When it comes to our skin-care routines, there’s no step perhaps more indulgent than doing a face mask. Whether you prefer a deep-cleansing clay mask or a hydrating overnight gel formula, there’s no better form of beauty T.L.C. than devoting 20 to 30 minutes to take care of your skin. “[Face masks] are designed to deliver high concentrations of active ingredients to your skin,” Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, tells Allure. “Generally speaking, masks are used intermittently to help give your skin a boost when it needs it.”

And while our desks are continually graced by new product launches on the daily (a tough job, we know, but someone’s got to do it), we’re taking a step back to spotlight the best face masks that left our complexions brighter, dewier, less congested, and just generally glowed-up. Happy masking!

Lancer Clarifying Detox Mask with Green Tea and 3% Sulfur

Those with acne-prone and oily skin will love the Lancer Clarifying Detox Mask with Green Tea and 3% Sulfur, which is made with a blend of clay, sulfur, azelaic acid, and fruit extracts. It was even created by a dermatologist for his own clients. According to Lancer himself, “Acne and aging are triggered by the same mechanisms,” and his skin-care products take on both with a double whammy. Because of this, the mask won a 2019 Allure Best of Beauty Award.

$75 (Shop Now)

Dr. Dennis Gross Clarifying Mask With Colloidal Sulfur

Part of Dr. Dennis Gross’s DRx Blemish Solutions collection, the Clarifying Mask With Colloidal Sulfur relies on some of least-drying acne-fighting ingredients — colloidal sulfur, bentonite clay, and kaolin clay, to be specific — to help clear up breakouts. Worn overnight, it makes a noticeable difference on the angriest blemishes without causing any additional irritation. In fact, your skin will even feel soothed come morning.

$28 (Shop Now)

Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Mask

The Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Mask pumps out as a gel and soaks in as a cream, which is a cool enough reason to give it a try, but you’ll keep coming back to it for the brightening vitamin C delivered via moisturizing squalane.

$48 (Shop Now)

Burt’s Bees Restoring Antioxidant Mask

There are a lot of reasons to hate pollution, but what it does to your skin is the one that hits closest to home. One way to fight back against its dulling effects: this Burt’s Bees Restoring Antioxidant Mask. Of all of its natural ingredients, green tea takes the spotlight as the antioxidant powerhouse. The formula hydrates to give skin a noticeable boost while preparing it to face another day outside.

$15 (Shop Now)

Renée Rouleau Rapid Response Detox Masque

Renée Rouleau promises, if you use the Rapid Response Detox Masque right when you sense a breakout coming on, this calming gel formula will essentially interrupt the erruption. But it’s not just for acne — Rouleau also recommends it when you’re puffy after partying and even to soothe skin after waxing.

$65 (Shop Now)

VENeffect Skin Calming Mask

Old-school mineral ingredients, such as calamine, zinc, and pink clay, are modernized with the VENeffect Skin Calming Mask. The 2019 Allure Best of Beauty winner can be slathered all over your face to slough away dead skin cells and banish breakouts, or you can dab it on blemishes to clear them up overnight.

$60 (Shop Now)

Herbivore Botanicals’s Blue Tansy Resurfacing Clarity Mask

The serious tingle factor from Herbivore Botanicals’s Blue Tansy Resurfacing Clarity Mask will let you know it’s working. And thanks to the alpha and beta hydroxy acids and white willow bark, skin will be left looking and feeling smooth post-rinse and beyond.

$48 (Shop Now)

Dr. Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner

A pore-purifying powerhouse, this 2019 Best of Beauty-winning maskemploys glycolic and salicylic acids to gently exfoliate and suck up oil. Tiny beads in the Dr. Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner get massaged into skin, releasing iris root and rose extract to nourish skin as the mask tightens.

$42 (Shop Now)

Drunk Elephant F-Balm Electrolyte Waterfacial Mask

Just like electrolytes in a drink help rehydrate your body, the electrolytes in this formula bring your skin back to a more hydrated, supple state. You can also thank ceramides, omega fatty acids, and antioxidants for their barrier-replenishing help.

$52 (Shop Now)

Dior Hydra Life Glow Better Jelly Mask

Consider the Dior Hydra life Glow Better Jelly Mask one that fully lives up to its name, thanks to botanical extracts packed with exfoliating alpha hydroxy acids and an invigorating gel texture. Oh, and did we mention it only takes three minutes to use?

