It is the oily-skin summer pouch of Face Republic's seven-variant line: the shared aloe, purslane, allantoin and licorice base over glycerin, glycols and a high-placed hyaluronate, in a watery gel with a cucumber fruit extract fifth for a green freshness and no lipid anywhere, so it cools and plumps a hot, dehydrated, shiny face and leaves nothing behind that oily skin has to wipe off. The cucumber is the picture and the scent; the hydration is the base, and it is the same good base as the aloe pouch with one more note of freshness.
A watery gel with a cucumber fruit extract fifth and no lipid anywhere over Face Republic's shared soothing-humectant base, which makes it the oily-skin summer pouch of the seven-variant line: it cools, plumps and calms a hot, dehydrated, shiny face for twenty minutes and leaves nothing to wipe off, at a few dollars a sheet. The cucumber is a freshness note and the hydration is the glycerin, glycols and a high-placed hyaluronate; a faint green fragrance is left on the face, and the brand publishes nothing, but for a summer stack of cheap cooling masks it is the pouch to buy beside the aloe.
Scattered English-language reviews, no US retail listing and no published testing are all that stand behind this Philippine-market sheet, so it is assessed from its fully disclosed label, the line's shared base plus a cucumber extract, and from the general literature for occlusive hydration, humectants and purslane; the price is an importer range rather than a retail figure, and no ingredient dose is known.
The case for it
Same rule for everyone. “Good choice” is the verdict on 9,564 of 45,024 concern verdicts across the catalog; rule R5 decided 9,072 of them. As of September 25, 2026, engine 5.1.1.
Brand or formulator? Disclose a concentration or correct a fact →
The studies behind the evidence row
The case for it
What would change this: Guideline or regulatory standing for the active on this concern would move this from a promising bet to a recommendation.
Same rule for everyone. “Promising” is the verdict on 7,858 of 45,024 concern verdicts across the catalog; rule R9p decided 7,858 of them. As of September 25, 2026, engine 5.1.1.
Brand or formulator? Disclose a concentration or correct a fact →
The studies behind the evidence row
Also listed for Excess Oiliness — the actives here (Glycerin, Cucumber, Purslane Extract, Hyaluronic Acid) are in our research queue for that concern; there is no verdict until their evidence rows are written. That is a gap in our table, not a mark against the product.
As a maskNot judged: what a mask is for — works within its wear time, benefit outlasts the mask, comes off cleanly — cannot yet be measured from the ingredient list (only intensity without injury can).
A verdict is DermApproved’s assessment of how well a product’s ingredients fit a concern — never a claim about what the product treats. Evidence dots and collected reviews sit beside it and are never blended in. Rules 0.5.1 · evidence table ev-2026.09-r228 · how we decide
The cucumber slices on the eyes were always about the temperature. A cold, wet, ninety-five-percent-water slice laid on hot, puffy skin cools it, the evaporation keeps cooling it, and the swelling settles as the vessels constrict; the cucumber itself contributes traces of minerals and vitamin C that never reach anything. That image has done more for the vegetable's skincare reputation than any study, and it is the honest frame for this pouch, which puts a cucumber fruit extract at fifth position in Face Republic's shared Sleeping Beauty base and sells it as the hydrating variant. What the mask borrows from the slice is the cold and the water; what it adds is a humectant stack that the slice never had, and that is where the review should look.
The base is the same well-judged formula that runs through all seven pouches. Glycerin second, butylene and propylene glycol, betaine, sodium PCA and, unusually high for a budget sheet, sodium hyaluronate eighth, are the humectants that twenty minutes under a soaked sheet drive into the surface; aloe sixth, purslane seventh, allantoin and dipotassium glycyrrhizate are the soothing set, with purslane carrying a genuine anti-inflammatory literature that includes a randomised trial in hand eczema, so the cooling is also a calming. There is no denatured alcohol, no oil, no silicone, no colourant and no paraben, and arginine buffers the pH. The sheet is a thin cotton blend that slides at the nose and should come off at twenty minutes, before it starts drying and drawing water back out.
A word on the morning use, because it is where this pouch earns a place the evening masks do not. Ten minutes from the fridge before makeup, on a face that slept badly or ate salt, takes down the puffiness that concealer cannot hide and leaves a surface that foundation sits on evenly, with no film to make it slide and no scent strong enough to fight a perfume; the essence patted in and given a minute is a hydrating primer, and a two-dollar one. Oily skin can go straight to sunscreen from there. It is the one habit in the line that changes how a face looks at nine in the morning rather than at bedtime, and it is why the cucumber pouch is worth stocking beside the aloe rather than instead of it.
