Monday Masking #6: Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment

I got my hands on a sample of this Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment, which is so hyped up in the beauty world. Needless to say I was totally dying to try it but it is also very expensive so I’ve been holding off my purchase, so I was so glad when it turned up in a beauty box.

From the name it’s a mud mask obviously; I find it so cool that it dries to a different colour – from a blackish grey when wet to a very light grey when dry. When it is dry it gets so hard and tight; I could barely move my face! It feels like all the gunk is being sucked out of the face as the mask dries. After it’s totally dry I just rinse it off – it’s black so it can get messy!

I must say that this is definitely going on the top of wish list! My face looks so clear after just one use… I’m not sure if I will see the same effects with subsequent uses but my first definitely showed a lot of improvements. I have a couple of zits but they dried out or seem to have shrunk! More please!

Monday Masking #5: The Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask

It’s Monday Masking time! Today we’re revisiting a mask that I’ve had for quite awhile – I’ve also reviewed this The Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask a few months back here. I didn’t particularly liked it back then, and honestly, I’m still not feeling the love now. I don’t hate it and I still can’t stand the smell, but I will still use it up because while it isnt doing very much for my skin, it doesn’t do any harm either.

One thing though – this takes ages to use up. If it does something for your skin, then it’s really great value. I’ve used it dozens of times and it is still more than half full!

Have you tried this mask and what are your thoughts on this?

Monday Masking #4: Simply Bye Dark Circle Hydro Gel Eye Masks

So to brighten up your Monday, here’s my imitation of the Panda on the packet – with a big face, little slit eyes and dark circles… I think I did a great job, right?

Anyway, it’s Monday Masking time again! Where I show you my masking journey. And this time it’s a pair of eye masks. I admit that I picked up this packet of eye masks because the packaging was cute – I saw the pandas, thought it really looks like me on a bad day, and I had to get it. It costs SGD3 from Sa Sa for 2 pairs in the packet, which is quite reasonably priced.

Honestly, I don’t think this did anything other than look amusing – the masks felt like sticking stickers on my eyes. It’s actually dry, with an adhesive side. A little like those slimming patches, and less like a facial sheet mask. It’s a little weird, and I definitely still looked like a panda afters.

Monday Masking #3: Dermal Royal Jelly Collagen Essence Mask

Boo! Now, I think I should have just named this series “scary photo of the week”. 🙂

I’ve featured this range of mask in tons of my empties post and yet I have not dedicated a single post to them! Dermal masks are one of the most affordable masks that I can get my hands on – if they’re on sale, you can get a big bunch of them for slightly less than SGD0.50 each including shipping from Korea, which explains why I have a huge stock of it.

I find most dermal masks the same – the size of the sheets and packaging are definitely similar; the biggest difference lies in the scent. The Royal Jelly Collagen Essence mask does not have a scent, unlike some (but not all) of the fruitier ones from the line.

The sheets are all full of essence – wet enough but not dripping everywhere. I don’t think the impact between the different types of sheet masks differs a lot – they make my skin feels more moisturized, but the claims of ‘anti-aging’ or ‘whitening’ effect on different masks cannot really be seen. I honestly don’t expect to see all that with one mask session; masking is a just relaxing ritual that I love.

Do you use sheet masks regularly too?

Monday Masking #2: Leaders Insolution Dr. Therapy Foot Mask

It’s monday masking time! This time around I wanted to try something different – a foot mask! This is actually the first time that I’m using a foot mask; my feet has been really dry with rough and hard edges so I’ve been hunting up and down for something that could help.

Monday Masking #1: Vardi & Migdal Gold Eye Mask

Like many people with a 9-5 job spanning Monday to Fridays, Monday is my least favourite day of the week and I usually don’t schedule anything after work on Mondays, preferring to stay at home for a good ‘home spa’ session to cheer myself up – mostly with a good long shower followed by some kind of facial mask, sometimes a foot soak, with a book or tv show.

Today’s mask of choice is the Vardi & Migdal Gold Eye Mask. I believe I got this from Sample Store some time ago so I did not pay for it besides the shipping fee. This eye mask claims to be formulated with collagen, gold powder and active anti-aging ingredients which instantly moisturizes, rehydrates and regenerates the delicate eye area – and with daily use, it can reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the eye area, minimize eye-bags and fade dark circles.

I did enjoy the texture of the eye mask – it feels a little jelly like and was cooling to the skin; I felt pretty refreshed after using it. A quick check on the Sample Store page showed that 1 pair of this costs S$20! Holy cow! If I can afford to use a $20 eye mask on a daily basis as mentioned in its claims, which translates to over S$600 a month, I must be rich and don’t have to work anymore… then why would I still have eyebags?! I’m sorry but I have to say – I can’t afford to use this daily to observe if its claims are true, and I doubt that it will be worth it to try.

Review: The Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask

Another mask review! I just adore face masks and since I have more than 10 in rotation at any one time, what better product to review than a mask? Just curious, I wonder why so many masks are green in colour?? Today’s green mask is The Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask.

Claims from website:
A cooling mask to help remove impurities and absorb excess oil whilst soothing and calming blemish prone skin. Skin feels deeply cleansed.

