Mary&May belongs to AIDKOREA, a Seoul-based company. The brand explains its own name: “Mary” is a pure, beautiful woman, “May” is spring and girlish purity, and in the Western tradition May is also the month of Mary. Of the brand’s principles, the one that matters most to a shopper is this: use enough of an active for it to actually do something, not a token amount that earns a claim on the label, and list every ingredient. That’s why Mary&May’s names read like recipes: Tranexamic Acid + Glutathione, Niacinamide + Vitamin C, Hyaluronic Panthenol. The brand states amounts in percentages and in ppm, parts per million: 1,000 ppm is 0.1% of the formula; 10,000 ppm is 1%. That’s how we read each name below: what’s in it, who it’s for and how to use it.
Dark-circle eye cream: Tranexamic Acid + Glutathione
The brand’s bestseller is an eye cream, and the name says it all: tranexamic acid and glutathione, 1,000 ppm of each. Alongside them, niacinamide, vitamin C and panthenol. This recipe is about colour: the brand says the pair “blocks melanin” — the pigment that darkens skin — and brightens a dull, uneven tone around the eyes. So, judging by the ingredients, it’s for circles that have actually darkened; the brand promises nothing for bluish circles, puffiness or eye bags. Use it morning and evening: a moderate amount, gently massaged into the skin around the eyes. It’s fragrance-free. Eye creams from other brands live in our eye creams collection.
30 sheet masks in a box: which of the four to pick
Four of Mary&May’s masks are sold in boxes of 30: open the lid, lift one out with the tweezers that come in the box, put it on. Yes, you can use them every day; that’s how they’re meant to be used. The sheet itself is bamboo fibre. The brand sorts the four recipes by skin concern:
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CICA Houttuynia Tea Tree — calming: centella, houttuynia (heartleaf) and tea tree, three soothing plants at 10,000 ppm each; for irritated skin and breakouts.
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Hyaluronic Panthenol — hydrating: panthenol and hyaluronic acid in several forms; for dry, rough skin.
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Niacinamide Vitamin C — brightening: 2% niacinamide and vitamin C; for dull, darkened skin (what niacinamide does for skin is in our niacinamide guide).
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Collagen Peptide — firming: hydrolysed collagen, six peptides and adenosine; for wrinkles and loss of firmness (we have separate guides to collagen and peptides).
The routine is simple: cleanse, apply toner, leave the mask on for 10–15 minutes, then pat the remaining essence into your skin, avoiding the eyes and lips; in the brand’s instructions that’s the last step — no cream afterwards. One caveat: all four contain fragrance, listed as “Fragrance” on the ingredients list. The CICA mask is meant for sensitive skin, but if your skin reacts to fragrance specifically, that’s worth knowing in advance. Sheet and hydrogel masks from other brands are in our sheet masks collection.
Wash-off clay masks: Lemon Niacinamide and Rose Hyaluronic
Mary&May’s wash-off masks are built on clay, kaolin and bentonite: the brand says the clay draws sebum and impurities out of the pores and preps the skin for makeup. Lemon Niacinamide Glow is for dullness and shine: real ground lemon peel, niacinamide and vitamin C. Rose Hyaluronic Hydra is for dry, rough skin: French rose petals, Damask rose water, five forms of hyaluronic acid and ceramide NP — clay paired with a hydrating recipe, in other words. Both are vegan-certified. Apply a thick layer to a cleansed, dry face, avoiding the eyes and mouth; after 10–15 minutes, once the mask has dried, rinse it off with lukewarm water. How often: the brand doesn’t say. Two more in the line are CICA Tea Tree for calming and Blackberry Complex Glow for radiance. Clay and other wash-off masks are in our face masks collection.
Two layers in one bottle: Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence
Here the recipe is as much about the format as the formula: the bottle holds two layers, cream and essence. Shake it before use: the cream blends into the essence and you get, in the brand’s words, “nutritious cream in a refreshing essence”. It’s for rough skin with a weakened barrier (the skin’s protective layer): that’s what the jojoba oil and ceramide NP are for. What ceramides do is explained in our ceramides guide. It suits sensitive skin too: it’s fragrance-free. The blackberry in the name is the antioxidant of the Blackberry line; blue lotus water is there for hydration and soothing; the formula is vegan-certified. Shake, put a little in your palm, smooth it on and let it absorb. Essences and toners from other brands are in our toners and essences collection.
The rest of the Mary&May range reads the same way, with the active right in the name: serums with centella, hyaluronic acid, peptides, niacinamide or retinol. The brand suggests layering serums that complement each other, one after the other, or mixing a serum into your cream. If you’re starting with just one thing: for dark circles, the eye cream; for everyday care, a box of masks matched to your skin concern.
