Traditionally the domain of beauty clinics and day spas, face masks are a quick and relatively inexpensive at home product you can use to treat a myriad of skin concerns or just to refresh tired and stressed skin.  Ive accumulated quite al little collection here at Lipstick ‘n’ linguine HQ as I’m always on the hunt for something new to help me achieve that inner glow that we’re also obsessed with.

Over the past month I’ve been trialling lots of products from the super cheap and cheerful, some new to the market and others that have been around for years. Ive found that the most expensive isn’t necessarily the best but have also that face masks are a fairly personal product and everyone will have their opinion based on their individual skin concerns.

What follows is my personal opinion on the following products, for reference i have combination skin, in summer i have a fairly oily t-zone and in winter i suffer dryness which leads to frequent breakouts on my chin and cheeks. MY skin is fairly sensitive and i am prone to bouts of dermatitis around my mouth (Perioral dermatitis)

You should know that some of these products were sent to me for my consideration but this has not influenced my opinion, in the spirit of transparency I’ve marked these products with an asterisk

LUSH Mask of Magnaminty* $15.95

The mask has the added benefit of exfoliating particles in it in the form of ground aduki beans which means that as you massage it into your skin you are also helping to remove dead skin cells which will leave your skin looking and feeling better.

Although this mask contains clay it did not dry up and was far more moisturising that some other masks. MY skin was left feeling really clean and fresh and ready to absorb my night cream.

The Body Shops Tea Tree Mask feels super luxurious and smooth on the skin. Its a lovely shade of green that makes you look wildly attractive when you answer the door for the postman while wearing it. It feels like you’re smothering buttercream all over your face its so smooth, cooling and silky.

On the face the mask applies thickly and does dry somewhat but not as severely as other oil absorbing clay masks do, even though it contains Kaolin clay. You apply this mask in a fairly thick layer and leave it for five to ten minutes before washing off with a warm washcloth.

Doing my best hulk impersonation.

Afterwards my skin felt super soft and nourished and not dried out or irritated. Tea tree oil has many beneficial antibacterial properties which should help to shorten the time of blemishes.  I really enjoy this one and have used it regularly since receiving it.

 

Here is the most hyped and priciest of all the products in this post and has cult following in the US. Said to be a favourite amongst celebs and their make up artists this mask is touted a five minute facial in a jar.  A little bit of the product goes a long way and needs a little bit of work to smooth over the face as it has some fine (and some larger) fragments of seaweed in it.  This mask is applied in a thin layer and left on for five minutes, in that time it will dry quite quickly and form a fairly hard crust.

 

One of the reasons that this product is so revered is that it appears as though the mud actually draws the oils out of your skin causing darker spots in the mask. While this is fairly impressive be aware that when you see this photographed that some of the dark spots are actually bits seaweed rather than impurities. After use my  skin feels tight and clean, pores look less congested and skin looks and feels refreshed (but quite red).  This is another one that is most suited to oilier skin types.

I was a little disappointed that when i opened my jar to use it a second time that a lot of the mask had shrunk back and dried up, this is pretty unacceptable considering that these jars are so pricey.

This offering from Hollywoods GlamGlow is very different to their other masks. Its thin, silky and almost transparent. Unlike the other clay based GlamGlow masks this one is designed to be rubbed in and worn like a moisturiser. It can be applied in thin layer during the day or a little more thickly and worn overnight. It smells like vanilla and coconut and is easily absorbed leaving the skin feeling super hydrated and looking good.  I liked this one a lot but do find that it often stings for a short period of time especially if I’ve exfoliated recently. I tend to stay away from things that sting as I’m always worried that it will bring on a bout of my perioral dermatitis.

 

Nugg do the cutest masks ever, these single use masks are great for travel and stay nice and fresh in their sealed little pods. They come in multipacks, the pack i purchased contained four different masks, its a sampler of sorts which is a great idea in itself. For the purpose of this review tried the revitalising mask (the blue pod) which contains a fresh tingle from the peppermint oil. It smelt a lot like cammomile and has the consistency of a light lotion.

