As I mentioned before, Fab kept giving me the beauty swag that she received in her fashion-show gift bags. As you can imagine, this pleased me greatly. A pathetic amount of sleep during Fashion Week has made my skin somewhat blah, and my eyes are puffy, so I was very happy that Fab gave me her sample of Kose Sekkisei Essence Mask ($54/box of six masks). It's a brightening and moisturizing mask that comes wrapped in its own individual pouch.

These are rather pricey masks, and so I was hoping for great results. So much so, that I hummed "All I Need Is A Miracle" while unwrapping the product. It's a thick cotton mask shaped to fit your face, with holes for your eyes, mouth, and nose. I applied it, looked in the mirror, and recoiled. To find out why, read more.
The horror, the horror:

You can see why I was so taken aback when looking in the mirror. I looked like Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th. Funny, no?

The mask is heavy, with a generous dose of the moisturizing formula soaked into it. At first, I liked the invigorating scent, but after about 5 minutes, my eyes began to tear up. After five more minutes, I removed the mask and blended the residual product into my skin. My skin feels slightly softer, but my complexion doesn't look different (although, to be fair, results could possibly take more than one application). Although none of the lotion got into my eyes, they remained watery and irritated nearly 30 minutes after using the mask.

I've used other products from Kose, and for the most part, I like them a lot. (This mask is more affordable, and it produces better results.) But as for Sekkisei Essence mask, it's not a must-have.