Primera Alpine Berry Water Sleeping Mask Review
At a recent Amore Pacific sample sale, I picked up the PRIMERA Alpine Berry Water Sleeping Mask as I am ALWAYS looking for hydrating products to help with my Tretinoin induced dryness and flakiness. Sadly, I was too late to get anything from Sulwhasoo but I did manage to get the new Amore Pacific peel. Review on that coming up soon as well ;).
Primera is positioned as a "clean" and "natural" brand within the Amorepacific portfolio of brands (they also own some of the most established Korean skincare brands, like Sulwhasoo, Amore Pacific, Laneige, Innisfree, Mamonde, and many others - they are a huge Korean Beauty conglomerate, probably the biggest). Definitely not surprised they launched a brand like Primera, they have the product and branding expertise to also play in the clean beauty movement that isn't currently covered by their brands.
Primera is formulated without any of the below:
Parabens
Mineral oil
Animal-derived ingredients
Synthetic colorants
Artificial fragrances
Imidazolidinyl urea
TEA
I was excited to try Primera as I am a huge fan of Amore Pacific, Sulwhasoo, and Mamonde products, but one qualm I have is the excessive fragrance used. I do like the scents, but I find them to be quite strong. Sometimes, even after I apply the product, the smell still lingers, which I don't like.
According to the Primera website, this sleeping mask is:
A cools-on-contact gel cream overnight mask that swaddles skin in moisture and deeply hydrates while you sleep, imparting a dewy glow by morning. Infused with a power pairing of protective Alpine strawberry sprouts and mineral-rich lava water, this luxurious sleeping mask has a cooling gel-cream texture that clings to skin to help get rid of flakiness overnight. What you'll notice in the morning: smoother, radiant, more supple skin.
Key ingredients on the packaging are: Alpine Strawberry Sprouts (protective), Papaya Extract (nourishing), and Natural Lava Water (mineral rich).
It is 3.3oz / 100ml and retails for $45 USD.
Hydrating, check. Gets rid of flakiness? SOLD! But what is an alpine strawberry? I looked it up and seems like, alpine strawberries are smaller versions of regular strawberries, so adorable!
The texture is quite nice, very gel cream-ish and thick with a balmy texture, thanks to the silicones. The product does hydrate and sinks nicely into the skin. The finish is not sticky or greasy. But using this alone by itself is not enough to hydrate my skin overnight. I do enjoy finishing off my skincare routine with this sleeping mask and adding a few drops of oil. Definitely helps with getting that overall hydrated glow.
Let's take a look at the ingredients. Many humectant and emollient ingredients included, like Glycerin, Dimethicone, and Cyclopentasiloxane. Dimethicone does not break me out on my skin, but I do try to avoid it in my hair products if I am going to get my hair colored soon.
WATER / AQUA / EAU, PROPANEDIOL, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, GLYCERIN, CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, TREHALOSE, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, ALCOHOL, HYDROXYETHYL ACRYLATE/SODIUM ACRYLOYLDIMETHYL TAURATE COPOLYMER, 1,2-HEXANEDIOL, PCA DIMETHICONE, HYDROGENATED POLY(C6-14 OLEFIN), SEA WATER / MARIS AQUA / EAU DE MER, DIMETHICONE, POLYSORBATE 20, DIMETHICONOL, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, ACRYLATES/C10-30 ALKYL ACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER, SORBITAN ISOSTEARATE, POLYSORBATE 60, FRAGRANCE / PARFUM, TROMETHAMINE, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, DISODIUM EDTA, PENTYLENE GLYCOL, SODIUM HYALURONATE, XANTHAN GUM, BRASSICA OLERACEA ITALICA (BROCCOLI) EXTRACT, ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM EXTRACT, BORAGO OFFICINALIS EXTRACT, BRASSICA OLERACEA GEMMIFERA (BRUSSELS SPROUTS) EXTRACT, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) EXTRACT, FRAGARIA VESCA (STRAWBERRY) LEAF EXTRACT, PHYLLANTHUS EMBLICA EXTRACT, TOCOPHEROL
It is disappointing to see alcohol and fragrance on this list, especially so high up. It's frustrating when brands market themselves as "clean" and "natural" but still use fragrance. Primera claims to not use any "artificial" fragrance and doesn't expand beyond that. But even "natural" fragrances, like essential oils, can cause irritation. Ingredients list typically have all of the individual ingredients used spelled out. When "Fragrance" or "Parfum" is used in an ingredients list, the FDA does not require brands to break down the exact ingredients used to create the fragrance. So "Fragrance" is actually an umbrella term for what's used in fragrances and this is to help protect "trade secrets" for different brands and companies.
I also wish the key ingredients called out were higher on the ingredients list. Luckily, the fragrance is pretty light and piney. It's definitely not as strong as other Amore products.
This sleeping mask is not bad, but I would say I was expecting a little more from Amore Pacific and thought they would really innovate with a truly "clean" formula. But the range of "clean" beauty products out there are varied, so if you have certain formulation expectations, be sure to review the ingredients list to get a better idea of what's really in the product prior to purchasing.
RATING: 6/10
Would repurchase? No
