Brand Overview: Sage & Tera
- Tala
- Feb 19, 2019
- 7 min read
One of the reasons Tala With The Good Skin was created was to shine the spotlight on great local brands that make great products. The Philippines (and to a wider extent, Southeast Asia) has a lot of amazing beauty products beyond the typical drugstore or high street fare that we're used to! Here's one of my favorite local discoveries from last year, Sage & Tera.
(Full disclosure: I received two items from the brand because I was one of their contest winners last year--the Icky Green Goo Detoxifying Mask and The Aftermask. However, I already purchased The Aftermask prior to that. My winning the contest does not in any way change my personal opinion on any of these products!)
Sage & Tera is a relative newcomer to the local beauty scene, opening (IG) shop in February of last year. As of this writing, they have five products on offer--three face masks (Vanishing Spell, Icky Green Goo, and The Cullen DNA), a face mist (The Aftermask), and a 'moisture booster'--think of it as an essence or an ampoule (Tala).
When they first started, I was so intrigued because they offered something I'd never really seen before locally--skincare centered around face masks, and multimasking. The brand aesthetic also reminded me a lot of Herbivore Botanicals (which I love!), and the products were extremely affordable, so I decided to take a chance on the brand.
I messaged the brand's IG page to ask for a complete ingredients list for all products, but I guess my message got lost in the aether. As a result, I'm just going by the ingredients the brand has listed on the product labels or their IG posts.
Each mask serves different skin needs:
Vanishing Spell-- The acne buster. The star ingredients here are tea tree and curcumin (turmeric), which has been used in many cultures for its medicinal properties. It's also a very popular at-home skin treatment in South Asia, with celebrities like kween Priyanka Chopra swearing by homemade turmeric masks. Turmeric is also one of the cornerstones of many Ayurvedic Indian beauty brands such as Forest Essentials and Kama Ayurveda, touted for its skin brightening properties, among other skin benefits. I've talked about how much I love this mask, but check out this post in case you haven't yet.
I find that it's more watery in consistency (which I prefer) than the other two masks, which makes it easier to apply. It has a strong herbal scent (you can really smell the tea tree off the bat), but personally it doesn't bother me, as my Chinese upbringing has made me practically immune to strong herbal/medicinal smells. This will stain anything it comes into contact with (e.g., your spa/masking headband, your nice white shirt), so if you're applying this straight with your fingers (as opposed to a masking brush), make sure to wash your hands right after application.
Icky Green Goo-- The detox mask. Its key ingredients are French green clay, volcanic ash (bentonite), and peppermint. The French green clay and bentonite are there to remove toxins in the skin and absorb sebum, and evening primrose oil is known for helping wounds heal faster and for its anti-aging properties. Peppermint is a tricky ingredient; studies show that Mentha piperita, despite its antibacterial and antioxidant qualities, can cause skin irritations in some individuals. Just be wary if you have sensitive skin, or if you're allergic to peppermint.
This mask also contains evening primrose oil, which has skin-soothing benefits. All these ingredients reminded me of another mint-based mask (which also has evening primrose, except the latter uses the seeds and not the oil itself), Lush's Mask of Magnaminty.
The consistency of the mask is somewhere in between Vanishing Spell and The Cullen; not quite as liquidy/runny as Vanishing Spell, but not as dry as The Cullen. It is very creamy when applied, and has a smell that reminds me a lot of going to the spa--a very nice, relaxing, low-key minty scent. I call this my 'Sunday mask' because this is what I use during downtime on Sundays to prep my skin for the work week.
The Cullen DNA-- The glow mask. This is probably my favorite! In case you're wondering what Alpha Hydroxy Acids are (and why you keep seeing them on more and more beauty products as of late), it's a compound that comes from sugarcane, milk, grapes, etc., and helps to exfoliate and improve the moisture retention of your skin.
Again, like with Icky Green Goo, the ingredients and claims of this mask remind me of another product that is several times more expensive-- the Herbivore Botanicals Blue Tansy AHA + BHA Resurfacing Clarity Mask. I actually this mask way better than the Blue Tansy mask because I am literally getting the same benefits of the Blue Tansy mask, but at a fraction of the price.
This has the thickest texture among the three masks, and is also the driest of the three. You'll really need to dig your fingers or spatula into this to get out the product, but it's creamy when applied. I can't quite place the scent of this, but it reminds me of salon chemicals, like what you smell when you get your hair dyed. The scent is neither strong nor off-putting, however, and you don't really smell it once it's applied.
