Nod your head if this sounds familiar… you’re scrolling through facebook or instagram, hearting pictures of luscious spa treatments and beautiful bathrooms posted by your favourite brands (ahem @Everybodi.co) and before you know it you’ve tuned in to a video of someone peeling a mask off their face. Yep! We’ve all been there!
Made with ingredients like charcoal, antioxidants and botanicals the super trendy treatment supposedly removes dead skin cells, blackheads and minimises pores to leave you with super dewy skin. But are they effective as they are interesting?
For a very basic explanation, peel off masks remove some bacteria, debris and facial hair. But that’s about where the benefits end. Along with the dirt that’s removed, the masks strip away a layer of skin, vellus hair and other natural hair like formations that channel the flow of oil through your pores. Even though it may look like you are removing blackheads, you are removing these hair like formations which are important to keep your skin in balance.
Using these masks also poses the risk of removing too much of the sebum that your skin naturally produces. When sebum is unbalanced, skin will produce oil to overcompensate for the loss. Oily skin is actually a sign of skin irritation.
These masks can leave your skin red, dehydrated and inflamed. Some masks use a type of craft glue and we hope we don’t have to tell you to stay far far away from those!
There are so many other ways to unclog pores in a much less irritating way. Look for masks with charcoal or clay and exfoliates to draw out the toxins.
Trade in your peel off mask for a natural coffee scrub with the added benefit of skin repairing oils and your skin will love you for it! You can try the latest in scrubs here