What makes this the oily-skin pouch is what is not there. With no lipid in the essence, the twenty minutes deliver pure water: a face that is cold, plumped and matte-fresh, with the tight, dehydrated shine of a hot day visibly settled and a light finish that combination and oily skin can leave alone with nothing over it, which is the whole appeal in summer and the reason it works as a chilled morning de-puff under makeup. Dry skin gets the same hydration and loses it faster, since there is no jojoba or shea to hold the water in as the snail pouch does, and should add a cream; sensitive skin finds it nearly as gentle as the aloe pouch, with one more extract and one more scent to consider.
The cucumber itself is a freshness note, and it should be read as one. Cucumis sativus fruit extract is mostly water with traces of minerals, ascorbic and caffeic acid and a mild astringency, and at fifth position in a twenty-minute sheet it gives the essence a green, fresh feel and the pouch its picture; the hydration the variant is named for is the glycerin and the hyaluronate, and the de-puffing is the cold. None of that is a complaint, because nobody paying two dollars for a cucumber mask expects the cucumber to do anything, and the base that actually works is the same across the line; the mild astringency is, if anything, a small advantage on an oily face, tightening the feel of the surface for an hour without the alcohol that cheap toners use for the same effect. The fragrance, green-leaning and undeclared as to components, is the one thing left on the face that a reactive skin might notice, and polysorbate 80 is the note for fungal-acne-prone faces.
On price, two to five dollars a sheet through importers, less in ten-packs, for a cooling hydration that oily and combination skin can use morning or evening through a summer, is the cheap end of the category and fair for a base this well built. The cucumber pouch and the aloe pouch are the two to buy in bulk: the aloe for the most reactive skin and for rescue, the cucumber for the hot, shiny, dehydrated face that wants water and a little green freshness and nothing else. The slices on the eyes can stay in the fridge for a sandwich, and the pouch can take their place, which is the small, cheap upgrade this mask honestly represents.
The hero actives that drive this product's performance.
| Ingredient | Function | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract | Fifth, the headline extract, a water-based fruit extract that is mostly water itself with traces of minerals, vitamin C and a little ascorbic and caffeic acid; it contributes a faint green freshness and a mild astringent feel to the essence, and the hydration the pouch is named for comes from the glycerin and glycols beside it rather than from the cucumber. | Not yet assessed |
| Glycerin | Second, with butylene and propylene glycol, betaine, sodium PCA and sodium hyaluronate behind it, the humectant stack that is the entire mechanism of a hydrating sheet; twenty minutes of occlusion drives it into the surface, and on this variant, with no lipid in the essence, the effect is pure water, cool and plumping and best sealed with a moisturiser on any skin that is not oily. | Established mechanism for Dehydration · established mechanism |
| Sodium Hyaluronate | Eighth, unusually high for a budget sheet, a surface water-binder that keeps the plumped look going into the next morning; with sodium PCA near the tail it makes this a genuinely hydrating mask rather than a merely wet one, which is more than the cucumber on the front contributes. | Established mechanism for Dehydration · established mechanism |
| Portulaca Oleracea Extract | Seventh, purslane, the Korean soothing staple with real anti-inflammatory chemistry and a randomised trial in hand eczema behind it, with aloe sixth, allantoin and licorice salt alongside; the reason the cooling this pouch is bought for is also calming, and the ingredient doing the work the cucumber gets credit for. | Not yet assessed |
| Fragrance | Last on the label, undeclared as to components and green-leaning to match the cucumber, left on the face after the sheet; low in dose, and the one ingredient a fragrance-reactive face should weigh against the otherwise gentle list. | Not yet assessed |
Ingredient standings describe the active at treatment-level doses and vehicles; this product's own condition grades weigh its actual formula.
Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Allantoin, Betaine, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Water, Arginine, Carbomer, Phenoxyethanol, Polysorbate 80, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Disodium EDTA, Sodium PCA, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Fragrance.
treatment
AM & PM
Fifteen to twenty minutes on cleansed, toned skin, morning or evening, with the essence patted in; oily skin can stop there, everyone else adds a moisturiser. It is the pouch for a hot, dehydrated, shiny face that wants water without any richness, and it chills well for a morning de-puff before makeup.
