Review: Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask

Today’s post is a review of the Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask. I don’t do skincare reviews often, mostly because the majority of the skincare products I use don’t have a dramatic enough effect on my skin to warrant a review. However, this mask costs $77! It’s an expensive product, so I wanted to do a review for people who might be interested in this product and are wondering if it actually works.

I purchased this mask in November as part of the VIB sale, and I thought that after 4 months of regular use, I have tried it long enough to give it a thorough review. As a reference, I have a dry skin type with a little bit of hyperpigmentation, and some random bumps here and there that aren’t breakouts or acne.

The Basics

Tata Harper is a 100% natural and non-toxic skincare brand, and the ingredients used in its products are supposed to be free from GMO, toxins, fillers, artificial colours and fragrances, and synthetic chemicals. The Resurfacing Mask does not contain parabens, sulfates, or phthalates and is made in Vermont, USA.

The Resurfacing Mask is a beta-hydroxy acid (BHA) treatment that retails at $77 CAD for 30 mL. I purchased mine from Sephora, although most commonly you can also find it at Cult Beauty, Nordstrom, and the Tata Harper official website.

The instructions of the mask are to apply a thick layer over your face, neck and chest every day for two or three days when you first start using it, and then reduce the usage to one to two times per week. The mask is supposed to be left on for 15 to 30 minutes, and then rinsed off with warm water.

 

The Claims

Because the Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask is a BHA treatment, it is meant to target dullness and uneven skin tone, minimize pores, and deal with roughness and uneven texture without causing any irritation. The results of the mask should leave you with smooth, glowing skin. I don’t really have an issue with pores, but I bought this mainly to target dullness, uneven skin tone, and uneven texture.

How BHAs work is that they are meant to break down the “glue” that holds dead skin cells together. Once the dead skin cells have been shed off, you are left with glowing “new” skin underneath. Acids like BHAs are chemical exfoliants; while the word “acid” sounds scary, they’re actually less abrasive on the skin than physical exfoliants (scrubs).

The Packaging

The mask comes in a frosted-glass green jar with a gold lid. The packaging is so pretty and the jar is weighty – it looks and feels quite expensive. It certainly is a pretty addition to my vanity! According to the brand’s website, their packaging follows the brand’s theme of being natural – everything is either recyclable or made with 100% post-consumer materials, and the ink used in printing is soy-based. The jar packaging may be a sanitary issue for some people, although you can always use a scoop to get the product out.

The Formula

The mask has a jelly-like texture, but unlike jelly, it’s not sticky at all. The texture is quite thin, so it’s easy to spread all over the face. The mask is an amber shade that makes it look like it could be apricot jam, but it applies clear – I tried taking a photo of it dried out on the back of my hand, but you can’t even tell anything is there, so I just gave up! Once applied onto the face, the mask dries down completely within a few minutes, and it dries down to a extremely smooth, almost slightly hard texture, kind of like when you have a clay mask on but not as hard.

This mask has a very strong herbal scent; I’m not sure if all Tata Harper products smell the same, but the Resurfacing Mask in particular has a ginger scent. I personally really like the way it smells – it’s refreshing to me, but I know that it would definitely bother those who are sensitive towards scented skincare products.

I have mostly been using the mask exactly as the instructions suggested on the packaging: for the first few days after I started using it, I applied it every day for two or three days consecutively, and since then, I’ve been using it twice a week, spaced out throughout the week.

What were my findings? To be honest, I haven’t seen much of a change in my skin after using this for four months. It does leave my skin feeling quite smooth immediately after use, but I expect a BHA to give me long-term results, and I haven’t really seen that from this mask. My main concerns were the random small bumps on my skin here and there, which don’t go away unless I squeeze at them (which is obviously a big no-no in skincare!) I had been hoping that the mask would help “dissolve” these bumps, but it didn’t really do anything at all. Overall, my skin texture and tone haven’t seen any improvement, although it’s not worse off, either – I haven’t had a bad reaction to the mask.

The Ingredients

Aloe barbadensis Leaf Juice, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Sclerotium gum, Aqua/water/Eau, Lactobacillus Ferment, Maltooligosyl Glucoside, Lactobacillus/Punica granatum Fruit Ferment Extract, Leuconostoc Ferment Filtrate, Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Hydrolyzed Corn Starch, Beta vulgaris/Beet Root Extract/Extrait de racine de betterave, Kaolin (Rose Clay), Sodium Phytate, Aroma, Benzyl Alcohol, Citral, Citronellol, Eugenol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool.

The main ingredients that make up the natural source of BHA are willow bark, which is used to exfoliate dead skin. To counteract the exfoliation, beet extract is added to promote hydration and improve skin tone. The ingredient Aroma (8th from the bottom) is a clinical grade essential oils blend, and most of the last six ingredients (Citral, Citronellol, Eugenol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool) are also essential oils. While my skin didn’t have a negative reaction, all of these essential oils may possibly be irritating to the skin.

The Summary

Pros:
-Beautiful packaging
-Easy to use; not messy and fast dry-down time
-Skin feels smooth immediately after use

Cons:
-Strongly scented
-Expensive
-Jar packaging not the most sanitary
-No noticeable long-term benefits to my skin
I really wanted to like this mask to justify the splurge, but my overall experience with this is that it didn’t really do anything for my skin. However, take that with a grain of salt since everyone’s skin reacts to products differently! To me, this really wasn’t worth the hefty price tag. I’m glad I tried it, but I won’t be buying this once I finish the jar – maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t like it, because it means that I don’t have to keep forking out money on an expensive product!