I feel I spend a lot of my life running around. One day last week I was running to the vets, running around the house, running through emails, and schoolwork, and emails, and Zoom calls, and sinfully, running through the fastest, most basic skincare routine imaginable. Even though I knew my skin was a little bit dry and irritated, and needed some TLH (tender, loving, hydration).

I did this because I knew I could undo my recklessness later that evening, I could absolve my sins, when I had a few blessed minutes alone, in my bathroom, in the presence of My Skincare. And not just any skincare, a very specific collection of squeezy tubes and jars and pots, housed in their very own decorative golden bowl (thank you, IKEA), a skincare pick and mix if you will; known in this house as ‘Simone’s Masks’.

My mask time is sacred. It demands absolute silence (or a dramatic murder mystery podcast – strangely relaxing), doors closed, weapons down, official me time. This is when I apologise to my skin, to my mind, to my lack of time. Fifteen minutes taken back from my day, fifteen minutes that allows me to reset, and slather (what a great word), and breathe, and think about how great my skin is going to look and feel in half an hour, or when I wake up.

Oh yes, the overnight mask, dear reader. The one night stand you will never regret. The miracle-working wonder that hydrates, repairs, soothes, and calms while you snooze. Your pillowcase won’t like it but your skin definitely will. Mask and you shall receive, it says on the tube (it doesn’t – but what a great marketing idea).

The overnight mask is your best friend when you’re tired, when your skin feels dry or dehydrated, when you’ve been lazy with your skincare, or when you just need a brightening, hydrating, pick-me-up.

Which for most of us, let’s be honest, is every day at the moment.

It’s the one to apply just before bed, after you’ve cleansed your skin, and after you’ve applied eye cream and a hydrating serum. Generally, I’m always looking for hydration when it comes to overnight masks, although there are certainly many fantastic exfoliating masks on the market, which I will touch on another time.

And now, it’s time for some recommendations – because no matter how many dollars you want to spend, there is a perfect overnight mask for you.

There’s Tired Faace (yes, that’s really what it’s called. €27), a phenomenal mask created by new brand Faace, which is available exclusively in Ireland from My Beauty Edit. Tired is packed with Vitamin C for brightening, Caffeine to calm inflammation, Glycerin to promote hydration, Lactic Acid to (very) gently exfoliate, and a host of other ingredients all designed to generally pep and rejuvenate the skin.

Patchology Restoring Night CloudMasque (€35 from Arnotts) is another one. Hyaluronic acid, peptides, and retinol work together as a dreamy team to give you smooth, bright, glowy, hydrated skin upon waking. A little goes a long way, and it smells delicious too.

Feel like splashing the cash? Run to your nearest Chanel counter and pick up a tube of their Hydra Beauty Masque De Nuit Au Camélia (€75). Award-winning in my humble opinion, this lightweight, creamy mask delivers a seriously intense dose of hydration. Formulated with Glycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate (hyaluronic acids cousin), and Camellia Flower Extract for major hydration, Zinc to fight inflammation and potential breakouts, and a host of other antioxidant, cell-regenerating ingredients, this is a friends-forever, never-to-be-separated kind of mask.

And my all-time favourite? Because there’s always a favourite, isn’t there.

Would you believe me if I told you it’s probably perched prettily on the shelf of your local pharmacy right now, disguised as a daily moisturizer, and priced at a hugely inoffensive €30?

Avene Hydrance Aqua Gel, (€30), with an ingredients list that reads something like hydrating, hydrating, soothing, hydrating, absolutely excels as an overnight mask. With an instantly cooling, gel-like texture, this is a mask that makes you say ‘ooh’ as soon as it hits your skin. Glorious to use, and with glorious results (think calm, glowy, hydrated, plumped skin), this is one you’ll use, and then repurchase, and use and then repurchase, ad infinitum.

Need some more recommendations? Message me on Instagram (but not after 8pm, because I’ll be in the bathroom, having the last laugh mask).

Simone Gannon, December 2020