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Episode two
On the screen, two people stand beneath a single umbrella.
The subtitles come up a little behind the lines.
As the end credits began to roll, I tore open the packet.
I unfold the sheet mask, shift the eye and mouth holes a little, then line them up again.
These past few days, the wind on the way home has been dry.
By evening, the skin high on my cheeks feels tight.
It was my first one this autumn.
The back of the packet says how long to leave it on.
I read it.
But the preview for the next episode had already begun.
Episode two ended at the best part.
At the start of episode three, my hand drifts to my cheek.
The edges of the sheet have dried and curled up.
When I peel it off, it is light as paper.
Since it was on anyway, the longer the better.
That was what I thought.
The next morning
In the morning mirror, the skin high on my cheeks is faintly red.
When I put on foundation, just there, it flakes into fine powder.
The more I blend it with my fingers, the more it lifts.
I had meant well.
On the train to work, I look it up.
There was a study that compared sheet masks left on for different lengths of time.
Skin hydration rises at first, and then begins to fall.
Apparently, the longer the mask was left on, the more dryness and redness tended to appear.
I thought I was adding. Perhaps I was taking away.
I look at my face reflected in the window.
Wanting to be good to myself, I had gone, just a little, past the time.
The ball that bounced off the jaw
On Saturday, I invited a coworker.
It used to be the other way around.
“So you’ve been coming here on your own,” my coworker says, laughing.
We take turns at the table.
After a while, a ball was left sitting in the mouth of a pocket.
Not far from the cue ball, either.
I want to make it.
The more I want it, the tighter my arm gets.
The cue lunges forward.
The ball hit the jaw of the pocket, bounced off, and rolled back onto the table.
“Too hard,” my coworker says.
My next turn, another ball much like it.
This time, just enough to get there, I tell myself, and I stroke.
The cue ball rolls slowly away.
The ball dropped, softly, into the back of the pocket and was gone.
The second night
Sunday night, I tear open the second packet.
I set the timer on my phone to the time on the back.
I press play on the rest of the drama.
Under the umbrella, neither of them has said anything yet.
If I smile, the edges might lift, so I keep my mouth very still.
Only the skin around my eyes, where the sheet does not reach, touches the air of the room.
The timer goes off.
At the best part, I press pause.
The sheet I peel away is still damp and heavy.
What is left on my cheeks, I press in gently with my palms.
I used to think the longer, the better.
Why not make pool your next beauty habit?
👉 Space, it turned out, is something you make with your hands.
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References
- Wang, Y., Cao, Y., Huang, X., Zhang, Y., Hu, Y., Li, L. & Xiong, X. (2024). Short-term skin reactions and changes in stratum corneum following different ways of facial sheet mask usage. Journal of Tissue Viability, 33(4), 831-839. doi:10.1016/j.jtv.2024.06.012
- Janssens-Böcker, C., Wiesweg, K. & Doberenz, C. (2024). Native collagen sheet mask improves skin health and appearance: A comprehensive clinical evaluation. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 23(5), 1685-1702. doi:10.1111/jocd.16181
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