IF YOU FOLLOW Estée Laundry on Instagram (and if you don’t, you should), you might have them posting about sheet masks on their story.
Not just any kind of sheet mask though – a sheet mask specifically for your vagina. Yup.
Before we get into this – vaginal skincare isn’t a new thing. Most people are familar with the practice of vajazzling, and sheet masks have been doing the rounds since the middle of the year. But as 2018 comes to a close, vaginal skincare seems to be coming to the fore again, with new releases such as Fur’s pubic oil and VV creams.
This is the particular brand that everyone has been posting about – Two L(i)ps.
How does it work, if at all?
On the topic of vulva care, the Two Lips website quotes someone called Dr Tan Toh Lick, MBBS (London) FRCOG (UK), Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Thomson Women’s Clinic on the matter.
“The skin around our vulva is generally similar to the skin on the rest of our body and can be complicated with common skin conditions such as dryness, eczema, psoriasis, and contact dermatitis.
Just like the skin in other part of the body, the skin around our vulva becomes thinner and loses its elasticity as we age. Hair greying, loss and reduced growth are also observed. Therefore care of the vulva is equally important as our care for our skin elsewhere.”
The purpose of the Blackout Mask, “the world’s first infrared activated charcoal mask for your vulva”, is to soothe, detoxify, brighten and moisturise the vulva, with the help of infrared activated charcoal to boost lymphatic drainage.
Here’s a comprehensive list of all the ingredients: Water, Guar Gum Propoxylated, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Aloe Extract, Centaurea Cyanus (Cornflower) Extract, Propylene Glycol, Sambucus Nigra (Elder) Extract, Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola) Extract, Arnica Extract, Squalane, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Flower Extract, 3-Ethylascorbic Acid, Jania Rubens Extract, Tropaeolum Majus Extract, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Glycerol, Ylang-Ylang Extract, Hyaluronic Acid Sodium Salt and Hydrolyzed Collagen.
One mask will set you back about €13. A box of five will set you back roughly €58. Apparently, you’ll see results after five uses. Convenient, that.
The general consensus
People seem to love these post-wax, which makes sense – they probably are very soothing in that respect.
Do you need them, though? Probably about as much as you need a bog standard mask for your face. It might give you a nice lil’ lift, but the skin is a good organ in that if you leave it alone for long enough, it tends to sort itself out.
And in the same way that face masks are a personal choice, so are vulva masks. You might not like it or want to be part of it, but horses for courses and all of that.
