Review and comparison of anti-aging and nourishing sleeping masks: Su:m37, HERA, Sooryehan, Sulwhasoo, Liricos, and Mangchee

Today I'd like to finish reviewing sleeping masks I've tried so far. I discussed hydrating and moisturizing masks here and soothing masks here; today I'm going to go down the rest of the list. This post is not sponsored in any way, shape or form; I purchased all products myself and all opinions are my own. As usual, I'm not going to discuss the packaging; however beautiful it might be, it does nothing for my skin. It will be all about the ingredients and the results I got after using those masks. The masks I'm going to talk about are either anti-aging, or nourishing, or brightening, or all of above: Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Treatment, Su:m 37 Losec Therapy Night Repair mask, Hera Age Away Intensive mask, Lirikos Oyster Anti-darkening Therapy, Sooryehan Bird's Nest Sleeping Pack, Manyo Factory Overnight Miracle Pack and Mangchee Lifting Mask. 

1 - Su:m 37 Losec Therapy Night Repair mask; 2 - Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Treatment; 3 - Lirikos Oyster Anti-darkening Therapy; 4 - Sooryehan Bird's Nest Sleeping Pack; 5 - Hera Age Away Intensive mask

Let me start with a newest acquisition. I bought Sooryehan Bird's Nest Sleeping Pack a few months ago after reading many positive reviews about skincare products containing bird's nest; I don't remember ever trying anything with bird's nest as one of main ingredients, and I was curious about it. I prefer sleeping masks to sheet masks, so I picked Sooryehan Bird's Nest Sleeping Pack to check it out. It was reasonably priced (at around $20) at one of my favorite eBay stores, so I figured I'll get to try both a new ingredient and a new brand. Sooryehan is a sister brand of Sulwhasoo, they both belong to Amore Pacific, a Korean multi-brand. Usually Sooryehan products are slightly cheaper than Sulwhasoo's and feature similar ingredients and concepts. Unfortunately, the ingredients list was in Korean, and I can't find it online.  Hopefully it might get posted on CosDNA sometimes soon. The seller did not post the full ingredient list, but mentioned only bird's nest, amino acids and antlers.

Sooryehan Bird's Nest Sleeping Pack info - the whole booklet is in Korean except for this...

The mask has creamy texture that is not too heavy, so it absorbs well, but heavy enough to nourish my skin throughout the night. It has almost no smell, with is a bonus for me. I never had any allergic reactions or clogged pores after using this mask; I'm using it 1-2 times a week. I'm really glad I got this mask, I love how my skin looks and feels morning after I use it.

Mangchee Lifting Mask - no product left to show you

I run out of  Mangchee Lifting Mask a while ago, so I can't show you a swatch of it. I liked it, even though I can't say I had very noticeable lifting results, but  it was nourishing enough to keep using it. It has moderately clean ingredient list (CosDNA here); for me the only offending ingredient was perfume. The mask had rather weird perfume-y smell, and it did linger for a few minutes after application; I did not like it at all. Also the packaging was a bit confusing - if you look at the jar's lid, they mention cheese and mango, but there is a pear in the picture. My first thought was that something got lost in translation, but there is mango in ingredients list, so... The texture was not too heavy, but I remember having some issues with absorption. Overall I liked it well enough to finish the whole jar, but not enough to repurchase. 

1 - Su:m 37 Losec Therapy Night Repair mask; 2 - Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Treatment; 3 - Lirikos Oyster Anti-darkening Therapy; 4 - Sooryehan Bird's Nest Sleeping Pack; 5 - Hera Age Away Intensive mask

I got a few large samplers of Lirikos Oyster Anti-darkening Therapy a while ago with a couple of eBay orders. Lirikos belongs to Amore Pacific (link here), and the brand is being marketed as all-natural and Eco-friendly. According to official Amore Pacific website, Lirikos Marine Energy was inspired by the unique skincare practices of the haenyeo (female eco-divers of Korea who are the main providers for their families), which involve using seaweed to protect their skin from stormy winds, scorching sun and the salinity of the sea . Marine Energy products are designed to deliver the amazing vitality of seaweed to your skin. (source here). It seemed that the brand was in a middle of massive PR push at that time with many bloggers posting beautifully edited pictures of various Lirikos products all over blogosphere and Instagram. I could not find full ingredient lists or non-sponsored reviews for any Lirikos products I was interested in, including this mask, so I decided against purchasing a full-size mask when it become available on eBay. Soon enough a couple of eBay sellers send me a few samplers each, and I had enough for 3-4 weeks of continuous use. Usually I never use the same sleeping mask for several days in a row, but I've made an exemption for this one,  since it promised to solve all my problems, but required everyday use for full effects.

Lirikos Oyster Anti-darkening Therapy ingredient list after Chrome translation (from de.la.seoul).

