Laneige Water Sleeping Mask Review: My Results After 3 Nights

Is your skin out here feeling tight, flaky, and basically crying out for hydration? Maybe you’ve been going a little too hard on the tretinoin or got a bit too enthusiastic with exfoliation, been there, done that. If your skin is practically begging for moisture, let me introduce you to a cult-favorite overnight treatment, the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask.

This hydrating sleeping mask promises to brighten, plump, and drench your skin in moisture while you sleep, because beauty sleep should actually do something, right? Perfect for normal and dry skin types, it’s designed to lock in hydration and help you wake up with bouncy, smooth, and refreshed skin. But does it live up to the hype? Let’s find out.

My experience with laneige water sleeping mask

I have been religiously treating my skin with tretinoin and exfoliating ingredients lately, all in the name of fading those stubborn acne scars left behind from what I can only describe as my personal horror movie of breakouts. Seriously, it was a phase. A rough one.

But here’s the thing about tretinoin, it works wonders for skin renewal, but it does not come to play when it comes to dryness. My skin went from glowy dreams to desert-level dehydration, especially around my lip and cheek area. And when your skin barrier is struggling, the last thing you want is to keep hitting it with more actives. So, I pressed pause on tret and started slathering on ceramides like my life depended on it, because, honestly, it kind of did.

But I quickly realized that moisture creams alone weren’t cutting it. My skin was still parched, and I needed something extra to restore its water levels. Because let’s not forget: a damaged skin barrier means more trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), which means your skin is basically leaking moisture like a broken faucet.

So, in my quest for serious overnight hydration, I decided to give the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask a shot.

What is laneige water sleeping mask?

Laneige Water Sleeping Mask claims to brighten and hydrate the skin. It’s basically a leave-on treatment that you apply at nighttime after your cream and rinse off in the morning. If you’ve ever tried the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask, the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask feels pretty similar in texture, it’s lightweight, absorbs quickly, and doesn’t feel heavy or sticky. But unlike Glow Recipe’s version, which has mild exfoliating AHAs, Laneige is all about hydration.

Key ingreidents

It does contain niacinamide, but it was not what I gravitated towards the most in the first place. The hydration and smoothness it promises were what I was mainly looking for, for which it contains squalane, a hero ingredient for someone whose skin is as dry as the Sahara Desert and needs an overnight moisture boost.

It does contain some other good ingredients as well for hydration and smoothing purposes, such as sodium hyaluronate and glycerin, as well as Saururus chinensis extract, which is a mouthful, but it basically provides anti-inflammatory benefits.

Texture and packaging

Laneige water sleeping mask comes in a blue 70 ml pot. The texture of the product is light and somewhere between cream and gel. It comes with a spatula to apply, but as with all Laneige products, the brand doesn’t offer a place to keep the spatula.

I have discussed this spatula situation in Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask review. If you are not a fan of dipping your finger in, it’s a relief that it comes with a spatula, but there’s nowhere to keep it.

How to aply laneige water sleeping mask

As the brand instructed, I applied it as my last step, which you’re supposed to do since it’s a sleeping mask. The consistency, as I mentioned, is gel-like and spreads easily on my skin.

Though at first, I thought it might cause pilling of the other products I had applied underneath, it didn’t. (However, I did give a solid 2-minute break to my second-last product prior to the sleeping mask application).

The next morning when I woke up, it had all been absorbed into my skin pretty well. I didn’t see any residue left on my skin, like when you put on an occlusive at night. So, it’s not super occlusive. While I still had dry patches from tretinoin on my skin, they were improved. I started applying two thin layers of it at night, and I was amazed, after three nights, my skin was looking supple and hydrated.

For context, I had dry and dehydrated skin, which is why I was going for two thin layers. If you have normal to dry skin, only one layer will do the job. Two layers is definitely excessive for the amount.

A major downside for a few people might be the fragrance as they have shown concern over it. I personally have problems with fragrances in my skincare products if they are added, but not with this one, as the fragrance in Laneige products comes from natural ingredients. Laneige, on their website, says that if any fragrance is present in some of their products, it’s due to the addition of infused botanical ingredients.

Final thought

The Laneige Water Sleeping Mask is one of those products that I always want within arm’s reach, sitting in my skincare cabinet, ready to come to the rescue whenever my skin throws a dehydration tantrum. Whether it’s from using too much tretinoin, aggressive exfoliation, or just a random bout of tight skin, this mask is my go-to for an instant moisture surge.

The moment my face starts feeling parched and irritated, I don’t even think twice, I just slather this on right away to get instant results.

And if you’re navigating the tretinoin struggle, this mask can actually be a game-changer. If you’re new to tret or your skin barrier has seen better days, using the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask as a buffer can make your life so much easier. All you have to do is apply a thin layer underneath your tretinoin, and what this does is slightly dilute the strength of tretinoin, making it gentler on your skin.

Basically, instead of getting hit with tret at full force, your skin gets a more gradual, buffered absorption, which means less irritation, less peeling, and way more comfort. It’s like giving your skin a safety net while still reaping the benefits of tret. If your skin has been acting up, this little trick is definitely worth trying.