LuLuLun Plus face masks: your face, but better

Get far enough into the Asian beauty scene, and you’ll start hearing about LuLuLun face masks. It’s the best-selling Japanese face mask brand. They put it in huge letters on the front of the pack, and everything.

Put aside your snake venom and horse oil face masks for a moment. LuLuLun tries to be simpler.

Get the beauty basics right

The packs have a minimal, easily recognisable style. You can find LuLuLun masks in Japan’s convenience stores, which shows how well known they are. Each colour means a different type of skincare: blue/purple for rich moisture, pink for balance, silver/white for brightening.

All of them are kind to sensitive skin. The first 2 ingredients on the list for every mask are water and glycerine. And you know we just said they’re in conbinis? Typical packs of masks can cost less than packs of gum.

Just like with KitKats, regional versions also exist. Kyoto, Okinawa, Hokkaido and Tochigi all get special editions with local twists. And, uh, so does Hawaii, but we’re not sure why.

They’re meant to be exclusive to each area of Japan. But obviously we can get hold of those for you.

LuLuLun’s face masks are designed to be used daily. They tend to come in packs of 7, so you have a whole week’s supply on hand. That’s… kinda rare. Sure, a lot of people have both a morning and night skincare routine. Wearing a sheet mask every day wouldn’t be weird. But not all brands make their masks for daily use. In that sense, LuLuLun does something different.

Simple skincare, plus some soothing extras

The new LuLuLun Plus series of masks made debuted fairly recently. They look fancy now. Yeah, whoever was in charge of designing all these packs did a seriously good job.

Hang on. Isn’t LuLuLun meant to be the reasonable, affordable brand? How come they went all premium on us?

Well, LuLuLun Plus has ‘weekly’ right on the front of the box. So you’d really only be using 4 per month instead. It feels like using several at once, because the mask’s made from 3 super thin mille-feuille layers. This is meant to help the moisture on the mask seep steadily into your skin over time.

The basic LuLuLun masks are unscented. Some of the special ones have aromas, like lavender and strawberry. LuLuLun Plus goes all out to appeal to your nose, with clary sage, yuzu, rose, and lemongrass ‘Aroma Oil’ masks. And a bunch of others.

To be honest, the scents do as much good as the masks themselves. Sage and yuzu are revitalising, and rose and lavender are more calming.

A helpful boost for your skin

With the Plus line-up, LuLuLun’s taken the chance to get even more specific to skin types. The ‘Precious’ anti-aging face masks for ‘mature’ skin (in Japan, that means 40+) are a great start. ‘Plus’ is supposed to mean more, better, extra, all that jazz, so the Nature Care masks in the new range are the next step.

‘Homeo-Age’ is a brand new mask. The ingredient list’s packed with vitamins and minerals – and ‘the power of the sea’. Which sea? France’s Iroise Sea. LuLuLun sources several ingredients from France, including the lavender in the aroma mask.

The ‘sea’ bit isn’t seawater, that’s too harsh on skin. Nope, there are 2 sea-related extracts: seaweed, and ‘blue elastin’ from maguro tuna. Elastin is naturally part of human skin, and the blue elastin has increased collagen levels.

Another special blend is ‘Sunny Day’, which claims to both brighten and even out skin tone. Extracts from Swiss sunflowers, lilies, and something called ‘strawberry geranium’ give the mask a hint of floral scents. It’s also high in Vitamin C. LuLuLun calls it ‘osmotic’. That just means it’s designed to easily absorb into the skin.

And then. Then, if you want to give your face a really luxurious 10 minutes, there’s Smooth Gold. It doesn’t exactly mean gold, like some other face masks do. This one is named for the Thai golden silk extract. How extravagant! It produces natural moisture and silk-based amino acids. Your face should feel silky and smooth when you peel the mask off.

One of the key ingredients is sake. High-class rice wine from Kyoto’s Fushimi region. Ceramides that develop during fermentation and brewing add moisture and protect skin. No notes on whether wearing the mask gets you drunk… but you’ll wake up in the morning feeling way more hydrated.

Stock up on beauty essentials online

Add to your weekly skincare and cleansing routine with LuLuLun Plus face masks.