, due to the moisturizing qualities of this mask.   I also saw that my face looked more even in skin tone and any redness I had was gone.   I was able to just slap on my Primary Raw The Beige tinted sunscreen (review here ~ love this stuff!) , a matte lippie and mascara  and that was it.  Off I went to the store and ran errands.  I normally use a foundation (well, tinted moisturizer by Jouer) but because my face was so moisturized already, I felt I could skip it.  I also wear more makeup than that, but I did feel comfortable enough with how my skin looked to abstain my normal makeup routine.

 

Final Thoughts

I  really did not want to like this $12.00 mask (yikes!) but I have to say, I did.   Despite its horrible fit around the eyes and mouth, I was surprised how well it moisturized plus gave my face a “glow” while evening out my skin tone.  I did not break out from this mask at all ~ I think next time I use this mask, I will apply it at night time and see how my skin looks the next day.  Is it worth the $12.00?  Considering I used SK-II, a $16.00-$17.00 mask and thought that was meh, I have to say that if you can afford to try this mask once, do so.  I went in with low expectations as I don’t believe a facial sheet mask is ever worth $12.00, but this one has so much essence, that you can use it for several days ~ the essence, not the mask ~ never ever reuse the masks!!  I have read so many comments on Sephora and other sites where people ARE REUSING THEIR MASKS!!  You can purchase cotton masks if you want to create your own, but for the love of everything, do.not.reuse.your.facial.sheet.masks.  Please don’t.  It is not hygienic.  Sorry, I got side tracked there, but I keep reading those comments and I cannot believe that people actually think that is a good idea ~ it ranks up there with leaving your facial sheet mask on until it is completely dry/overnight.   I am not a beauty expert, but even I know these things are bad ideas. 

Anywho, yes, I would repurchase Wei Rice Sprout mask and I have purchased the other two mask types as well to try out.

Where to Purchase

Sephora They also have other masks, as I have already purchased them and will do mini reviews on those as well

• Wei Rice Sprout Express Glow Illuminating Mask
• Wei Millet Sprout Instant Smoothing Nourishing Mask
• Wei Mung Bean Sprout Stress-Relieving Soothing Mask

Wei Online Shop

 

[ This blog post contains affiliate links.  Descriptions in italics from linked web site.  Product was purchased by me ]