What’s the New ‘Plus’ Category?
Plus is all about those extra targeted products that work alongside your routine staples to give an intense boost: designed to step in and address a specific concern as and when you need them. If your regular routine is your ‘daily walk’, the Plus products are your PT sessions. They’re fast, intense, and bring an extra layer of performance.
Why Have You Created the New ‘Plus’ Category?
Whilst most targeted treatments play the long game, I wanted to create a category of products that slot in between your essentials and deliver immediate and long-term benefits. This mask is one of those products, and when your skin is compromised, sensitised or highly reactive, you need that relief and replenishment fast.
Why the Focus On Sensitive/compromised Skin For the First Product?
So many people struggle with reactive skin conditions, plus there’s been such a rapid rise in skin sensitivity in recent years due to people being confused about skincare, following trends, or overdoing the actives, so barrier health is the absolute bedrock of getting things back on track. Everything starts with a strong, resilient barrier, and when combined with your daily essentials, barrier-boosters like this act as your Oscar-winning support acts to everything else.
Why a Mask?
I’ve not historically advocated for masks, as many of them don’t bring much to the party that a great skincare routine doesn’t do, other than feel lovely and comforting. I wanted to change that by creating a multitasking formula that delivers incredible, instant comfort without the waiting time usually involved with restoring the barrier. An unhappy barrier can wreck even the best routines, so you can’t hang about — you need instant relief when your face is on fire, tender or overwhelmed.
The Support Mask does exactly that. It’s intensely comforting, effective and active— and because I wanted it to be suitable as a quick-fix and a leave-on restorative treatment, the actives had to be good enough to work in that quick 10-minute window and overnight. That's a tough thing to formulate, as it had to appeal to those who like a rinse-off product vs those who prefer a leave-on; plus, texture, pilling, absorbency and dry down all need to be well balanced. It took 31 iterations to nail that.
Are Masks a New Routine Essential?
You don’t need to have a mask, it’s a choice when you need a barrier boost, or love the feel and benefits of a nourishing, lipid-rich mask on your skin. The Support Mask is in the ‘Plus’ category as it’s an optional extra.
Words by Caroline Hirons, Skin Rocks Founder and Skincare Expert
