I recently got introduced to Boscia, a brand new skincare range that is debuting the shelves of Sephora Middle East this spring. The brand is new to our region, but has been around for a while and has a fan-following across the globe.

The main premise of the brand lies in the belief that the best skincare can be sourced from plants. Their plant-to-bottle formulas are loaded with good-for-you ingredients sans any chemical nasties. Sounds like my kinda brand!

I was therefore very excited to receive a tube of their best-selling mask, the Boscia Luminizing Black Mask. 

The main ingredient in this mask in activated charcoal. As you may be aware, I love activated charcoal. Read my earlier post on its benefits by clicking here. Activated charcoal really does act like a magnet to pull out debris from the skin.

Friday is mask day for me, so what better way to rejuvenate than with a mask that promises to deep-clean with the added bonus of luminosity?

What is the Boscia Luminizing Black Mask?

A mineral-rich peel-off face mask that promises to reveal a brighter, more clarified complexion. Great for oily skin, clearing pores and evening out dull skin.

I am all for natural beauty products, and seek them out whenever possible. But is ‘all natural’ always the best? This mask is loaded with many high-quality skin-loving ingredients, but there are also a pesky few I’d question…

 

Key Ingredients:

“Good skin comes naturally because in their world, beauty really does grow on trees.” – Sephora.com

• Activated Charcoal: to draw out impurities are clean out the pores.
• Polyvinyl Alcohol : I have normal to dry skin, and tend to stay clear of skincare products with alcohol in them as they have a tendency of really drying out the skin. I believe this ingredient is essential in ensuring the mask has a peel-off effect, but I think it does dampen the whole premise of ‘natural’ a little.
• Glycerin: to make up for the potential drying effect, we have glycerin to the rescue! Glycerin works very well at moisturizing the skin.
• Witch Hazel: Most people swear by this stuff as its loaded with antioxidants. It’s great for oily skin, but can be quite drying on others.
• Montmorillonite:  Boscia mentions this on their website as one of the all-star ingredients. This is a type of clay that that helps absorb oil and is good for oily skin and active breakouts. Love natural clays!
• Polysorbate 20: these are naturally occuring cleansing agents that are derived from coconuts. The fatty acids in coconuts are really good for the skin.
• Honeysuckle Flower Extract: a naturally occuring anti-inflammatory loaded with skin-loving antioxidants.
• Ascorbyl Glucoside: this is a form of Vitamin C incorporated with glucose (after all, it says glucoside). Vitamin C is known to brighten skin, and is therefore great for people suffering from hyperpigmentation.
• Jojoba Leaf Extract: jojoba is very moisturizing, and soothes the skin. It is also loaded with antioxidants.
• Pinus Pinaster Bark/Bud Extract: Boscia claims this ingredient improves skin elasticity and adds hydration.
• Eucalyptus Oil: Best known for its anti-bacterial properties, I often use drops of this sparingly on our pillows when facing a bout of the seasonal flu. Eucalyptus oil has a very overpoweringly strong scent that looks a little suspect when used in a product as close-proximity as a face mask.
• Rosemary Leaf Oil: I don’t recall finding this ingredient in any skincare product before, and when I Googled ‘Rosemary Leaf Oil Benefits’, I found a list of articles talking about its use for hair-care and the prevention of baldness! This ingredient also tends to have a very strong scent that can cause irritation to sensitive skin. Not sure why it is here. 

 

Directions:

Apply a thick, opaque, even layer to clean, dry skin. Avoid eye area, eyebrows, hairline and lips. Leave on for 30 minutes or until completely dry. Gently peel off mask from outer edges and rinse off any residue. Follow with moisturizer. Use once or twice a week.

 

 

Tezzy’s Experience with the Boscia Luminizing Black Mask

I am quite happy this mask comes in a tube. I am not a fan of scooping out product from a jar due to hygiene reasons.

The product itself is a black gel-like slime. As per instructions, I squeezed out some product to apply a thick layer all over my face.

I needed 3 generous squirts to cover the entire face, taking special care to leave enough space around the eyes, the hairline and eye-brows. Given this tube only has 80 grams of product, I felt I was finishing off my tube pretty quickly with just one application.

The first thing that hit me as soon as I had the mask on my face was the very strong scent of eucalyptus. It made my eyes water, and I almost had a mind to wash off the mask right there and then.

Thankfully the scent dies down. I stuck to the 30 minutes recommended, and felt the mask tightening my face. It was a good feeling, like it was actually doing something for my face!

And then I got to peel it off! It actually peels off very smoothly, and can be a little painful (think nose strips, but for the entire face).

I examine the peeled off mask, and gross though it is, it is visually gratifying seeing all that gunk being pulled out of my pores right there!

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My face looks a little reddened with the peel, and feels very dry. I wash off the excess bits of mask, pat dry and use 5 drops of the Boscia Sake Treatment Water that promises to hydrate and brighten the skin.

I have normal to dry skin, and therefore topped it with a few drops of rosehip oil.

After the redness of my face calmed down, I was quite amazed at how clean and clear my overall complexion looked. I was finally enjoying the promised luminizing effect of the mask!

Apart from the very strong scent of eucalyptus, I think this mask works well for me despite having normal to dry skin.

I would reserve it for once a week only, and perhaps also use it for spot treatments and the active T-Zone.

 

The Positives:

• Really does peel off! I’ve used many a peel-off mask that never deliver on the easy peel-off promise. It’s rather gratifying using one that comes off as dramatically as shown in the images.
• You can actually see a whole lot of grime and debris on the mask post-peeling. It’s gross, yet so satisfyingly so!
• The skin looks visibly clearer. Perfect for a very deep cleanse!
• This mask is dermatologist tested and free if artificial fragrance, color, gluten, and ethanol alcohol.
• It is best for oily skin, but can be used on the troubled T-zones of combination complexions as well.

 

The Negatives:

• Taking the ‘all natural’ trend into their stride, this mask also contains a few sneaky natural ingredients that may not actually be beneficial overall.
• You need quite alot of product to achieve that ‘thick’ layer all over the face.
• The skin feels markedly dry after peeling off.
• You need to wear this one for atleast 30 minutes, which is pretty long for masking.

 

Product Pricing & Availability

The Boscia skincare range is exclusively available at Sephora Middle East, and an 8 gram tube retails for around AED 150 (exact price will only be disclosed once it hits the shelves this month).