Drunk Elephant’s New Hydrating Mask Is Like 8 Glasses Of Water For Your Skin

Even if you make regular water-cooler trips to refill your Hydro Flask, here's a dose of the cold, hard truth: Your skin could probably benefit from more hydration than it's currently getting. From dullness to dry patches, I'm a firm believer that many skin issues can be addressed with a good hydrating and moisturising routine. And coming in hot for 2020 is none other than Drunk Elephant, whose latest launch has transformed my daily routine.

Following the viral success of the T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial, the brand just launched its second-ever mask, the F-Balm Electrolyte Waterfacial, which acts more like a super-powered moisturiser than a traditional mask. As if to highlight the fact that the stuff inside is — what's the scientific term? — fucking amazing, F-Balm is the cooling, hydrating fraternal twin to Babyfacial's tingly, acid-infused exfoliating formula.

According to the brand, the mask aims to strengthen the skin’s acid mantle via a potent cocktail of repairing ingredients like niacinamide, sodium PCA (a naturally occurring component of skin that helps attract water), plant-derived squalane, ceramides, omega fatty acids, and powerful antioxidants. Judging by the name, I expected a clear, watery texture similar to Laneige's Water Sleeping Mask, but it actually feels more like a rich, bouncy gel-cream. I used it as an overnight mask layered on as the final step in my PM routine, and it readily absorbed with no hint of heaviness — and it didn't break me out, either.

The £44 bottle comes with a tiny vial of T.L.C. Framboos serum, which Drunk Elephant encourages you to use before Waterfacial for a "gentle chemical exfoliation while you sleep." Even when I didn't do that extra step, I woke up to soft, supple skin in the morning every time I used it. (I'm also not exaggerating when I say this truly saved my dehydrated post-NYE complexion.) The best way to sum up the some-type-of-way I feel about this product? Insert F-bomb here.