Now I’m no expert in skincare. Not by a long way off. I put my hands up and admit I am always drawn to the makeup isles and counters more than the skincare – but this could be changing. I think on the whole I’ve been blessed with good skin, not acne prone, not oily and not very sensitive. I am however prone to dry patches, have uneven pigmentation and horrendous dark circles. The last two can be ‘temporarily corrected’ with makeup, but I know paying a little more attention to my skin would probably help in the long run!
So I was watching this video from the wonderful Essiebutton on her top 10 face masks, and this offering by Una Brennan stood out to me the most as being affordable yet effective. Skincare can be incredibly expensive and I’d rather figure out what my skin loves before splashing out £30 odd pounds on a tube of face mask. I’m not sure if it was Essie’s video or if everyone had this hiding in their cupboards and suddenly remembered it all at once, but the blogosphere exploded with reviews and mentions of this pore purifying clay mask shortly after I had bought it. So if you’re sick of this, I apologise! It’s more for the people who aren’t bloggers I guess ^_^ Getting back to the not being an expert in skincare, I had never tried a clay mask before! So I was VERY intrigued about whether it would have any significant effects!
So…on to what Una Brennan says about this mask – it’s a ‘detoxifying mask to unclog pores and restore skin balance.’ I don’t currently have a big issue with my pores, but anything that ‘unclogs’ the stuff in your face sounds great to me. I also like that it restores the balance, although the last couple of weeks I’ve been struggling more with dry skin, when it’s slightly warmer I’ve bizarrely found my face getting slightly shiny/oily? which is odd to deal with when you’re so used to the dry skin so this is great for keeping all skin levels even. It contains Salicylic acid which even I know is fantastic for spots and breakouts. If you read the back you’ll find a whole host of ingredients which contribute to this clay mask..
The verdict..I absolutely love it! Perfect for a Sunday evening pamper night, you slather on an even amount of the greyish clay and it quickly dries and gives you Botox face. As a newbie to the facemask world I was pretty surprised by how hard the clay dries too and tried to avoid any smiling or laughing, which didn’t help by my sister telling me how scary I look! It says leave it on for 5 minutes, but I always stretch it to around 10 and then I take a muslin cloth, run it under warm water and gently soften up the clay and remove it. I’ve said it before, but I don’t think muslin cloths are good for anything other than removing this type of mask as they can be so abrasive to the skin! However they work well with the hard clay you gotta remove.
Every time I use this my skin feels happier, softer and so much more cleaner. I don’t know about you guys, but since using a clay mask I don’t think many regular cleansers can d r a w out all the dirt that our skin is exposed to during the week. Of course this is because of the clay and how it’s filled with stuff that worth's intensively with the skin, and to use such a strong mask every day would be very damaging for the skin, but once a week this stuff is amaaazing. It really does feel like you’ve had a proper expensive facial but at home! For my fellow dry skinned girls out there, you will need to moisturise well after because it does contain oil absorbing properties which is one thing we don’t need! It’s not overly drying though and the ‘new fresh skin’ feeling that you get after really makes it worth the slightly strong scent and kinda drying properties.
I feel like I’ve slightly rambled my way through this review, because talking about a particular skin care product is so out of my comfort zone, but for anyone who didn’t know about this, available from boots for less than a tenner I strongly recommend you give it a go! please remember this being my first ever clay mask, I really don't have a tonne of experience...do ALL clay masks make your skin feel rejuvenated??? let me know in the comments, that'd be so helpful.
P.S I apologise for the difference with the lighting, I’m currently experimenting with my new camera.
Thank-you for reading ♥
