Lianna Albrizio, Assistant Editor06.09.22
With the widespread ban of single-use plastic and brown paper bags at grocery stores and consumers’ switch to reusable totes, one “green” skincare brand has created a reusable sheet mask: Avant Guard by Experiment Beauty.
Based in New York City, Experiment is a Gen Z-centric, sustainable beauty brand founded by cosmetic chemists Lisa Guerrera and Emmy Ketcham who are working to disrupt the skincare category with inventive, environmentally-friendly products that are as exciting to use as they are effective.
The reusable, hand-washable lime-green colored mask, made from 100% medical-grade silicone, keeps complexions youthful while forgoing the plastic packaging and nonwoven materials that get discarded while using a traditional single-use sheet mask, according to the company co-founder.
“The science-backed beauty brand essentially needs a face lift for the next generation of consumers,” said Guerrera. “Our three main pillars are clinically-backed products, sustainable and ridiculously fun.
Avant Guard: Occlusive Barrier Seals in Hydration
Unlike competitors’ single-use products, Avant Guard’s silicone mask is not soaked in a serum. Instead, consumers cleanse their face and apply their tried-and-true serums and moisturizers before applying Avant Guard for 20 minutes, or up to two hours for a deeper treatment.
Avant Guard works as a dry, occlusive barrier. Guerrera contends the single-use masks made of permeable cotton and biocellulose cause serum to “evaporate off the skin,” while a non-porous silicone mask allows for optimum product absorption to unveil a plump, dewy complexion upon peeling off. Avant Guard is available in two sizes (large and small) with patent-pending hyper-stretch “earloops” that allow for a proper, no-slip fit on any size face. (A consumer even demonstrated his ability to do a handstand while wearing it to prove its adhesiveness!)
Avant Guard can be used in the morning before makeup application or before bedtime to prep the skin as it undergoes its nightly reparation process while asleep.
“Cleanse first,” advised Guerrera. “Before you go with an exfoliating active or prescription product, you put on your hydrating serums or toners and moisturizer, then Avant Guard. If focused on hydration, layer on [hydrating products] then Avant Guard on top to seal it all in.”
The mask can be rinsed with soap and water after each use. Because its non-porous, it won’t absorb odors. The mask can be hang-dried or patted down with a washcloth and stored for later use.
Quantifiable Sustainability Claims
Avant Guard was bootstrapped with a soft launch in November 2020 to gauge consumer interest and test its marketability. After it sold-out on the Experiment Beauty website, Guerrera and Ketcham raised capital and officially launched Avant Guard this past April following input from 200 users and a new design with the patent-pending earloop squiggles.
“Experiment is leaning to the science aspect of the company. We’re both chemists,” said Guerrera. “The brand aesthetics that we champion are bright, funky and little absurd. Avant Guard is perfectly aligned. As in traditional art sense, ‘avant garde’ means experimental.”
To demonstrate their commitment to environmental conservation, Experiment Beauty partnered with Blue Bird, a climate tech platform that helps companies verify information about their purported waste-saving ways. The partnership affirms their stance as a so-called “guard” against greenwashing.
“We feel very strongly that sustainability claims should be quantified and measured and made publicly available to consumers, if we’re going to make certain claims,” explained Guerrera. “We feel as a company, we have an obligation to make a product that’s better for the environment and better for consumers. That’s why Avant Guard is so amazing. It really does create an opportunity for consumers to feel like they're making an impact, and we’re quantifying that impact.”
For instance, traditional single-use masks, she learned, can contain between 10-15 milliliters of serum, which equates to roughly one half of a standard serum bottle.
“That may sound generous, but it’s really a huge waste of product, and we’re shipping that around the world as well,” she said. “Think of half a serum bottle being shipped around the world for one use.”
Avant Guard’s silicone mask, which is resistant to microbial growth, prevents 99.9% of water from evaporating off of the skin—a substantial advantage in maintaining hydration, Guerrera noted. According to the company, Avant Guard accounts for 93% less carbon emissions and plastic waste by 84% than its competition; that’s assuming using the mask for one year, biweekly.
“By 2025, there will be 320 million sheet masks produced every single year,” said Guerrera. “All of those sheet masks have a shelf life of about a year or two, and all of those will end up in landfill at some point because none of them are recyclable. It’s all single-use waste being created—hundreds of millions every single year–and Avant Guard is an opportunity to essentially replace that as the industry standard.”
Avant Guard is available at ExperimentBeauty.com.