L’Oréal Pure Clay Masks

Where I got it: I bought these from Farmers for $24.99 each. They were doing a buy 2 get 1 free so I got all 3 and only paid for 2. These are also available in some supermarkets like Pak n Save and The Warehouse for a little less.

What I got: These are the L’Oréal Pure Clay Masks. The grey one is with charcoal to detoxify and brighten the skin, the mint one is with eucalyptus to purify and mattify, the red one is with red algae to exfoliate and smooth the skin.

A unique combination of 3 pure clays:

• KAOLIN: A pure clay highly concentrated with silicates known to absorb impurities and excess oil to help purify delicate skin irritated by daily pollutants.
• MONTMORILLONITE: A pure clay rich in minerals, this clay helps to purify and re-balance the skin, reducing imperfections.
• GHASSOUL: A pure clay able to absorb impurities and oils without causing irritation, leaving skin smooth, fresh and radiant.

How I find it:

Exfoliate & Smooth with Red Algae. This brick red clay mask has exfoliating bits to do a surface exfoliation before the mask is set. I apply a thin layer with my fingertips because using a spatula will apply too thick. After about 10-15 minutes, the mask dries down, but not tight or crackling. I then add a little bit of water to dampen the mask and give my skin a gentle massage. Then thoroughly rinse off. The exfoliating bits are really gentle on the skin so I had no irritation problem, but each to their own.After washing off, my blackheads has significantly diminished and I am very impressed. My skin feels clean and fresh, but just a little tight. Nothing a little serum and moisturiser can’t help! I really like this one.

Purifies & Mattifies with Eucalyptus. This one with eucalyptus has a nice pale moss green colour to it and a very pleasant eucalyptus scent. It has the same smooth and clay like texture like the charcoal one. When I started to apply this on my skin, I felt a bit of a tingle on the skin which I rarely experience with masks, especially clay. The tingling sensation may be preferred by some people, but for sensitive skin, you might need to be a bit cautious. I personally didn’t mind as it fades away within a minute anyway. I like to use a spatula/brush to apply a clay/cream mask and I like to apply a nice even layer. After 10-15 minutes, the mask dries down but not too dry and crackling as well. Wash off with warm water you basically don’t need too much scrubbing and rubbing for the mask to wash off which I really like about these formulas. My skin felt clean and quite tight after washing off, I needed to apply the rest of my skincare afterwards.

Detoxifies & Brightens with Charcoal. This clay mask is really smooth and has no exfoliating bits in it. It spreads on the face easily with my silicon spatula and covers the skin evenly. I would use this all over the face when I need a really good clean out and detox. When I want to focus on specific areas, I do multi-masking and apply this on my nose and chin area where I have blackheads and am prone to breakouts. The mask is quite fragranced and is really cooling on the skin. As the mask dries, it tightens my skin but does not dry to a crumbling coat. It sticks to the skin quite well. Where I have applied slightly thicker may not dry to a light grey colour, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not working. You can see darker dots on the nose where the clay dries to a light grey and the darker dots are where the oil from the pores are drawn to the surface causing the mask to stay ‘wet’. After about 20 minutes, I wash it off and my skin feels smooth and blackheads diminished (in regards to darkness).

Overall: I think this is the first time L’Oréal has created a mask let alone clay mask. Overall, the texture of the clay base of these 3 masks are very similar (except for the red algae one with exfoliating bits). They are smooth and almost gel-like, they dry down without flaking or cracking and they all wash off fairly easily. I personally love the Charcoal one and the Red Algae one the most because they seem to clean out my pores very effectively. They are quite good quality products in my opinion therefore I think it would be worth-while to try one that suits what you are looking for.

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