The "Green Mask Stick" is a viral TikTok product that apparently reduces facial blemishes like acne, blackheads and dark spots on the skin. There are a number of seemingly sponsored TikTok videos with miraculous results, showing green mask stick to significantly improve skin quality and appearance after only 10 minutes of use.
But can green mask stick dramatically improve skin quality within 10 minutes, or is this a scam? Are the ingredients in green mask stick shown in research studies to improve skin quality? Does it contain any unhealthy additives? And which company is the official manufacturer of green mask stick?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we share our concerns about the manufacturer of green mask stick.
We'll analyze the ingredients in green mask stick based on clinical studies, to give our take on whether or not this product is likely to improve skin quality and acne, and whether or not it's healthy.
We'll also feature unsponsored customer reviews, and share our concerns about the ingredient disclosure.
Unclear Manufacturer
There are many “green mask stick” products online, as you’re probably aware if you’ve tried to purchase the products used in the viral TikTok videos.
There doesn’t appear to be one official manufacturer of this product, and no branded website for this product shows up at the top of the search results on Google at the time of updating this article.
We noticed that a green mask stick brand called Meidián was the one used in most of the viral videos. The most viral TikTok video on green mask stick, shown below, used the Meidián green mask stick:
@kethenydutka #skincare #facemask #greenmask #greenmaskstick #realorfake #testingproducts #productreview #beauty #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound - Ketheny Dutka
The most viral YouTube video on green mask stick, shown below, also used the Meidián green mask stick:
We found the Meidián product on Amazon, and this is the green mask stick formulation we will be reviewing in this article.
It's currently unavailable for purchase at the time of updating this article, but there are Meidián green mask stick products on Amazon from other sellers which are available for sale.
Ingredient Analysis
Meidián green mask stick has four active ingredients, as shown above: glycerin, kaolin, green tea extract and vitamin E.
Glycerin is clinically shown to improve skin hydration when included at a 20% concentration, but the green mask stick company shown above fails to publish the glycerin concentration in their product.
A clinical trial published in the Advances in Dermatology and Venereology journal found that topically-applied glycerin was helpful in treating chronic dry skin.
Kaolin is a type of clay that’s often used in cosmetic masks. There isn’t much research backing its effectiveness.
A 2021 medical review examined the health effects of commercial clays, and concluded that “while many commercially-available bioceutical clays possess mineral constituents found in successful antibacterial clays, they do not possess any antibacterial effects.”
This suggests that this ingredient would be ineffective for treating acne, which is often bacterial in nature.
We can’t locate any clinical studies suggesting that kaolin clay can improve skin quality in humans, nor does the green mask stick company cite any, so we consider this to be an ineffective ingredient.
Green tea extract is the third active ingredient, and this is an effective ingredient choice.
As we discussed in our review of the popular Hanacure mask, clinical studies have shown that green tea extract can significantly delay signs of skin aging due to inhibition of specific skin enzymes.
Vitamin E is another effective choice, as it's been shown in medical research to have a photoprotective effect, meaning it can reduce the damaging effects of solar rays on the skin, which are one of the leading causes of skin aging.
Another medical review found that vitamin E was potentially therapeutic for inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. It can minimize inflammatory immune responses in the skin, according to the study authors.
Overall, we consider Meidián green mask stick to be potentially effective for improving skin quality, but we're unable to identify any clinical studies suggesting it will reduce acne.
The good news is that all four active ingredients in this formulation should be safe and non-toxic.
Failure to Publish All Ingredients
The ingredient list for Meidián Green Mask Stick on Amazon is shown above.
There are four "key" active ingredients shown in the product image from the previous section, and only one ingredient is listed in this official ingredient section.
Many skincare products also contain some inactive ingredients, and inactive ingredients like fragrance and artificial dye may be unhealthy and irritating to the skin.
We're unsure about the full set of both active and inactive ingredients due to this ingredient disclosure discrepancy.
We strongly recommend that consumers avoid skincare products that fail to publish a full ingredient list. There may be allergenic or harmful ingredients that aren't listed as "key" ingredients, and it's impossible to make an informed purchase decision without a full ingredient list.
We urge the manufacturer of this product to publish the full ingredient list on Amazon, as this is an important consumer safety measure.
Dermatologist Reviews Green Mask Stick
One of the most popular reviews of green mask stick on YouTube comes from a dermatologist named Dustin Portela, whose review has over 400,000 views:
Real Customers Review Green Mask Stick
We consider Amazon to be the best resource for honest customer reviews of a product.
Meidián Green Mask Stick has been reviewed over 300 times on Amazon at the time of updating this article, with an average customer review rating of 3 out of 5 stars.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named "Christopher Sullivan" who gives the product a 5/5 star rating, and claims that it smells good:
"So.... this doesn't even kind of do what it's supposed to do. That said, my daughters still love them. They smell amazing and are very soft and gentle...These will NOT clean your pores or remove blackheads."
The top negative review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named "dAnie" who gives the product a 1/5 star rating, and claims that it's ineffective:
"Another advertisement for the green tea mask people place the item on their face and in seconds you see these blackheads, black hairs or dirt unclogging the pores- but not so for us. We didn’t see any of that, makes me wonder!"
Our Clean Skincare Picks
There are skincare products that contain ingredients shown in clinical trials to be effective for reducing wrinkles and improving skin quality.
Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top anti-aging serum.
It contains hyaluronic acid which was described as a "skin-rejuvenating biomedicine" in a medical review due to its ability to reduce wrinkles and signs of facial aging.
HYDRAGLOW by CLEARSTEM is our top moisturizer pick.
It features bakuchiol as an active ingredient which was described in a 2014 clinical trial as "clinically proven to have anti-aging effects."
Bulletproof Collagen Powder is our top skin supplement.
Collagen supplementation was shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology to reduce visible signs of skin aging as well as improve skin elasticity and skin hydration.
All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy or unsafe.
Green Mask Stick FAQs
Does the Green Mask Stick Work?
We consider green mask stick to be potentially effective for improving skin quality, but we do not believe the product is likely to work in 10 minutes as suggested by the promotional videos.
Skincare products, even effectively-formulated ones, tend to take weeks to cause noticeable effects.
How to Use Green Mask Stick?
According to the instructions posted by the brand on Amazon, users should first apply the cream to the face and then allow it to sit for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, once the paste is fully dried, wash it off with water and gently dry the face.
Is Green Mask Stick Available At Walmart?
There is a Meidián green mask stick product available for sale on Walmart’s website, but it has a different listed manufacturer from the product we reviewed in this article.
There are other green mask stick products available on Walmart with different formulations from the one we reviewed, but we would recommend avoiding those as well because the Meidián brand seems to be the most popular version of this product.
Does the Green Mask Stick Contain Chia Seeds?
Some of the promotional TikTok videos of green mask stick included chia seeds, but this ingredient isn’t in the formulation of the Meidián green mask stick reviewed in this article.
Topical chia seed application may have a moisturizing effect, but we haven't come across any clinical studies suggesting that chia seed has powerful dermatological effects such as wrinkle reduction or acne reduction.
Pros and Cons of Green Mask Stick
Here are the pros and cons of green mask stick in our opinion:
Pros:
- Green tea extract has anti-aging effect
- Vitamin E can protect skin from sun damage
- Affordable
- Active ingredients don't appear to be harmful
Cons:
- Unclear official manufacturer
- Failure to publish full ingredient list on Amazon
- Unclear if inactive ingredients exist
- Mediocre Amazon reviews
- Popular TikTok videos on the product include some unscientific claims
- Amateur branding/packaging
- Unable to identify brand's website
