Cassandra Bankson has worked through more than 30 masks and peels, and her approval rate sits at 68%. Most of what she tried earned her stamp of approval, a handful got mixed takes, and only a few were skipped outright. The products she loves tend to share a few clear traits, and the ones she walked away from share a few clear warnings.
What does Cassandra Bankson recommend in masks & peels?
Cassandra keeps coming back to masks that do one thing really well without irritating skin. She singled out the Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Water Sleeping Mask as her absolute favourite sleeping mask for acne-prone skin, praising it for hydrating without feeling greasy. She called the Fenty Skin Cookies and Cream Kaolin Clay Mask one of the best face masks she has ever used, and she loved that it is fragrance-free. The Zit Sticker Press Refresh Sheet Mask won her over partly because it actually stays on the face, which she said most sheet masks fail to do. She also praised the Three Ships Soothe Vitamin C Clay Mask and Three Ships Detox Mask as excellent alternatives to much pricier options, saying both rival viral products and are genuinely non-irritating. Fragrance-free formulas and ingredients that earn their place, like salicylic acid for acne or hyaluronic acid for hydration, are what she reaches for again and again.
In her words
"When you blend it in, it starts to [...] melt away and it turns into like a gray cookies and cream mask. This is such a fun mask to use. It feels amazing on my face. It makes me look amazing when I take it off. It has salicylic acid for acne. [...] This is literally one of my favorite masks of all time, and from the texture to the fragrance freeness of it, I am obsessed. [...] This is literally one of the best face masks I have used and it is so much fun."
"One of my favorite face masks ever and this one doesn't slip off the face. [...] This one actually has graphene so it like grips to your skin and it's like a biocellulose mask that like grips on it, annihilates acne. It's the first mask that I found that does not slide off my face. You can get these on sale at Target, you can get them on sale at Ulta, I've gotten them on sale at Amazon but this is wonderful and worth every penny."
"My absolute favorite sleeping mask with hyaluronic acid for oily acne-prone skin has to be the one from Isntree. I love it so much that [...] I used it all up and I'm waiting for my next shipment. [...] The Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Water Sleeping Mask is amazing for skin that is acne-prone, whether you are dry and acne-prone or oily and acne-prone. This formula doesn't over-saturate the skin or make you feel overly greasy, but it actually supports the skin with really wonderful ingredients."
"This has to be probably my favorite Three Ships product of all time, specifically the soothe one is a little bit better than the detox one [...] for me. The soothe one is rosehip and vitamin C and it's this beautiful clay mask that when you put it on your skin it sucks out the oil in a visible way. [...] I love this so much and [...] I've purchased so many of these and I will continue to do so. [...] These are excellent alternatives to some of the much more expensive counterparts."
"One of my favorite products of all time from Three Ships is the Detox Mask and the soothe mask. Both of these are amazing from the eco-friendliness because it's literally a powder that you mix together with water, but this formula is so good, it is so non-irritating, it works so well, and it literally rivals some of the viral products out there. [...] The detox one has green tea and antioxidants, which is a great choice."
"This is from Medicube and boy is this strong. I don't usually use it on my face. I use it on my neck. You never want to use it over your thyroid. [...] It is like a high dose of microcurrent or literal electrical current, and it literally makes my skin jump and it feels so good."
How many masks and peels has Cassandra Bankson reviewed?
Cassandra Bankson has reviewed 37 masks and peels, for an approval rate of 68%. 25 approved, 7 mixed, and 5 skipped.
What has Cassandra Bankson skipped in masks & peels?
The skips Cassandra gave are worth knowing about. She was firm that the St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub damaged her skin barrier through daily use, and her acne got worse the more she used it. Physical scrubs with harsh granules came up more than once as a concern. She flagged the SKKN Exfoliator for the same reason, adding that fragrance in an exfoliator raised a red flag for her. The SK-II Facial Treatment Mask got a clear no. She called its hero ingredient more marketing than science, and pointed out that similar beneficial ingredients can be found in other products for far less money.
