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Beauty
|personal story

I Used Weleda Skin Food As An Overnight Mask — Here's The Review

Lindsay Kellner
Author:
January 09, 2020
Lindsay Kellner
Contributing Wellness & Beauty Editor
By Lindsay Kellner
Contributing Wellness & Beauty Editor
Lindsay is a freelance writer and certified yoga instructor based in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a journalism and psychology degree from New York University. Kellner is the co-author of “The Spirit Almanac: A Modern Guide to Ancient Self Care,” with mbg Sustainability Editor Emma Loewe.
January 09, 2020
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One of the best makeup tricks I've ever learned was from the artist who did my wedding day makeup: She used Elizabeth Arden's eight-hour "cream" as a makeup primer. This one product made my skin look undeniably dewy and fresher than it had in a long time. I write "cream" with quotations because it's not a cream at all, despite its name. The product has a thick, slippery, jellylike consistency that's meant to be used as a "skin protectant." Who knew that slathering on a coating of this amber-colored gel would prime my face for a full day of makeup wearing? I expected a melty disaster (it was peak summer, after all), but everything stayed in place—I was impressed.

Enter: An all-natural alternative.

I had to find a natural alternative to this well-loved classic, but I kept coming up empty. I tried Waxelene, a petroleum-free product that's as waxy as its name implies, and it's a wonderful balm, but it was difficult to remove, which doesn't lend itself to daily use. Straight coconut oil was too emollient, not to mention it can be comedogenic. Of the all-purpose products and salves natural beauty has to offer, Weleda's Skin Food was the closest match. This all-natural staple has earned cult status among skin care lovers of all kinds—green beauty enthusiasts, moisture seekers, and sensitive types included.

It's also gained a reputation for being a near-exact dupe to La Mer's Creme de la Mer, another cream that's earned cult status—and comes at a hefty price tag of north of $500 for a 3.4-ounce jar. (Yes, really.) For that reason, even nonnatural enthusiasts find their way into the Weleda fan club since it's a pretty close replica for a very reasonable price.

What does Weleda Skin Food feel like?

Like Arden's eight-hour cream, Skin Food claims to soothe dry skin on the body's rough patches—knees, elbows, hands, lips, and feet—with a cocktail of skin-saving ingredients. Viola tricolor, calendula, and chamomile extracts work together with sunflower oil, sweet almond oil, and a little bit of beeswax to form a hard-to-achieve mix of stiff and emollient.

Weleda skin food in packaging and on hand. It shows a thick, cream texture.
Photo: Lindsay Kellner

How do you use it as a sleeping mask?

Instead of using it as a quick facial fix, though, I decided to double down on the skin hydration benefits and try it as an overnight sleeping mask. FYI: A sleeping mask is K-beauty's spin on a night cream and is essentially a thick layer of treatment serum or moisturizer. While Skin Food isn't officially a sleeping mask, you can use it as one. The goop itself is yellow-beige in color and opaque at first but becomes transparent on contact with the skin. The amounts shown here are far too much for the face—a pea size is plenty.

I slathered it on and worried for a moment about my pores. Would they clog? With a cream this thick, I wasn't sure but was willing to deviate from my nightly gentle acid routine to find out. My face was indeed shiny and slippery for the rest of the evening. I changed out my pillowcase to one I didn't care about staining and hit the hay. The next morning was an early one—I woke up at 6 a.m. and completely forgot about the experiment until I looked in the mirror. My face looked smoother and the lines on my forehead and mouth were still there, but they were softer. I'm happy to report one use did not clog my pores! The biggest difference of all was in how my skin felt. It quite literally drank up the Skin Food and looked even-toned enough to forgo makeup entirely.

That all said, I don't recommend this treatment unless you're feeling particularly dry. It likely won't make too much of a difference unless your skin is parched, but using it on cuticles, elbows, knees, and feet is fine year-round.

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