Masquerade Parade

Hello! Today I have a post to showcase all of my purifying masks. They are all clay-based and I have one higher end, and a couple cheaper ones. I thought I would compare them and share my thoughts on each of them individually!

The three clarifying face masks in my collection are Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque, Origins Clear Improvement and Garnier Pure 3in1. All three are mainly clay-based, kaolin clay to be exact, which is well known for its ability to draw impurities like dirt, dead skin cells, residue and other toxins from the skin without stripping the skin of its moisture. I find these sorts of masks are absolutely amazing for detoxifying the skin. I use a purifying mask at least twice a week to help rid my skin of any makeup buildup as well as other nasties that may have taken up residence. All three also help with reducing oil as well! I believe all skin types can benefit from using these sorts of face masks as thoroughly clean skin leads to clear skin!

I have a full review on the Origins Clear Improvement mask here so I won't dwell on it for too long. This is definitely my favourite of the three, whilst also being the most expensive. I find that it cleans the skin extremely well and does indeed draw out all impurities. Not only am I left with much cleaner and fresher feeling skin, but it also looks calmed with reduced redness and a brighter look in general. 

The Garnier Pure 3in1 is actually, as the name suggests, a three in one product. It can be used as a face wash, scrub and mask. I personally only use it as a scrub and a mask. I feel that the texture is too gritty and abrasive to be used as a regular wash, but works really well as a scrub. Often, while in the shower, I scrub my face with this and leave it on for a little bit then wash it off. Afterwards my skin feels clean and softer after use as a scrub, and I feel it helps with acne with the inclusion of salicylic acid. Like I said, this has a grit to it, but isn't too harsh (assuming that your aren't physically scrubbing the heck out of your face). There are a lot of beads (they pretty much make up the whole paste) in a creamy base. The benefit of this as a mask is that it only needs to be left on for 3-5 minutes, perfect for if you need a quick fix or mid-week pick me up. I feel that the results produced are similar to the Origins but to a lesser scale as it's used for a shorter amount of time. But I feel it gives clean skin, reduced redness and a brighter complexion.

The Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque is very popular in the beauty community. It is praised for being very helpful with acne and the fact that it is so incredibly cheap, the cheapest I own but coming with the most product. It strongly smells, looks and tastes (I kid, I haven't eaten it) like toothpaste. It has almost a heavy mousse like texture, that is really easy to spread over the skin. I think though, that I may have had much too high expectations for this product as it left me a little disappointed. That and I only started using this after becoming well acquainted with the Origins, which blew me away. I feel that if this were the first mask I tried, I would have loved it. However, it is nowhere as near as good as the Origins, or even the Garnier, in my opinion. After use, my skin does feel clean and my acne feels slightly better, but I didn't see anything drastic from it. It doesn't give me the multiple benefits I get from the others. It's by no means a bad product, it works perfectly average for me, and considering I only paid about $4 for it, I think it's a really good budget buy.

Garnier, Origins, Queen Helene

So in my particular experience, you get what you pay for. The Origins comes in at $34 as my favourite, the Garnier is around $12 (though constantly on sale) as my second fave - also because I really like it as a scrub, and the Queen Helene, my least favourite at only $4 from iHerb.com. I do use the Queen Helene very regularly though, about once a week on Mondays, and the Origins on Fridays. I think this little treatment routine has vastly helped with the state of my skin!

I think next on my list is the Aesop Parsley seed mask! 

What is your favourite clarifying mask? Any recommendations?