After washing my face (mascara is still on) I applied he lotion mask and massaged into my skin before leaving it for a few minutes to “work” the packet recommends five to ten minutes before washing it off to reveal fresh and moisturised skin that tingles.

I picked up this purifying mud mask with strawberry on a whim one evening while walking through the aisles of my local 24 hour Kmart. At under five dollars ( i believe it was $3) i wasn’t really expecting much but when i saw that it was in fact manufactured in Australia i was surprised and impressed.

The first thing i noticed about this mask is the strong strawberry fragrance, this mask smells a lot like strawberry yoghurt, i found it a little off putting as it was a bit too overpowering for me personally.

NIP + FAB is a highly accessible and fairly affordable brand that has been all over the internet lately. This mask with its slightly intimidating name is a clear gel that is left on the face for 10 minutes before rinsing off with warm water. It has a light  clean smell (it almost reminded me of hairgel) and the light gel consistency makes it super easy to apply all over the face and neck. It feels  super refreshing and cooling on the skin  and dries slightly to a tacky finish.

The mask claims to have extreme plump and lift benefits, i didn’t notice any major lifting but did definitely notice quite a difference in the under eye area as the skin under there looked smoother with less fine lines and sort of fresher. The next morning i needed less corrector and my eyes (those darned bags) definitely looked smoother. I will definitely keep using this on a regular basis if it has even the slightest effect on my under eye area. A word of warning though that this product does contain slight amounts of bee venom thus is not suitable for vegetarians and is definitely not suitable for those with bee sting allergies.

This mask from Bliss was one of the strangest I’ve used but i ended up loving it.  It comes in a bottle with a small pump dispenser and when dispensed into my hand looks a lot like a gel cleanser or body wash. I followed the instructions and applied the transparent orange gel to my dampened face in a circular motion and walked away from the mirror to take care of other things before my evening shower. After a few moments my skin started feeling tingly and cool i went back to the mirror to find that the clear mask had fizzed up into a light foam on my face and was in the process of crackling and popping. Its a really strange sensation, the product continued to fizz and pop until i washed it off.

 

 

 

This pale green mask is from UK brand GOOD THINGS felt fresh and tingly immediately after applying. It started drying and tightening up after a couple of minutes but didn’t get as hard and uncomfortable as the Kmart mask, similar to the Kmart mask it had a slight fruity yoghurt scent but was much more pleasant.

All in all it was a good product that left the skin feeling clean and fresh. If i were to rate it i would put it way ahead of the Kmart mask but just behind the Body Shop Tea Tree mask. At $14.95 though its a great price point and would be good as a teenagers first product, it includes green and kaolin clay which is the base of many clay masks.

The Body Shop Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask $23.95

This mask from The Body Shop is fairly raved about as being a dupe for the more expensive GlamGlow masks. It certainly does look similar in colour but lacks some of the slivers of seaweed that the GlamGlow mask does. This mask would be great for someone with super oily skin, the first time i used this ( when i took the photo below) I used it all over my face and found that it was far too drying on my cheeks and around my mouth. On subsequent uses I’ve used it only on my t-zone and found it more comfortable.

This mask dries quite hard and is a little difficult to remove. It left my skin feeling clean, a little parched but quite red, i think this is attributed to my difficulty in removing it gently. On subsequent uses i haven’t allowed it to dry as much and found it a lot easier to remove and a lot more gentle on the skin. When i bought this the sales assistant told me that it was best for quite oily people and it was quite apparent when i used it.

 

MY skin has been enjoying this not stop pamper party of late and has responded quite well to the switching of products which is not always the case. Its hard to distinguish one favourite out of all the products as they’re generally all so different. If i had to choose two that i want to keep using until the end of days i would choose The Body Shop Tea Tree Mask because its so soothing and luscious and the Bliss Triple Oxygen Mask simple because it is so different but also because my skin looked so darned good afterwards. Other notible mentions belong to the NIP + FAB for making a visible difference to my under eye area and the LUSH mask for smelling so amazing!