Most of promotional materials are in Korean, including Lirikos official website (link to it  if you want to chrome translate), but tidbits that I found in English made it sound like a perfect match for my skin. I mean, how can I say NO to The sleeping mask that brightens the skin complexion with its whitening functional ingredients and takes care of problems related to moisture, nourishment and sebum which are major causes of darkening.
• Enriched with oyster extracts, rich in nutrients & minerals
• Blended with Deep Sea Water to deliver intensive hydration with energizing benefits
• Formulated with Advanced Oyster Complex™ controls sebum & melanin production
• Helps soothe & calm irritated skin from external stressors
• skin appears clearer, brighter, and more radiant (source here).
The only ingredient list I was able to find was on de.la.seoul blog (here) and it did show some questionable ingredients; however, I saw no obvious red flags.

I have to admit that it was one of the most disappointing sleeping masks I ever tried. It did not break me out, but I did not get any promised results either. It never got absorbed into my skin either - no matter how hard I tried to improve absorption, it sat on top on my skin, and it was still there in the morning, minus whatever amount of it got transferred to my hair and my pillow. My skin was neither more radiant, or brighter, or calm and soothed; I didn't feel the mask affected my sebum production at all. I'm not sure about hydration either, since serums/essences I used under it give me sufficient hydration already...

Manyo Factory Overnight Miracle Pack was another mask I got samplers of. I ordered quite a few travel-size Manyo Factory products and some full size ones from eBay, and the seller send me huge amount of samplers of the same brand; I was happy to see a sleeping mask sampler, since I've read some good things about it. Overnight Miracle pack has a very clean ingredient list (CosDNA here) with buckthorn and citrus waters and niacinamide in top 5 ingredients. It has a lot of other plants extracts, as well as some plant-based oils. It does have both honey and propolis, which I'm allergic to, but both are fairly low on ingredients list, so I gave it a try. According to Manyo Factory's website, Overnight Miracle Pack on 70% consists of natural vitamins, honey and Royal jelly. Moisturizes, softens and nourishes the skin, stimulates the water-salt and fat metabolism in epidermal cells, regenerating and has a cleansing action that facilitates the removal of dead skin cells. Forming a nourishing, protective film that effectively takes care of skin at night. Restores freshness, improves complexion, normalizes metabolism, tones the skin, smoothes small wrinkles (source here).

I don't have any of samplers left, so I can't post a swatch of it to show its texture. I liked how it felt on my skin; it was creamy and soft and did not feel too heavy. This mask also formed a film on my skin, but in its case it's supposed to do just that (see the company description above). I can't say that I enjoyed waking up with a film on my skin in the morning, but it felt better than Lirikos. I was hoping for more nourishing and brightening, but unfortunately all I got in the morning was hydration. I has enough samplers for a few nights and my results did not improve with consecutive use. I had no allergic reaction to it, but it did not work out as nourishing and anti-aging mask for me; on my skin it works as hydrating mask only. As all Manyo Factory products that I've tried so far, Overnight Miracle Pack has very short expiration time - 1 year from the manufacture date, 6 months after opening. I guess that's the price to pay for having an all-natural product without preservatives. Considering that I hardly ever use the same sleeping mask on consecutive nights, it'll take me much longer than 6 months to finish the full-size tube, so I doubt I'll be purchasing the full-size product anytime soon. I already have a favorite hydrating sleeping mask at hand, and when I'll run out of it, I might get a full size of first runner-up (see full review here).

Reformulated Su:m 37 Losec Therapy Night Repair mask, Korean PR version, since I can't find ingredient list in English

I got Su:m 37 Losec Therapy Night Repair mask as a part of a gift set; I never considered purchasing a sleeping mask from the Losec line, that is specifically formulated for dry and extra-dry skin. For a long while it sat, sad and rejected, at the shelf at the very back of all the other sleeping masks I've been using, until one day I decided to give it a try. I fully expected it to clog my skin and such, but I was too curious to ignore the mask completely. It's a major pain to find full ingredients list  in English for Su:m37 products; I think the packaging had ingredients in Korean, but since I can't read it, it was no help, as usual. The company's website does not have all their products listed, and offers no information about ingredients of any products it mentions (Losec line overview here), and no one put it on CosDNA yet. In many cases Su;m37 products from the same line have same plant extracts in them; it looked like Losec line has ginseng, camellia and rose extracts, among others, and my skin likes them. I believe such lack of information about product lines and specific products available for English-speaking consumers must be hurting Su:m37 sales here in USA. I know I would never pick Losec Night Repair mask by myself, but I'm glad it was sort of forced on me (in a sense; more often than not gift sets are mixed offerings), since it became one of my all-time favorites. I'm almost out of it, and I already ordered the reformulated version, Losec Therapy Night Gold Mask. I believe you can purchase both old and new versions of the mask online.

