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Recently I’ve been using a lot of powerful active ingredients such as acids and retinoids, and I might have used a little too much. I noticed blemishes that weren’t maskne alone, and my skin became more sensitive than ever. As I’ve been seeing more probiotic lines in skin care, I decided to try out some probiotic products to deal with my bout of blemishes.
I previously had a great experience with Abib’s Gummy Sheet Masks, so I selected two probiotic skin care products from Abib: Rice Probiotics Overnight Mask Barrier Jelly and Yuja Probiotics Blemish Pad Vitalizing Touch. Both come in the Korean beauty brand’s signature minimalist product packaging – monochromatic tubs with sans serif lettering – that doesn’t steal attention from the contents.
Formulated with rice bran extract, the overnight mask boasts a jelly texture and promises to deliver nutrients, strengthen the skin barrier, protect skin against environmental aggressors, and make skin smooth and soft. The Yuja Probiotics Blemish Pad is soaked in non-sticky essence that not only delivers probiotic benefits to the skin, but also helps brighten it with yuzu extract.
The main probiotic ingredient in both products is lactobacillus derived from rice ferment. It promises to balance the microflora of skin that might be weakened due to lack of proper nutrition, sun damage and harsh exfoliation (among other factors) by increasing the population of useful bacteria on the skin surface. This boosts skin’s ability to protect itself from external aggressors, leading to less blemishes and less irritation.
1. Abib – Rice Probiotics Overnight Mask Barrier Jelly
Experience: The transparent and slightly grayish fragrance-free gel comes in a tub with a tiny spatula. Apart from the lactobacillus, it contains two other active ingredients derived from rice, namely rice bran extract and rice bran ferment in the form of saccharomyces. The application is effortless as the dense jelly smoothly glides on without making skin feel tight. The absence of fragrance means it won’t irritate skin any further. The calming mask doesn’t leave a sticky feeling, and feels comfortable to sleep in. When applied in a moderate amount, it doesn’t stick to the pillowcase or leave any stains.
Result: After leaving on the jelly mask overnight, I’d wash it off the next morning. My skin felt nourished and hydrated after each use, to the extent that it felt unnecessary to proceed with the rest of my morning routine (I still did, of course). My skin stayed plump throughout the day. The more jelly I put on, the more nourished my skin felt. My blemishes and redness have subsided since using this mask.
2. Abib – Yuja Probiotics Blemish Pad Vitalizing Touch
Experience: The toner pads are soaked in a pale yellow, fragrance-free solution. Ingredients include yuzu extract for brightening benefits, centella asiatica extract to soothe skin, peony root extract to clarify skin, and chamomile extract for antiseptic effect. A tweezer that comes with the product makes it easier to pick up the pads without contaminating the contents of the tub.
Result: The very first thing I noticed was how poorly the pads adhered to my face. My best advice is to lie down for 10-20 minutes with an episode of your favorite show – otherwise the pads might fall off your face. I used the toner pad every three days, and expected blemishes to fade significantly and inflammation to decrease. As promised, the essence wasn’t sticky. After the first use, my blemishes looked less prominent and became less painful. In general, the Yuja Probiotics Blemish Pad gave me the same feeling as the Rice Probiotics Overnight Mask did – areas covered by the pads felt nourished. However, using the pads wasn’t a very pleasurable experience as all I could think about was how to keep them on my face.
Verdict:
I definitely want to repurchase the Rice Probiotics Overnight Mask Barrier Jelly. My skin hasn’t felt this nourished, happy and healthy in a long time. The mask is capable of calming down blemishes and maskne, which makes it a good emergency care product before an important event when you need to make blemishes less noticeable.
Those who don’t like sleeping masks may appreciate using the Yuja Probiotics Blemish Pad instead for probiotic skin care benefits, as its essence is powerful in restoring health and balance to sensitive skin. Since I don’t usually use toner pads, and I was frustrated that they didn’t adhere well to my face, I probably won’t reach for them again – but if Abib makes a sheet mask using the same formula, I’d be among the first to buy it!