"At first I saw the St. Ives Scrub, and I still remember that as the first product that I thought was going to cure my acne. [...] I thought when I have acne I need to scrub my face until it goes away, but actually it becomes so much worse on my skin. My acne kept getting worse and worse, so of course I was panicked back then because I didn't know how [...] to treat my acne. I kept scrubbing [...] every single day until my skin barrier was damaged."
"I do like this as an AHA tonic, but it has azelaic acid in it as well. This is really the only liquid azelaic acid product that I could find. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up to a lot of those claims. [...] It smells very orange citrusy, and I tend to have more irritation to citrus, so maybe that was another reason that this didn't work for me, but this was just kind of a disappointment from the azelaic acid perspective. [...] For the azelaic acid, I just didn't find this to have the benefits."
"This exfoliator is more than questionable. It [...] has granules and grape seed oil, pumpkin enzymes, pomegranate, which actually looks kind of good, but I'm kind of worried about that physical exfoliation. Not to mention it has fragrance in it. [...] Fragrance in an exfoliator is a little bit more suspicious, especially when [...] Kim Kardashian [...] has very openly shared her struggle with psoriasis and the other items in the line are fragrance-free. So why did we have to fragrance this one?"
"I don't like these face masks. These are the SK-II face masks, they're a Japanese skincare brand that's supposed to have Pitera, which is supposed to be this magical ingredient. SK-II is made by L'Oreal. Like, I'm gonna call it as I see it, it's marketing and they use this marketing to get you to spend money. You can literally find these beneficial bacterial ingredients and peptides in other products for so much less money. [...] This one is a no from me."
What should you take from Cassandra Bankson's picks?
Cassandra's record on masks and peels is a useful guide for anyone who finds the category overwhelming. She tends to trust straightforward, fragrance-free formulas with ingredients that pull their weight, and she is quick to call out physical exfoliants that can do more harm than good. Her winners, from the Medicube Super Cica Daily Quick Mask to the Trader Joe's Watermelon Overnight Face Mask, span a wide range of prices. That lines up with her view that great masks do not have to be expensive.
Watch Cassandra Bankson say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Medicube Super Cica Daily Quick MaskNamed a winnerWatch at 14:57
- Three Ships Soothe Vitamin C Clay MaskNamed a winnerWatch at 22:51
- Three Ships Detox MaskNamed a winnerWatch at 22:29
- Zit Sticker Press Refresh Sheet MaskNamed a winnerWatch at 31:11
- Trader Joe's Watermelon Overnight Face MaskNamed a winnerWatch at 10:21
- Fenty Skin Cookies and Cream Kaolin Clay MaskNamed a winnerWatch at 4:30
- Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Water Sleeping MaskNamed a winnerWatch at 5:20
- St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot ScrubSkipped itWatch at 12:32
- Ren Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA TonicSkipped itWatch at 2:36
- SKKN ExfoliatorSkipped itWatch at 4:54
- SK-II Facial Treatment MaskSkipped itWatch at 3:06
- Lush Mask of MagnamintySkipped itWatch at 2:26
- Medicube Zero Pore MaskRated itWatch at 13:14
- Dermalogica Hydro Mask ExfoliantRated itWatch at 5:02
- Skin1004 Centella Stick MaskRated itWatch at 30:26
- The INKEY List AHA SerumRated itWatch at 5:11
- Biossance Squalane + Glycolic Acid Renewing MaskRated itWatch at 19:10
- Topicals Like Butter Hydrating MaskRated itWatch at 1:13
- Ranavat Saffron Resurfacing MaskRated itWatch at 7:36
- Bliss Overnight Clear Genius Clarifying PeelRated itWatch at 8:58
- Bubble Overnight Hydrating Sleep MaskRated itWatch at 9:21
- Wishful Yo Glow AHA BHA Facial Enzyme ScrubRated itWatch at 5:09
- e.l.f. Holy Hydration! Sleep MaskRated itWatch at 8:34
- Summer Fridays Jet Lag MaskRated itWatch at 19:23
About this expert
See everything Cassandra Bankson has reviewed
Related guides
This guide reflects what Cassandra Bankson said across her videos about 37 products in masks & peels, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.