The mask is rather heavy in texture, but it sinks into my skin in less than 5 minutes, and it does not leave my skin greasy. Surprisingly, it works wonders for regulating my sebum production - I have much cleaner and smaller pores in the morning after I use the mask. It has standard hanbang smell, but it goes away after the mask is absorbed. I never had any clogged pores or other adverse reactions to it. I'm not sure if it has any fragrance added to it, but even if it does, the amount of it must be low enough; I never had any allergic reactions to it, and I'm allergic to many fragrances in skincare. Overall, it's very nourishing and hydrating as well as sufficiently brightening mask; on top of all that, it's a miracle worker for clogged pores. I'm going to compare new and old versions of the mask when I'll get to try the new one, and I'll update this post with the results.

1 - Su:m 37 Losec Therapy Night Repair mask; 2 - Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Treatment; 3 - Lirikos Oyster Anti-darkening Therapy; 4 - Sooryehan Bird's Nest Sleeping Pack; 5 - Hera Age Away Intensive mask

Hera Age Away Intensive mask was an impulse buy for me. Hera is well-known and well-respected Korean brand that belongs to Amore Pacific with several mid-range and premium product lines. While Hera's best-known product is its cushion foundation, many of its skincare products are often blogged about and generally get rave reviews. I always wanted to like Hera skincare - most of their products sound perfect on paper, the brand invests heavily in research and development, and they use good, clean ingredients most of the time - but somehow it's been hit and miss experience for me. I've tried several of their most talked-about products from different lines, and I did not like them well enough to justify the price point; they either did not work for me, or worked no better than much cheaper products in the same category. I was about to give up on Hera skincare, but then I saw that one of my favorite eBay sellers listed this mask with bonus travel size toner and emulsion. I ordered it out of curiosity, since I was getting 3 products from a line that I never heard anything about for the price of one; for someone like me, who can't stop experimenting and trying out new skincare, it was an irresistible offer.

For a long while Age Away Intensive mask was my favorite Hera product. It has some questionable preservatives and fragrance on the ingredients list (full list on CosDNA before re-packaging in Korean here, post re-packaging here, and on HERA website here), but overall it has fairly clean ingredient list. I like that it has a lot of natural oils and plant extracts, such as Centella Asiatica, geranium, peach and hibiscus. It never broke me out. It's definitely heavy and oily in texture, but it fully absorbs in about 10-15 minutes after application, and it's perfect for use with micro-currents and some other devices. I often notice mild firming effect, but it might be due to a combination of micro currents and the mask, and not the mask itself. Most anti-aging products do very little for nasolabial folds, so I can't say the mask was not effective enough just on that basis. It's certainly very nutritious and hydrating. I haven't noticed much difference in skin tone the morning after I use it, but it definitely softens the skin texture. As I mentioned, the mask was re-packaged recently; now it's being sold as Age Away Vitalizing Night mask. I'm almost sure it did not get reformulated, but since the new version is also on it's way, I'll get a chance to compare them soon enough.


I saved my HG sleeping mask for last - I don't have that many holy grail products, but this mask was my favorite for so many years, it deserves the distinction. I'm talking about Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Treatment. Incidentally, it was one of the first sleeping masks that I've tried, so in a way it's responsible for starting my sleeping masks addiction. Its ingredient list is very impressive (and clean too), with many plant extracts that my skin loves, such as ginseng, licorice and camellia, and almost no irritants, except for fragrance and some preservative (CosDNA here). It's been repackaged last year and the latest version is Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Treatment EX, but considering that both older and newer versions have virtually identical ingredients lists (check out EX version on CosDNA here), Sulwhasoo is not going to mess up my favorite's mask's formulation. There is nothing worse than finding a perfect (for me, at least) product, getting great results after using it, running out of it, and then finding out, just when it becomes one of cornerstones of your skincare routine, that its newer version is nothing like the original one... Thank you, Sulwhasoo!

Overnight Vitalizing Treatment is one of richer, more nourishing masks, but it's not heavy or oily. Its texture is lighter than that of Losec or Hera Age Away masks, and it has a mild and pleasant hanbang smell. It absorbs fast enough and it leaves no greasy residue on my skin. I use it when I'm especially tired, or I don't feel well, or I know I'm not going to get enough sleep, or all of above. It plumps my skin and makes it look healthy, like I had at least 2 more hours of sleep than I actually had. It's definitely brightening - I never ever had sallow skin the morning after using this mask. It's also quite hydrating, so if I'm too tired to bother with full PM routine, I can just slap this mask on straight after toner and go to sleep right away - and I'll look like a human being and not a zombie next morning. I've been repurchasing it and I will continue to do so until it gets discontinued (I hope it will not happen in my lifetime); one might argue that I have too many sleeping masks, and there might be some truth in it, but this is one mask I will never part with.