27 of The Best Japanese Face Masks for Glowing, Gorgeous Skin

If you ever step into a Japanese drugstore, you may be surprised by the amount of facial sheet masks there are available to purchase. There are hundreds of different varieties, all designed to perform different functions, with unique ingredients for every skin type.

There are face masks for daily and weekly use, as well as more luxurious one-off treatments with unique ingredients such as Japanese rice and cherry blossom extract.

It can be quite overwhelming to know where to begin, so we put together this guide for some of our favorite Japanese sheet masks that you can also easily buy online, even if you live outside of Japan!

5 Japanese Face Mask Brands You Need to Know About

Lululun

Lululun meaning ‘happy mood’ in Japanese aims to bring out happiness through simple daily affordable skincare. Lululun specialize in creating popular sheet masks that are simple and easy to use to enhance your natural beauty. Their wide range of sheet masks is comprised of different kinds of products including:

• Lululun Pure – suitable for all ages, these sheet masks are suitable for anyone looking to incorporate a sheet mask into their regular skincare routine. This collection of masks is available in white, pink, and blue packaging, with each product designed to perform different functions.
  
  Lululun’s pink face mask rebalances and hydrates the skin and alleviates skin roughness and oiliness. The blue mask is designed to deeply hydrate skin and provide an instant burst of moisture, whilst the white mask is best for clarifying and brightening skin.

• Lululun Precious – this range of masks is best suited for women over 35 years old and more mature skin that has hardened due to less moisture from aging. The Precious masks contain a complex oil called L22 which works to create the skin of a 22-year-old by toning out the amount of sebum and moisture.

• Lululun One – these are premium branded sheet masks that contain a special micro-oil which provides a luxurious relaxation experience whilst nourishing skin with a thick, rich serum.

Japan Gals

Japan Gals offer a wide range of premium Japanese sheet masks made from 100% natural cotton. Their selection of masks includes their popular Pure 5 series, including Pure 5 Essence Mask CO, a mask soaked with pure essences and moisturizing ingredients such as collagen, soybean extracts, soymilk liquid, and vitamin C.

Other masks within the Japan Gal Pure 5 range include their Ceramide Mask, Hyaluronic Acid Mask for smooth and soft skin, and their Placenta Mask which helps to transform dull skin to make it bright and translucent.

Hirosophy

This Tokyo-based beauty brand creates luxurious sheet masks featuring expensive and natural ingredients blended with the latest technology in skincare. Their unique collection of sheet masks includes ingredients such as cherry blossom extract, which is known for its anti-aging effects, thanks to the presence of an anti-glycation agent that helps to generate collagen, improving skin elasticity for more youthful looking skin.

Cherry blossoms also contain antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce redness and dark spots and improve skin tone. It also helps to brighten skin by suppressing the production of melanin. This face mask is also one of the best Japanese face masks for acne prone skin.

Mandom Barrier Repair Facial Sheet Masks

Mandom’s series of Barrier Repair Facial Sheet Masks focuses on protecting the skin’s outer layer that serves as the main barrier between the body and the environment and maintaining your skin’s water balance.

The Barrier Repair masks includes a range of products designed to make skin baby soft and prevent dry skin and sensitivity. Within this range you can find the Smooth version which contains ceramides that help to smoothen skin and unclog pores, and the Enrich mask packed with low molecular weight collagen to minimize the appearance of wrinkles caused by dryness. There’s also the Moist mask which contains hyaluronic acid to intensely moisturize the skin.

Other Barrier Repair masks available to purchase online contain primary natural ingredients such as rose hip oil, which supports healthy-looking skin, coconut oil to hydrate and protect skin, and shea butter oil to help skin become firmer and more hydrated.

Kose

Kose are one of Japan’s biggest manufacturers of sheet masks and make some of the most popular drugstore sheet masks including their Kose Clear Turn series, which has been the number one selling Japanese sheet mask for nine consecutive years.

Within Kose’s extensive range of sheet masks you can find a wide variety of products – here’s a few of our favorites:

• Beautiful Skin Artisan Sheet Masks – this collection of premium face masks is made from hand-made Japanese paper using traditional paper-making techniques. Luxuriously moisturizing, these masks contain carefully selected natural ingredients to create a rich serum formulated with water sourced from Japanese hot springs.
  
  Products within this collection include the coix seed or “Job’s Tears” mask which is known for treating dry skin to make it appear brighter and more translucent. The Black Pearl mask contains black pearl extract which is suited for skin that lacks radiance and firmness, and aims to hydrate and firm your skin while tightening pores.

• Princess Veil Sheet Masks – this range of masks are all-in-one care masks that act as a lotion, emulsion, serum, cream, and face mask. They contain luxurious ingredients and are designed for everyday use within your regular skincare routine. The masks come in a snug fit and are recommended for users who want an intensive moisturizing mask.
  
  Princess Veil Masks come in a variety of functions including ultra-rich moisture, anti-aging, and whitening masks. One of our favorite products is their unique morning skincare mask that contains refreshing natural ingredients such as grapefruit extract and peppermint leaf. This mask can be used in place of your usual morning skincare routine, perfect for those mornings where you wish you could spend a little longer in bed!

• BABYISH Sheet Masks – easily recognizable by their packaging featuring cute baby faces, this range of Kose masks are gentle and comfortable and designed to achieve plum, baby-like skin. They are recommended for users in their 20s who are looking for a rich moisturizing product that’s also gentle to use on the skin and free from irritants.
  
  The BABYISH masks include the Milky Mask which contains selected precious oils such as coconut oil, argan oil, and baobab oil to deeply hydrate skin, whilst their Highly Moisturizing Mask contains essences such as collagen, hyaluronic acid, honey, and amino acid GL to nourish skin.

Other Popular Japanese Facial Sheet Masks

Ishizawa Lab Keana Nadeshiko Japanese Rice Face Mask

Ishizawa Lab Keana Nadeshiko Rice Mask is a Japanese sheet mask that minimizes the appearance of enlarged pores whilst nourishing your skin. Available to purchase in packs of 10, these thick sheet masks make your skin feel plump and firm and are ideally suited for consumers who suffer from dry skin.

The Nadeshiko rice mask is packed with Japanese rice serum, an ingredient well-known for its moisturizing and anti-aging effects. Rice serum has a range of beauty boosting benefits such as brightening skin and can be found as a key ingredient in many Japanese beauty products. Rice contains amino acids, minerals, and vitamins that help to restore skin elasticity.

Daiichi Sankyo Minon Amino Moist Moisturizing Face Mask

Minon Amino Moist is one of Japan’s top-selling skincare brands and is among the highest-ranking sheet masks on Cosme.com, Japan’s leading beauty blog. It also won their award for best sheet mask in 2016.

This sheet mask contains nine kinds of moisturizing amino acids for healthy and hydrated skin. The gel contained within the mask locks in moisture and supports the skin’s natural barrier function.

It contains protective compounds similar to ceramide that form a moisturizing barrier on the skin. The soft fiber sheets are also non-irritable and therefore especially suited to sensitive skin.

Best Facial Treatment Mask

In addition to sheet masks, one of the best Japanese clay masks is the IPSA Luminizing Clay Mask, which can be used once or twice a week as a special treat for your skin. This mask removes dirt from inside the pores and dead skin cells to give you soft and translucent skin.