I feel like this clay mask is vastly overlooked because of, what I like to call “sheet mask culture” or the ever popular hashtag #skintertainment. You don’t see people posting about clay masks as often as sheet masks, and maybe there’s something to it? I mean, I love a good moisturizing sheet mask just as much as the next, but yet, I also find myself using less and less of clay masks in favor of the moisture giving counterpart. And the reality behind it is, clay masks attracts and removes impurities from your skin, whereas sheet masks deposit nutrient dense essences and serums. Really, I guess I’m just a little turned off by the idea of a product removing impurities when I can instead give my skin the nutrients it deserves (plus I don’t have to wash it off when I’m done!). Anywho, I think we should try to remind ourselves that masks other than sheet masks exist!

 

Packaging

The clay mask comes in a 100mL cylindrical container with a screw on top. One slight downside is that the container has a slight lip right below the screw on top which I’ve found becomes a product gathering haven. Further, to properly remove product from under this lip, you have to curve your finger slightly and encourage the use of those newly manicured nails you’ve probably been growing out for exactly this occasion!

Smell

Unless I take a really large deep breath through my nose straight out of the container, I notice absolutely nothing when I wear this mask. Now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever used a clay mask that has had a smell to it? So, maybe I’m just a sensitive sally to scent.

Potential Irritants

Alright. For all you geeky types like myself, this is your meat and potatoes. I personally like to use COSDNA as it lists all the ingredients and categorizes each chemical into what function it serves in the product alongside listing the potential irritants or comedogenic on a scale of 1-5. The ones that come to alarm are:

Butylene Glycol, a surfactant and emulsifier, rates as 1 for it’s acne/comodogenic qualities

Cetearyl Alochol, a surfactant, hydrophilic thickener, and an emulsifier, rates as a 2 for being comedogenic and 2 for an overall potential irritant

Stearic Acid, a surfactant, an emulsion stabilizer and lipophilic thickener.

Hydrogenated vegetable oil rates as a three for it’s comedogenic qualities as an emollient.

Keep in mind, these are four ingredients out of the 37 listed, and just because I’ve highlighted these ingredients certainly does not mean you will have a negative experience with this product.

Application and Removal

 

I find that this clay mask glides on application. There is minimal dragging especially compared to other clay masks that I’ve used. It is similar to a thicker cream. After waiting around 15 minutes, I went to wash off the mask and honestly, it was fairly difficult to wash away. My god, this sucker dries and adheres to your face. But after adding in a little bit of elbow grease (and warmer water), it came off and my face was exceptionally smooth! I completely forgot how soothing this made my face feel. I do not have any current pimples or acne so I can’t say it helped diminish any existing impurities, but it certainly got rid of some unwanted dead skin (which may have just been from my rubbing the mask away, but hey, I’ll take it).

 

Ratings:

Application: 7/10; No tugging, pulling, only downside was having to wash off (which is not too big of a deal in my opinion, I’m just a complainer tehehe)

Product Claims: 7/10; Clay claims to purify skin, and I noticed the clairity for about two days post product use, which is something I was honestly happily surprised about.

Final Thoughts/Tl;Dr

I always forget that I have this product. To me, this is very much a “safety” mask, as I know it won’t irritate my skin. And Hey! For the what, 10 (ish) dollars this mask is, I’ll take it! I am happy with the results and am now thinking I really need to include this more regularly in my skincare routine.

 

Happy Masking,

Noelle