If, like me, you find these masks to be a bit drying, you can mix some of your favorite face oil with the mask (I'm currently using The Ordinary's Rosehip Oil) and just let it sit for 15-20 minutes.
You can also multimask, where you apply a bit of each mask to selected areas. As an example, I use Vanishing Spell to spot-treat pimples, Icky Green Goo on my forehead, and The Cullen on my cheeks.
The Aftermask Face Mist-- Like a strong, independent woman who don't need no man, The Aftermask is a very ambitious multi-tasking product. According to the brand, it is a pH balancing and restorative toner, a hydrating and moisturizing all-day mist, and a plump skin makeup base/primer that can be used for a dewy/glass skin makeup finish. It also soothes eczema and psoriasis, contains vanilla bean extract for migraine and insomnia relief, and is a completely paraben-free, noncomedogenic, cruelty-free, and vegan product.
The Aftermask was a product that, if I'm remembering correctly, Sage & Tera initially created to spray on after masking to restore moisture to the skin. It has since evolved into a flexible product with several uses.
Does it live up to the claims?
I checked out the moisture levels in my skin after masking, but before Aftermask:
Here are the results after applying Aftermask:
A small increase in moisture and oil levels.
This has a strong floral vanilla scent which lingers for under a minute once it's on your skin. Strong vanilla scents sometimes give me a headache, but my nose doesn't object to this. Your mileage may vary, of course. I usually use this after masking, but I've also been enjoying it lately as a face mist. I have yet to try it as a makeup setting spray, although many reviews on BeautyMNL have been raving about it as a setting spray.
Again, I have to compare this to the Herbivore Botanicals Rose Hibiscus Coconut Water Hydrating Face Mist, because they're both lovely face mists with similar claims (and color). If you're torn between this mist and the Herbivore mist, save your money and get the Sage & Tera one! This is much, much better than Herbivore in terms of quality and price. The packaging is great, too; the glass bottle it comes in feels expensive, and personally, I'm a big fan of their branding/labels (something that is sometimes overlooked by a lot of local brands). The mist that comes out isn't as fine as the Herbivore mist, so keep this at arm's length when you're spritzing so it doesn't disturb your makeup (if you're using it as a setting spray).
Last, but definitely not the least, is the Tala Midnight Drops.
Tala is Sage & Tera's moisturizer packed with promising ingredients, such as plant-derived oils like jojoba and blue yarrow, hyaluronic acid, seaweed extract, glycerin, acai berry, and aloe vera.
Off the bat we have a ton of good ingredients to work with. Jojoba oil is widely known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties, blue yarrow has been known for its wound healing properties. Hyaluronic acid is a humectant, which draws water from your surroundings to your skin, thereby boosting your skin's moisture levels. Acai berry is a widely known antioxidant that works to heal wounds and helps with hyperpigmentation. Finally, aloe vera is, of course, an extremely effective skincare ingredient for moisturizing skin and healing wounds.
It's a very lightweight moisturizer with a lovely bluish tinge (likely due to the blue yarrow). The texture is runny, almost watery, and it has a scent that I can't place. Sniffing the product from the bottle, you get a kind of vegetable oil smell, but once you pick up the product with the dropper and put it onto your hand, it has a strong, albeit pleasant, herbal/floral scent which goes away when it's actually on your face.
How moisturizing is it?
Before Tala, my skin had a moisture level of 53.1% and oil level of 16.9%.
After Tala, a slight increase in both moisture and oil levels.
All in all, I love all the products from Sage & Tera and highly recommend them to anyone looking for high quality local products. Since I started writing this post (which has been a month in the making), S&T has since released a new foaming cleanser that comes in two variants, called Soja (for all skin types) and Soja+ (for troubled skin). While I normally don't like foaming cleansers (they're too stripping/drying for me), I might have to check this one out.
HM sis: Vanishing Spell, The Cullen DNA, and Icky Green Goo all cost P295. The Aftermask costs P245, and Tala Midnight Drops costs P315 on Sage & Tera's Shopee page. They also have value bundles-- Face Protocol (all 3 masks + The Aftermask), which costs P999 (P131 savings), and Face Protocol + Tala for P1,251 (P194 savings).
As of this writing, Sage & Tera is also available on BeautyMNL for the same prices, but only the masks (only Icky Green Goo and Vanishing Spell are available) and The Aftermask (out of stock) are on the site.
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