Back in January, skin-care brand Summer Fridays made the best of a bad situation when it started receiving complaints of irritation caused by its Jet Lag Mask. After determining that some batches from its third-party manufacturer had been compromised, it issued an apology, removed compromised masks from store shelves, and offered refunds to those who'd purchased a mask from said batches. Back then, Summer Fridays also teased a total reformulation of Jet Lag — and this month, the brand is following up on that promise.
On June 15, a new-and-improved version of Jet Lag will be available, this time without some of the ingredients that can often cause skin irritation. "The upgraded formula has been in development and testing for many months and is based on gathering community input on the formula since Jet Lag Mask originally launched in March 2018," a member of Summer Fridays' product development team tells Allure. "It represents some fairly subtle adjustments, including removing essential oils and fragrance, to make a beautiful formula even better."
That said, the new Jet Lag doesn't provide the minty smell or subtle tingle that the old one did — but that's all for the better because fragrances (including synthetic ones and those from essential oils) are the most common source of contact dermatitis (aka rashes), according to clinical studies.
Cosmetic chemist Ginger King adds that fragrance-free products such as the new Jet Lag are perfect for sensitive-skinned folks. "For people who have sensitive skin, it is best to use fragrance-free products because fragrances are complex and contain allergens," she explains. "Essential oils are less complex than fragrances in composition, but there is still a chance for skin sensitization."
And, as Connecticut-based board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara once explained to Allure, it's best to avoid fragrances because they "just add cosmetic appeal to the product but are irritating to the skin barrier, causing more dryness and irritation."
What's more: Summer Fridays also added a short roster of new ingredients to Jet Lag, including vitamin B5, chamomile, and comfrey. King describes each of these ingredients as hydrating, calming, and healing, respectively. Those combined with the formula's already-existing niacinamide, glycerin, and hyaluronic acid make for a formula that pretty much does it all.
Aside from those things, everything about the mask is ultimately the same, including the packaging, which now features a small sticker on the upper left corner to label the new formulation. It even has the same thick, gelatinous texture that feels like a really rich moisturizer — and you can kind of treat it like one. As the instructions on the back of the signature baby-blue tube say, you can layer this on any time of day, let it sit for 10 minutes, and pat skin dry with a warm cloth (yep, you don't even need to rinse it off). It's prime for the times your skin needs a little TLC, but you don't have the time for a full 12-step skin-care routine. And anything that saves us time these days is a winner in our book.
The reformulated Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask is $48 and will be available beginning June 15 on sephora.com.
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