A cooled, plumped, matte-fresh face the moment the sheet comes off, with the tight, dehydrated shine of oily skin visibly settled, lasting into the next morning; nothing beyond that from a twenty-minute sheet, and no oil control or pore change beyond hydration. Used twice a week it is a maintenance step for dehydrated oily and combination skin, not a treatment.
A sheet mask's measurable effect is occlusive hydration: fifteen to twenty minutes under a soaked non-woven sheet limits evaporation and drives humectants into the stratum corneum, raising surface water content for hours, and the evaporative cooling of a water-based essence, stronger when the pouch is chilled, reduces the sensation of heat and modestly constricts superficial vessels, which is the basis for the de-puffing users describe. This mask's humectants, glycerin, butylene glycol, propylene glycol, betaine, sodium PCA and sodium hyaluronate, are all established water-binders, and the absence of any lipid means the hydration is retained less well on dry skin than with a lipid-containing sheet and is welcome on oily skin, which produces its own.
The soothing set has evidence at meaningful doses. Aloe leaf extract's polysaccharides have humectant and anti-inflammatory activity; allantoin is an established skin protectant; dipotassium glycyrrhizate has anti-irritant data; and Portulaca oleracea, purslane, contains omega-3 fatty acids, flavonoids and vitamins with anti-inflammatory activity, a 2024 randomised, placebo-controlled trial in Explore finding it effective for mild to moderate chronic hand eczema. Doses here are undisclosed and contact time is twenty minutes, so the expected effect is short-term comfort.
Cucumber fruit extract has no meaningful evidence in this format. It is a water-based extract of a fruit that is about ninety-five percent water, carrying traces of potassium, silica, ascorbic acid and caffeic acid with mild astringent properties; laboratory studies report antioxidant activity of cucumber extracts, but no clinical study supports hydration or depuffing effects beyond those of the water and the cold, and the folk use of cucumber slices is a thermal effect. The risks are fragrance, the leading cosmetic contact allergen, at low dose but left on the face; witch hazel water as an occasional sensitiser; and polysorbate 80 for fungal-acne-prone skin. The formula contains no alcohol, oil, parabens or colourants.
Clinicians would describe this as a harmless, cooling, oil-free hydrating sheet whose benefit is the twenty minutes of occlusion over humectants and the thermal effect of a chilled, evaporating essence, and would regard it as well suited to oily, combination and dehydrated skin in hot weather; the cucumber would be classed as a freshness ingredient with no clinical case, and the aloe, purslane, allantoin and licorice base as sensible and gentle. The cautions would be the fragrance for reactive or contact-allergic patients, for whom an unscented sheet is preferable, the polysorbate for fungal-acne-prone skin, two or three uses a week rather than daily, and no masking over a fresh retinoid or acid. For persistent puffiness or oiliness the mask would be positioned as comfort rather than treatment.
At either end of the day, after cleansing and toner, open the pouch, unfold the sheet and lay it over the face, pressing it flat around the eyes, nose and mouth; leave it fifteen to twenty minutes and remove it before it dries, then pat the leftover essence into the face and neck without rinsing. Oily skin can stop there; everyone else adds a light moisturiser, and sunscreen follows in the morning. Chill the pouch for a stronger cooling and de-puffing effect, use it two or three times a week, and patch-test on the jaw first if fragrance has caused trouble before.
With no US brand store, the sheet sells through importers at roughly two to five dollars depending on seller and pack size, ten-packs at the low end, so a summer habit of two or three masks a week costs somewhere between six and fifteen dollars a week. The money buys the shared base, which is the part that works, plus a cucumber extract and a scent that are pleasant and inert; against Western cooling masks at several times the price it is excellent value for oily and combination skin, and against the line's own aloe pouch it is the same value with one more note of freshness. Dry skin gets a little less for the money, since the water leaves faster without a lipid to hold it.
Oily, combination and normal skin that runs hot, shiny and dehydrated in summer and wants a cheap, cooling, oil-free sheet it can use morning or evening with nothing over it, anyone who wants a chilled de-puff before makeup, and multipack buyers assembling a summer stack; dry and sensitive skin can use it too with a cream over the essence.
