I Used Weleda Skin Food As An Overnight Mask — Here's The Review

I had to find a natural alternative to this well-loved classic, but I kept coming up empty. I tried Waxelene, a petroleum-free product that's as waxy as its name implies, and it's a wonderful balm, but it was difficult to remove, which doesn't lend itself to daily use. Straight coconut oil was too emollient, not to mention it can be comedogenic. Of the all-purpose products and salves natural beauty has to offer, Weleda's Skin Food was the closest match. This all-natural staple has earned cult status among skin care lovers of all kinds—green beauty enthusiasts, moisture seekers, and sensitive types included.

Instead of using it as a quick facial fix, though, I decided to double down on the skin hydration benefits and try it as an overnight sleeping mask. FYI: A sleeping mask is K-beauty's spin on a night cream and is essentially a thick layer of treatment serum or moisturizer. While Skin Food isn't officially a sleeping mask, you can use it as one. The goop itself is yellow-beige in color and opaque at first but becomes transparent on contact with the skin. The amounts shown here are far too much for the face—a pea size is plenty.

I slathered it on and worried for a moment about my pores. Would they clog? With a cream this thick, I wasn't sure but was willing to deviate from my nightly gentle acid routine to find out. My face was indeed shiny and slippery for the rest of the evening. I changed out my pillowcase to one I didn't care about staining and hit the hay. The next morning was an early one—I woke up at 6 a.m. and completely forgot about the experiment until I looked in the mirror. My face looked smoother and the lines on my forehead and mouth were still there, but they were softer. I'm happy to report one use did not clog my pores! The biggest difference of all was in how my skin felt. It quite literally drank up the Skin Food and looked even-toned enough to forgo makeup entirely.