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It’s kind of ironic that face packs, which are designed to make your skin healthier and more beautiful, actually look pretty ghoulish when they’re in use. Often, the price of eventual beauty can be spending a half-hour or so looking like either The Phantom of the Opera or Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface.

Stepping up with an alternative is a Japanese company that’s selling face masks that promise to temporarily transform their wearer into a cute panda or tiger.

The producer of the masks, Isshindo, isn’t a dedicated beauty products manufacturer. The Tokyo-based company actually specializes in salt, crackers, and traditional candies. Recently, though, Isshindo is branching out and has released bath salts, toothpaste, and, last December, kabuki-themed face packs.

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Emboldened by their success in this new field, Isshindo has teamed up with Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo to create face packs styled after two of the zoo’s most popular residents, the Sumatran tiger Kunde and giant pandas Ri Ri and Shin Shin.

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Both species are endangered, and a portion of the proceeds from the animal face packs will go towards their protection, as well as improvements to the facilities inhabited by specimens in captivity, so you can feel like you’ve done something good for the animal kingdom while the mask’s hyaluronan does something good for your skin by moisturizing it.

▼ Isshindo’s simple instructions

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The panda and tiger masks are sold together in a bundle of one each for 880 yen (US $8.60). The set goes on sale May 23, and can be purchased direct from Isshindo here, or at stores such as mega-retailer Tokyu Hands.

Being designed in Japan, the country where cuteness generally trumps everything else, it’s natural to assume the masks make the wearer look adorable. So, let’s take a look at the photo from Isshindo modeling their new product:

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Hmm…we don’t know if we’d call it cute, but if the choice is between the “horror villain” of ordinary face masks and the “pro wrestler” look of Isshindo’s, we’d say the latter is definitely the more attractive of the two.

Source: IT Media
Top image: Isshindo
insert images: Isshindo, Exblog, Ueno Zoo