Skin that reacts to any fragrance, for which the aloe pouch is the plainer choice and an unscented sheet plainer still; fungal-acne-prone skin, because of the polysorbate; dry skin that wants a mask with a lasting film, which the snail pouch provides; and anyone expecting the cucumber to do anything the water and the cold do not.
Ready to try Face Republic Hydrating Cucumber Sheet Mask?
Buy at Amazon ♥A thin, soft cotton-blend sheet soaked in a clear, watery, lightly slippery gel-essence that feels cold and fresh on the skin and dries down to a light, barely tacky, matte-dewy finish once patted in.
A faint, green, watery cucumber fragrance, fresh at the pouch and fading under the sheet, with a trace left on the face.
A single pale-green foil pouch with a cucumber-slice illustration and a hang hole, 23 ml, sold by the sheet or in five- and ten-packs; a spare few millilitres of essence stays in the pouch for the neck.
Twenty cold, fresh minutes under a thin sheet that needs pressing flat, colder from the fridge, then a face that is cooled, plumped and matte-fresh, with the tight shine of a hot day settled and a light finish that oily skin can leave alone; dry skin feels the watery essence dry down within the hour and wants a cream. There is nothing to adjust to and nothing to react to beyond the faint green scent.
One use per sheet; a ten-pack covers a month at two or three masks a week.
summer
Cucumber has been the cooling face of skincare since the sliced-cucumber-on-the-eyes cliché, and every Korean mass sheet-mask line carries a cucumber pouch for the summer customer who wants water without richness; Face Republic's version puts a cucumber fruit extract into its shared Sleeping Beauty base and sells it beside the aloe sheet as the pair Watsons Philippines moves fastest in the hot months, and the K-beauty importers now ship it to Western buyers in ten-packs.
Face Republic is a Korean-made brand built for the Philippine and Southeast Asian mass market, selling vegan, minimal-ingredient formulas at low prices through Watsons and the K-beauty importers. The Sleeping Beauty sheet masks are its cheapest line, one shared base with a headline extract per pouch; the cucumber variant is the shared base plus a cucumber fruit extract, and the brand publishes no clinical testing for any of them.
Cucumber extract hydrates and de-puffs the skin.
A water-based cucumber extract is mostly water with traces of minerals and vitamins; it adds freshness and a faint astringency, and the hydration and the de-puffing come from the glycerin, glycols and hyaluronate in the base and from the cold of a chilled, evaporating sheet. The cucumber on the eyes was always about the temperature.
A watery, oil-free mask is only for oily skin.
It suits oily and combination skin best because nothing is left to wipe off, but dry and sensitive skin can use it too, with a moisturiser over the essence; what dry skin loses is the lasting film the snail pouch's jojoba and shea give, not the hydration itself, which is the same across the line.
The label is the same base, aloe, purslane, allantoin and licorice salt over humectants, and the cucumber pouch adds a cucumber fruit extract at fifth position for a greener, fresher scent and feel. The aloe pouch is the plainer choice for the most reactive skin; the cucumber is the one for a hot, shiny summer face.
It is the best fit in the line: a watery gel with no oil, no silicone and no lipid, so it cools and plumps a dehydrated oily or combination face and leaves nothing that needs wiping or blotting. Oily skin can skip the moisturiser after it in summer.
Yes, and chilled it is a good ten-minute de-puff before makeup, since the essence is watery and unscented enough to sit under sunscreen and foundation; pat the essence in, let it set a minute and carry on. Two or three uses a week is plenty.
No denatured alcohol, oil, parabens or colourants; it does carry a faint green fragrance as the last ingredient, undeclared as to components and left on the face, which is the only additive a reactive face might notice.
After cleansing and toner, unfold the sheet over the face, press it flat, leave it fifteen to twenty minutes and remove it before it dries, then pat the leftover essence in without rinsing and add a light moisturiser if the skin is not oily. Chill the pouch first for a stronger cooling effect.
The brand has no US store; importers sell it by the sheet or in five- and ten-packs at roughly two to five dollars a sheet, at the cheap end of Korean sheet masks and the reason it is bought in bulk for summer.
Recurring themes our editors read across retailer reviews of this product — summaries in our words, not quotations, and not a substitute for your own patch test.
Cooling and refreshing on hot, oily skin
Plumps without any greasiness
Cheap enough for daily summer use
Faint green fragrance
Essence dries down fast on dry skin
Sheet slides around the nose