I’m not a fan of the packaging – it comes in a plastic pot with a rather wide opening, which means there’s a lot of contact with the atmosphere and not the most hygienic. I constantly worry about it drying out.

The instructions is to leave it on for 15 minutes, but I usually leave it on for longer as it takes me pretty long to put it on! The product is green in colour and the texture is really thick, which can make it hard to apply; I use a flat foundation brush to apply it to make it easier to spread. It does not dry hard, so the way to take it off will be to rinse it off.

If you can’t stand the smell of tea tree oil, I would say stay clear of this because the scent is really rather strong. Applied, I can feel a little stinging and cooling effect on my skin, and I feel rather refreshed and awake.

I used it quite frequently during a period of time when I had quite a lot of breakouts, and I don’t feel that it’s made the breakouts stop or dry/heal faster. I also don’t notice that any impurities are removed as claimed, and my clogged pores appear the same; unless they mean surface dirt – then I could just as easily remove that with a cleanser.

In all, I like it in terms of texture and feeling on my skin, but I don’t think that the effects – of lifting away impurities as claimed – are very apparent. I doubt that I will be repurchasing it; it’s really not my preferred choice of scent and it does nothing for me.

Rating: 2.5/5

Review: Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque is a very popular and highly raved about mask online. I hunted it down before it was available in Singapore so I paid an exorbitant price for it, but Watsons have since brought it in stores, which makes it so much more convenient and affordable.

The mask comes in a simple plastic squeeze tube, which I think is pretty practical for the product that it houses. Because the masque is rather thick and stiff, a squeeze tube really makes it much easier to get to the product.

The mask itself is a green thick paste; to use, I smear it all over my face and leave it there for 15-20 minutes, which by then will dry down to a much drier and tighter cracked version, followed by some lukewarm water to wash it off. The minty scent is rather strong so if you’re opposed to that, take note.

On me, I find it way too drying. Maybe it wasn’t a great idea to use a clay-based mask on my dry skin, but I’ve tried other clay-based masks and none of them made my skin feel so dry and devoid of any moisture.

I also really don’t find that it unclogs my pores that much. It does dry some of the smaller pimples and whiteheads, and makes my skin feel really clean afters but that might be a psychological effect from the tingling sensation.

I’m finding it really hard to put a rating on this because part of my not-so-good experience is also due to product suitability – I think the moral of the story is understand your own skin type before buying every hyped-up product out there; I should have known when all the reviews mentioned it to be great for “mattifying” (I am naturally matte) and “absorbing oil”.

But if you have dry skin like me, I would say stay away from this; there are other more effective clay masks that are non drying. One that I really love is the Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Mask – reviewed here.

Rating: 2.5/5 on Dry skin

Review: Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque

A really talked about product on the blogosphere in the last few months was the Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque. Being me, I just had to pick it up to try for myself whether it lived up to all that hype!

Claims on website:
A clay-based masque to deeply cleanse and refresh most skin types, particularly sensitive or dry. A gentle yet thorough deep-cleansing treatment that extracts impurities clogging the pores, to smooth and refresh the skin.

Ingredients:
Water (Aqua), Kaolin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Bentonite, Alcohol Denat., Glycerin, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Ormenis Multicaulis Oil, Carum Petroselinum (Parsley) Seed Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Linalool.

The texture is much thinner and more watery than the average clay mask. What I do is apply a thin layer all over my face after cleansing and leave it on for 15 minutes. The mask slowly hardens and dries in funny patches, as I show in the picture above where a big hole appears after the mask dried.

After washing this off, my skin feels a little tight but I also find that it looks clearer. I have been using this about once a week or whenever my skin feels congested for the past few months and I must say that it has worked a treat. Because I have very dry skin, I usually try not to use clay-based masks too often but this mask doesn’t make my skin feel dry or cause any dry patches. I find that whenever I get extra spots, a mask session with this tends to keep them well controlled, and surprisingly shrink them by the next morning.

Personally, I love this. It looks like a small tube in its toothpaste-like packaging, which I actually think is quite cute, but it has lasted me a very long time. At S$51 for a 60ml tube, I think this is well worth it and I will repurchase again and I highly recommend it.

Rating: 4.5/5

Midweek Peek #4: The Facial Cloth Mask Stash

I admit – I am obsessed with facial cloth masks. I have a big shoe box filled with over 30 facial cloth masks from brands such as The Face Shop, Fancl, Dermal, My Beauty Diary; you name it, I have probably tried it. I love how it’s so easy to apply and so hydrating.

I’m someone who needs her alone time so I love being at home about one or twice a week, turning on the aircon at full blast in my own room (given Singapore is hot all year long) and then putting on a cold facial cloth mask while I watch the latest Korean drama by myself – I find it very therapeutic.

I also bring along facial cloth masks on holidays because the boyfriend loves it as well; we always use them after a long day out sightseeing, putting our legs up and enjoying some together time. It’s almost become a ritual that it doesn’t feel like a holiday if I forget to pack them!

I don’t usually splurge on expensive facial cloth masks because I feel it is such a waste when it is only on the face for 15-30minutes, so I usually stock up on drugstore brands when there is a sale or import them in bulk from Korea or Japan, and then share them out with my family members.

What about you? Have you tried facial cloth masks and what are your thoughts on them? Any favourite ones?