This Brightening AHA Mask Is Like A Jumper Cable For My Skin

In our series Trial Run, TZR editors and writers put the buzziest new beauty products to the test and share their honest reviews. This week, our writer tested the brand new Hyper Skin Fade and Glow AHA Mask.

Although I often cover my face with bold blush and a whole palette’s worth of colorful eye shadows, I absolutely hate foundation. It’s just never felt right on my oily, acne-prone skin. Over the past year or so, I’ve become meticulous with my skin care routine so that I can finally feel comfortable enough with my complexion to not wear foundation... ever.

My product lineup is stacked with ingredients I know my skin craves for peak clarity: niacinamide, sea buckthorn, salicylic acid, vitamin E, and alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) — just to name a few. So when the Hyper Skin Even Fade and Glow AHA Mask launched recently with an ingredient list featuring all of these, I knew I needed it on my face ASAP.

This dreamy brightening mask has a lot to live up to. It’s the follow-up to Black-owned beauty brand Hyper Skin’s beloved debut product, the Hyper Even Brightening Dark Spot Vitamin C Serum. For those unfamiliar, it is one of the top vitamin C serums in the game right now, but honestly, I’m a bigger fan of the mask than the serum. Allow me to explain why.

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Fast Facts

• Price: $48
• Best for: Those with dull, textured skin that need a boost of radiance and smoothing
• Your rating: 5/5
• Brand: Hyper Skin
• Clean/Cruelty-Free? Yes
• What we like: The mask delivers brightening results seemingly overnight without any dryness or irritation. It also helps soothe breakouts and reduce the appearance of dark spots.
• What we don't like: It’s quite pricey for just 1.69 ounces.

An Inside Look At The Hyper Skin Fade & Glow AHA Mask

When you squirt the mask from the pump-topped tube, you’ll notice its creamy gel formula is fragrance-free and has a gorgeous creamsicle hue. Its coloring is au naturel due to antibacterial turmeric and skin-strengthening sea buckthorn oil.

Once you rub a couple of pumps of the mask onto your face, it quickly starts melting into pores, and a medley of chemical exfoliants team up to clear them out and slough away dead skin cells on the surface of your skin. However, unlike many acid-packed masks, the Hyper Skin Even Fade and Glow AHA Mask doesn’t sting at all or cause even my sensitive, reactive skin to freak out. I can thank the mixture of a gentle AHA and dynamic anti-inflammatories — namely, aloe, niacinamide, and vitamin E — for that. Fermented papaya extract is luckily on the ingredient list, too. Not only does it supports the skin’s microbiome and moisture barrier through its fermentation but the enzymes in the tropical fruit are also known to dissolve dead skin cells (which can dull your complexion and leave you with an uneven texture).

Mandelic acid is one of the major players in putting the AHA in the mask’s name. Considered to be non-melanotoxic, according to board-certified New York City dermatologist Dr. Ellen Marmur, this gentle AHA is one of the most effective acids for deeper skin tones because it doesn’t interact with melanin to make hyperpigmentation worse or create new dark spots. Instead, its large particle size slowly but surely penetrates skin to gently work its magic to decrease discoloration.

Glycolic and salicylic acids give the mask added exfoliation benefits. The former is also an AHA that acts as a chemical exfoliant to promote cell turnover. “It’s a perfect solution for dull, rough-textured skin as it removes the top layers of dead skin cells, resulting in a brighter complexion and smoother texture,” Dr. Hope Mitchell, a board-certified dermatologist in Ohio, previously told TZR. Salicylic acid, on the other hand, probably needs no explanation as it’s a timeless, well-known BHA for helping to banish breakouts.

My Skin After Using Hyper Skin Fade and Glow AHA Mask

Trust me when I say this mask shows results with just one use. (Hyper’s highly sought-after vitamin C serum, on the other hand, can take weeks of consistent use before the skin starts looking glassier, which is completely valid for this type of product. I love instant gratification, though.) Of course, the brightening treatment is supplemented by the rest of my skin care routine, but sometimes my complexion needs some extra help, especially when I’ve stayed up late one too many nights or am about to get my period.

Every night I end up reaching for the Hyper Skin Even Fade and Glow AHA Mask for assistance, I swear I wake up with a smoother, more luminous complexion than usual. It’s truly like a jumper cable for your skin. An aesthetician actually told me recently that the texture of my skin is immaculate — or something along those lines — so I know the mask is working.

Recently, my skin was randomly attacked by a bunch of cystic pimples, so I decided to put the mask to the test to see how well it really clears up breakouts. The next morning, all the painful problem spots were surprisingly flattened, and my skin was so much happier.

My favorite time to jump-start my skin is before going to a concert, which has been twice a week lately. Dancing around all night with a layer of foundation all over your face is just not a good time, so the mask helps me skip that dreaded step of my makeup routine. All I have to do instead is carve out 15 minutes the night before the show for the mask to sit on my skin and recharge it.

After I wash it off, my skin doesn’t feel tight or inflamed. Rather, it feels soft and nourished, which I’m not used to when using a wash-off mask. From there, I spritz on the Damdam Paradisi Hydrating Essence Mist and layer on the Summer Fridays Dream Oasis Deep Hydration Serum and Then I Met You’s Renewing Rich Beauty Cream. (My skin loves all the hydration it can get, but you can stick with just moisturizer if you prefer a simpler routine.)

Do You Need The Hyper Skin Fade and Glow AHA Mask?

Even though the Hyper Skin Even Fade and Glow AHA Mask comes in a modest 1.69 fl oz-tube for $48, I still constantly recommend it to my friends when they need something to wake up their skin. Now, I would like to extend the same advice to you. The mask is definitely worth the investment.