Beauty

Should You Sheet Mask Your Vagina?

Taking self-care to a whole new level

Sometimes it feels like you can't scroll through Instagram without stumbling across at least one person you know looking like a B-movie serial killer thanks to the now-ubiquitous beauty trend known as the sheet mask. These self-care beauty-boosters are one of the easiest ways to not only freak out your friends while they scan social media but also to keep your skin soft and supple, not to mention filled with a genuine glow. And while sheet masks have become so widely used that even the New York Times has noticed them, they aren't just for the face anymore; they're also used regularly on individual body parts, like the lips and eye area.

But what about for the vagina? This, anyway, is a question I've been asking myself after reading an article on Refinery29 commanding that "you need to start sheet-masking your vagina." Now, even though we live in the age of vagina facials ("vagacials"), and even though I love nothing more than relaxing on my couch watching old episodes of Game of Thrones, waiting for my Caviar delivery to come, drinking wine, and sporting a swath of snail excretion-infused linen on my face, I had never before thought to treat my vag (by which, technically, I mean vulva) the same way. 

And yet, as writer Alix Tunell points out, it makes a lot of sense; these masks, after all, are pretty much "the perfect middle ground between body moisturizer... and alcohol-based or acidic toners (which do help, but really dry out the area). Plus, it's just a strangely luxurious thing to do—before a date or just for yourself." 

As long as you're not using anything that's too acidic (which could be far too harsh for delicate skin), all you're doing by sheet-masking your nether regions is taking a little extra time to treat a part of your body that you probably don't focus on as much as you should (if only because you should be focusing on it basically always). 

So for those of us (all of us, probably) who are looking to step up our at-home pampering game, or who at least want to do one weird thing during our downtime over the weekend, consider the vagina sheet-mask. It seems like a pretty good idea.