Boosting and Firming Power in One Mask | Elizavecca Botanitch Hydrogel Collagen Recipe Mask Pack Review

In 2025, hydrogel masks have been rising through the ranks of all skincare. With a soothing, cooling seaweed gel base, the masks are more gentle on your skin than abrasive sheet masks and help fuse to your skin to infuse ingredients deeper into your skin barrier. They have been a massive success and a delightful treat from a variety of brands – and now have been launched by a K-Beauty favourite. Elizavecca!  

If you don’t know Elizavecca, that’s understandable – but they are a Korean skincare great who has made waves in Seoul with their recognizable red-headed mascot and quirky, delightful packaging (often containing pigs of various shades and kinds). They package simple, but fun skincare into unique packaging with their most famous products including their 100% Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum and their Gold Hydrogel Eye Patches.  

In June 2025, they released their new prize item – the Collagen Hydrogel Face Mask. It’s designed to be a slow absorption release of hydrolyzed collagen deep into your skin barrier, along with a variety of hydrating agents to soften and firm fine lines. It is refreshing, gentle, soothing and firming – all in a little hydrogel treat. Let’s put it to the test! 

So, what else is infused in this hydrogel mask? As we mentioned, the base is made of ‘Chrondrus Crispus’ - aka seaweed extract. Seaweed is a favourite of skincare, due to not only its soothing, mineral-rich formula, but also because it deeply hydrates and softens skin, making it a perfect avenue to infuse skincare ingredients into your skin barrier.  

Panthenol: Soothing Vitamin B5 that helps nourish and protect the skin barrier, perfect to calm irritated or sensitive skin. 

Shea butter: nourishing molecules that help seal the skin barrier to prevent water loss, whilst also softening and hydrating skin. 

Allantoin: helps moisturize and hydrate skin barrier, whilst calming inflammation and redness, for clearer and softer skin. 

Niacinamide: brightening vitamin B3 that helps lift dark spots and even skin tone, whilst infusing a lasting glow. 

Adenosine: vital molecule that helps boost moisture and reduce fine lines to enhance natural skin elasticity. Interacts with skin cells to boost collagen production and healing. 

Collagen Extract: powerful molecule that helps improve skin moisture and fine lines, whilst softening and improving skin texture. Is the source of skin’s natural elasticity. 

Sodium Hyaluronate/Hyaluronic Acid: powerful water humectant that helps draw moisture to it (like a magnet) and absorbs into your skin to plump and maintain lasting moisture. 

This is a lightweight and soothing hydrogel mask for hydration – so it’s generally safe for most people to use. It’s not overly oily or occlusive, so is safe for use in acne-prone skin (as long as you don’t wear it overnight). It does contain fragrance – so if you are sensitive, it might not be the hydrogel mask for you. 

You are most likely to see results if you have dry skin, fine lines and are looking to add lift to your face. 

As far as most gel masks go, this mask is quite dry. It’s carefully formulated so it’s not dripping wet when you take it out of the packet, as the ingredients only absorb when in contact with skin. It comes as a bright white, jelly-like mask (which you can puncture easily so be gentle with it). The instructions recommend you use toner beforehand to improve your skin absorption – which I absolutely recommend. I used it immediately after cleansing and using toner, which allowed the mask to seal easily and quickly to my face, to enhance the absorption process. 

The trick with this mask is that it starts off white, but as the ingredients inside absorb, it turns clear – which signals to you that the treatment is done! It’s 3-4 hours to absorb, which is quite a commitment, so I made sure I had my favourite show and some snacks. The hydrogel is so cooling and refreshing, which made it easy to wear (and it wasn’t as drippy as a sheet mask, so I didn’t feel like I was on the clock). I’ve attached pictures of the mask wear and it comes in two halves for a comfortable fit (as well as additional pieces which I didn’t know quite what to do with), so I relaxed in and just let the mask do it’s work. You can also wear this mask overnight as a sealing treatment (which is ideal for dry skin to maximize moisture and can be worn with a moisturizer before bed to deeply boost skin hydration). 

As my skin is more on the oily side, the 3-4 hours worked well to lift and firm skin, without causing acne or pore irritation. Here is the before and after, where you can see the enhanced moisture and shine to my skin. Although you can’t see it in the pictures, my skin felt softer and more firmer and it was refreshing treatment option for the end of the day when I felt I needed a lift. I think the benefit of this mask is that it’s suitable for most all skin types – as it’s not too occlusive for oily skin, but hydrating and refreshing enough to boost dry skin. 

It would be a great recommendation before an important event (as it’s gentle formulation means things are not going to go wrong last minute) and it provides that confident boost your skin needs to feel it’s best. My only sad take-away is that there is only one mask (even though it’s called a mask pack). Elizavecca does sell it in a 4x pack some places – but not that I could find (and I was kind of expecting 4 when I ordered it – so do be aware, it’s just the one-time treatment).  

Overall, however, it is a quality hydrogel mask – nourishing, firming and plumping and great for all skin types. 

For Elizavecca’s first hydrogel mask release – this is a solid, simple formula that suits most people (as Elizavecca specializes in). It is a good reminder of why hydrogel masks are so popular and includes all those tasty humectants and emollients your skin needs to feel firm, soft and plump. 

Looking for your next exciting new skincare product? Check out the classic range of Elizavecca. Long-standing products in the skincare world that fit into any routine, with simple and effective formulas. Shop on Arktastic!