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I’ve been brainstorming ideas for what we should call my foray into adding more beauty content on here: Beauty for Noobs, Beauty for Newbies….or Beauty for the Girl Who Has No Idea What She’s Doing (BGWHNIWSD for short, hahaha). While I’m still brainstorming names, I thought we would ease in with one of my favorite topics: face masks!
Why Do I Love Face Masks?
Before I was ever really into beauty, I loved face masks! I loved how they made my skin feel after they were done and how you could basically find a face mask for every need. I also loved the wide variety in face options. You can do a wash off mask, a peel away mask, or a sheet mask! Personally, sheet masks are my favorite because they’re the easiest to apply and clean up, but I also love the feeling of peeling off a peel away mask (is that weird?).
Why You Should Start Using Face Masks
If you don’t use face masks yet, I definitely suggest you consider it! There are so many benefits to using them. Besides just pampering (which is great), they can help with so many different things.
Deep Cleansing
Yes, you should take off your make up every night and wash your face. But that doesn’t always do the full job that your face can need! A mask that deep cleanses will draw out impurities from your pores. You can actually see the improvements and changes in your pores!
Masks that Deep Clean
If you want a mask that deep cleans, you should look for ingredients like tea tree oil, ginger, peppermint, and lemon juice. They may also have ingredients like honey and cocoa butter to help your skin soften!
Unclog Pores
Okay, so we talked about a deep clean, but what if you really need to unclog those pores? A deep clean can go under the top layers of the epidermis, but if something gets clogged into your pores, it can go deep down into the surface. It can then arise as a breakout, a blemish, or just one giant pimple. A mask that you use regularly and focuses on unclogging pores can help with preventing those breakouts.
Masks that Unclog Pores
When you’re on the hunt for these masks, you’ll search for ingredients like clay. Yup, I said clay. It can really help with oily skin and drawing out impurities.
Sooth
Ugh, you know those days where you feel stressed and then all of a sudden your skin feels stressed? And then you get stressed because your skin is all of a sudden red? Then you’re stuck in an endless cycle? Masks can help with getting you out of that cycle and soothing your skin. Certain active ingredients can help appease redness and cool the skin!
Masks that Sooth Skin
If you skin is feel super red and needs some comforting, look for active ingredients like rose, chamomile, lavender, and calamine.
Exfoliate
If you have sensitive or dry skin, you should only be exfoliating your face at home once or twice a week. Masks can help you with this! You should exfoliate your face to help remove the dead cells and allow pores to absorb nutrients. It can help your pores look smaller and increase circulation in the skin, giving it a nice glow (which I’ll talk about in a minute).
Masks that Exfoliate Skin
If you want to try out exfoliating, look for ingredients like coffee, almond shells, rice, walnut shells, oats or millet.
Glowing Skin
Do you know how to get that softer, smoother looking skin with an amazing glow? Blood flow! Rhyme unintended. Sorry about there. But I’m serious. Masks can actually help with stimulating your blood flow. How? Well, when a mask dries and hardens on your face and then you have to take it off, it brings more blood to your skin. Crazy..
My Top Four Face Masks
For today’s post, I wanted to share my top four face masks. Most of these masks, I actually discovered through past collaborations, but I ended up loving them so much that I continued to use them after the collaboration had ended. I even went out and purchased the product after it ran out so I could continue using it later!
BeautyCounter No. 3 Balancing Facial Mask
I don’t know what it is about charcoal masks, but they are amazing at just pulling all of the gunk (yes, that’s the official term) out of your face. This bottle may scare some people off with its price tag at $49, but let’s talk about why it’s worth it.
First, it’s a bottle, so it’s not a one time use product. You’re going to get MANY uses out of this bottle since you don’t need that much product to get a decent layer over your face (since if it’s a thick layer, it won’t dry well). Second, this face mask is a 10 minute mask, which means you can put it one, get a few chores done around the house, wash it off, and you’re good to go. It’s not as quick as the one minute mask below, but it’s much quicker than other masks I’ve used in the past which can take 20 to 30 minutes to dry. Finally, the feeling I get when I wash this mask off is amazing. I actually feel like my skin is cleaner.
I’ve been using this mask the most frequently lately. It says for the best results to use three times a week, but I’ve noticed that with once a week, I’ve still been seeing cleaner skin.
Yes To Cucumbers Calming Paper Mask
The Yes To sheet mask is one of my favorite masks to bring while traveling. Besides the fact that it’s a sheet mask, so it’s easy to manage from your seat, it’s great for keeping your face hydrated during a flight. I always make sure to pop a few into my bag before a long flight so I can apply one part way through the flight. It might be a placebo effect, but I swear, it’s stopped me from getting zits while in flight (which has happened!).
I also love it’s cooling feeling and the fact that I feel like I could take a nap with it on. Actually, maybe I will go take a nap right now….
Biore Self Heating One Minute Mask
I reviewed this one minute mask back in June and I was incredibly skeptical at first. The mask claimed that it worked in under a minute AND HEATED UP. I mean, come on, it couldn’t possibly work, right?
Well I was wrong, wrong, wrong. It worked. Not only did it worked, it worked WELL. Within 20 seconds of me applying it, the mask began to heat up and soak into my pores. After a minute, I washed it off and my face was good to go. It felt like I had gotten a deep clean in less than 5 minutes! This is a great option when you want to get a deeper clean, but you don’t have a lot of time.
Also, just as a note, by heat up, I don’t mean burning. Just a nice warm tingle. The best way to describe it is that it was like putting a warm wash cloth to your face.
Freeman Feeling Beautiful Peel-Away Clay Mask
The Freeman masks may have been the first time I ever tried out masks and they were definitely what got me hooked, this one in particular. This mask is a great mask for normal/combo skin. It was also pretty strong, making me feel like it had truly pulled everything bad out, when I pull the mask off. Every time I use it, I feel like my skin is so much softer and a little more toned.
One thing that’s incredibly important to know is that not all masks are created equal. Since we all have different skin, a mask that’s perfect me for me, might not work as well for you. But masks are always fun to experiment with, in my opinion.
Something Fun!
I’ve decided to start up a beauty mailing list where we can talk all things beauty! I’m going to share with you my favorite products, new discoveries, and what I’m learning along the way. Of course, I’ll also share any great sales that I discover.
Also, since I love celebrating a launch in style, I’m hosting a giveaway! Anyone who signs up for my email list by the end of this weekend will be entered to win a giveaway for a make up bag filled with a beauty blender, a kabuki brush, and a fun lip balm!
I may also have a fun little subscriber gift in there as well, but you’ll have to sign up to find out what it is!