$69 (Shop Now)

Caudalie Instant Detox Mask

Combat excess oil and breakouts with the deep-cleansing Caudalie Instant Detox Mask, which contains papaya enzymes to brighten, plus pink clay and coffee to target blackheads.

$39 (Shop Now)

Fresh Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask

It takes a lot for a mask to call itself a not one, not two, but three-time Best of Beauty winner. Fresh’s Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask is an all-star in our book due to its potent antioxidant-rich formula, and the fact that it leaves skin feeling “rose-petal soft.”

$92 (Shop Now)

Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial

A whopping 25-percent alpha hydroxy acid formula packs a serious punch in Drunk Elephant’s T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial, which quickly won over skin-care fanatics with its gentle yet effective approach to at-home exfoliation. “Ingredients such as matcha and milk thistle contain potent antioxidant and anti-pollution properties, which help to condition and soothe redness,” Shereene Idriss, a dermatologist at Union Square Laser Dermatology in New York City, tells Allure.

$80 (Shop Now)

First Aid Beauty Hello FAB Ginger and Turmeric Vitamin C Jelly Mask

Like a Jello shot for your skin, The First Aid Beauty Hello FAB Ginger and Turmeric Vitamin C Jelly Mask is a cooling jelly mask (and Allure Best of Beauty 2019 pick) that hydrates and brightens skin with antioxidant-packed ingredients, like ginger, turmeric, and vitamin C. Plus, lactic acid gently exfoliates to leave your face feeling all radian, fresh, and new.

$32 (Shop Now)

Kiehl’s Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Mask

If the (skin) thirst is real, consider the Kiehl’s Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Mask a complexion oasis. The cooling gel formula not only feels incredible on skin, but if you’re a fan of the brand’s toner, consider the duo a match made in skin-care heaven.

$45 (Shop Now)

GlamGlow Supermud Clearing Treatment

When it comes to acne-fighting masks, the GlamGlow Supermud Clearing Treatment is a game-changer. After leaving it on for 10 minutes, you can visibly see the oil drawn out from your pores (yuck, but in a good way), and after rinsing, skin is left looking brighter than ever.

$59 (Shop Now)

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Pore Exfoliating Clay Mask

Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple Pore Exfoliating Clay Mask — a 2017 Best of Beauty winner — contains salicylic acid to gently exfoliate skin and ward off breakouts. Another plus? It just takes five minutes to work its magic.

$35 (Shop Now)

Origins Original Skin Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay

The Origins Original Skin Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay is adored by many a beauty editor, and it’s easy to see why: It instantly minimizes the appearance of pores and leaves your complexion looking beyond glowy — and clocks in at under $30.

$26 (Shop Now)

Peter Thomas Roth Irish Moor Mud Purifying Black Mask

Not all mud masks are created equal. Case in point: Peter Thomas Roth’s Irish Moor Mud Purifying Black Mask doesn’t leave your complexion feeling the least bit parched, so if you’re looking for a mask that will decongest skin without drying it out, look no further.

$60 (Shop Now)

Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask

While Sisley’s Black Rose Cream Mask — you know, with its $166 price tag and all — exists firmly in “splurge” territory, the brightening, dewy results of this mask speak for itself.

$166 (Shop Now)

SK-II Facial Treatment Mask

“SK-II’s Facial Treatment Mask offers a super-luxe hydrating experience,” says Idriss, who encourages patients to save the remaining essence (which there’s a ton of in that little packet, FYI). “The power player here is pitera, a blend of vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and organic acids, that work together to stimulate cellular repair and promote more efficient skin regeneration. The results are a brightened, moisturized, and smoother skin surface.”

$95 (Shop Now)

Sunday Riley Saturn Sulfur Acne Treatment Mask

Breakouts don’t stand a chance against Sunday Riley’s Saturn Sulfur Acne Treatment Mask. And unlike other formulas, Saturn addresses much more than just blackheads; it also clears congested pores, hormonal acne, and emerging zits.

$55 (Shop Now)

Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask

Take the farm-to-skin approach with Tata Harper’s Resurfacing Mask, which curbs excess oil and evens skin tone by gently exfoliating.

$65 (Shop Now)

Laneige Water Sleeping Mask

Don’t sleep on Laneige’s Water Sleeping Mask, which, as one Allureeditor put it, is the beauty product equivalent of skin-care commercial models rinsing their faces serenely “by dramatically splashing water on it in slow motion.”

$25 (Shop Now)

ALLURE article