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!
Ughh I ate when I buy something expensive and it doesn’t work. Thanks for the review! I haven’t tried this brand and hav been curious. ❤
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Right?! It hurts when you splurge and the product doesn’t perform the way you want it to! Thanks for reading 🙂
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Same here, no visible results with this one! The Ordinary salicylic acid and pixi glow tonic have done much more for bumpy areas of skin for me x
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I feel bad that it didn’t work for you either, but at least now I’m not alone in this! I currently have a bottle of the Pixi Glow Tonic and it doesn’t seem to have done much for me either, but I’ve only been using it sporadically – maybe I just need to use it more often.
I keep eyeing the SA from The Ordinary! I might buy it after I finish off this mask. Do you alternate between the Pixi Glow Tonic and The Ordinary SA?
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I definitely think that you need to use pixi daily to see the results. I often notice how effective it is once I go through a phase of not using it as much, I notice a difference in texture and brightness. The salicylic I use nightly after the pixi glow as AHA and BHAs act differently on the skin. Both products don’t seem to be overly strong for me to use together. But I’d always tread carefully with acids/resurfacing products as over exfoliation is a bitch and takes ages to recover. Alternate, then build up unless you know you’re ok with them. My skin has always been a fan of SA and finding this product that isn’t full of loads of other ingredients and fragrance is a massive bonus for me! Could talk about skin for hours x
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Thank you so much for the tips! I’m dabble with AHAs and BHAs but I’m pretty hesitant about using them together daily because I’m afraid of overexfoliation, like you mentioned. Based on what you’ve said, I think I might re-introduce the Pixi Skin Tonic to my routine first, and then slowly add in a BHA.
Thanks again for the insight! 🙂
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Your welcome! I’ve learnt the most about my skin from reading blogs and others personal experience so just adding mine to the mix. Thanks for the follow x
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I have heard of this brand but have never tried and it’s not really readily available for me in-store either. I could order online but it’s a gamble especially if it’s pricey? A shame really when a pricey product doesn’t work.
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Definitely a gamble to order a an expensive product without seeing it first! It’s totally disappointing when pricey products don’t work!
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I’ve heard great things about thos brand, so it’s a shame it didn’t help much, given the price. Thanks for the review, I know not to purchase it now x
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It’s so tough, you just never know! I haven’t tried their other products so maybe they perform better. Glad you found this helpful though!
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You’re right, not every product a brand releases will be great. I think if the prices were lower I’d be more inclined to try them out to see🙈 I might treat myself as the products look luxurious x
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Ah man what a disappointment! I keep looking at Tata Harper because I love the packaging of the line but there’s nothing that seems to jump out at me – I think I’d want to see it in a store somewhere to actually play with products!
I don’t find BHA does a lot for my skin either I bought an ordinary product last year and it did nothing for me
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Yes, considering it’s a pricey brand, it’s definitely something you want to check out in store first! Hmm, interesting, I hear so many mixed things about BHA. I’m open to trying one from The Ordinary next since they’re so much more affordable – if it doesn’t work, then it’s only a few dollars down the drain.
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It definitely looks like a $77 product, the packaging is beautiful!
It’s unfortunate that you didn’t notice any long term results with the mask, I’d expect more than a temporary benefit for how much the product costs. I guess you know not to buy it in the next VIB sale!
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Exactly! Like if you’re gonna charge me $77, my face better feel like a baby’s bottom afterwards, haha.
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$77 for 30ml? For a MASK? No friggin way. How many uses do you think you’ll get out of this jar?
I’ve heard the comments about Tata Harper’s products being quite heavily scented. And super sucky that it didn’t even do that much!
I’m trying to think of a recommendation for a BHA mask and I can’t think of one. BHA is one of those ingredients that need to left on the skin rather than rinsed off so it can penetrate into the deeper layers – hence maybe why this mask wasn’t effective.
Also BHA is better suited for blemished, oily skin – I think for your skin type, you’re better off with AHA.
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Hmm, I’m guessing this will last me another 5-6 months or so? I’ve had it for about 4 months and have used almost half of it. I mean…10 months of usage for $77, $7.70 for month isn’t bad, right? *in denial*
Tata Harper is supposed to be all natural, so I think a lot of people will take that to mean no unnecessary added scents – but they still use all of these essential oils to create a pretty overpowering smell.
Yes, I have a feeling that rinsing it off isn’t doing much for my skin. I was trying an AHA (the Pixi Glow Tonic) in conjunction with this mask – neither seemed to do much! After you said that AHAs are better for my skin type, I was trying to remember why I bought the BHA – it was because I read that BHA does a better job at unclogging pores, and I was trying to find a solution to rid of all the bumpiness under the surface of my skin without me trying to extract anything. Maybe once I finish this, I’ll stick with only AHA and see if that works.
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