DOSSIER

Recently, a few of my friends gave me samples of the organic clay masks they are using this season. I’m always afraid that clay masks will over dry my skin, so to prevent this, I did a facial steam before applying each mask. There are many ways to do a facial steam. You can simply boil water, put it in a bowl and stand over it while the steam rises and until the water cools. I used my handheld clothing steamer instead.  After filling it with water, I placed it on the bathroom sink and stood about 12 inches away from the steam for about 15 minutes (until the water was gone). If you do this, just be careful not to get too close, you don’t want to burn yourself. Facial steams open all of your pores and help hydrate your skin, perfectly prepping your skin for a clay mask. I wanted to give each organic clay mask a test run before I shared them here with you. After using them interchangeably throughout the past few weeks, here is what I found…

Herbivore Botanicals Pink Clay Mask // I used this mask as an overall exfoliant, about once a week. I found it was the best of the three masks at remove the flakey dry skin from my face. After my facial steam, I kept the mask on for a minimum of 30 minutes, and up to two hours. After rinsing the mask off, while my skin was still damp, I applied avocado oil. For winter, I replace my daily jojoba oil with organic avocado oil because it is heavier and more hydrating. Each morning after using the pink clay mask, my skin looks fresh and glowing.

Herbivore Botanicals Tourmaline Clay Mask // As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to get hormonal acne around my jaw line and chin, especially when I am PMSing. When I felt pimples ready to emerge on my chin and jaw line, I applied this mask to the entire area before going to bed. My boyfriend had to get over my clay mask “beard” for the evening, but I woke up with almost every pre-pimple bump deflated or ready to pop. I’ve never had this result with any other product, and believe me, I’ve tried hundreds.

Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay // My friend advised me to use this as an overnight spot treatment for cystic acne because it is very drying. So I followed my friend’s advice, using the Indian healing clay as an overnight spot treatment, but I still found that the tourmaline clay mask did a better job.

Do you have a favorite organic clay mask I should try?