Beauty, Pro-Ageing, Skincare, Treatments
I’m not sure that I could have guessed that Fighting Fifty would get more hits to the question ‘do face masks work’ than any other question. But to be honest there was a time when I was sceptical about a product that you put on your skin and then washed off; surely it couldn’t do that much good if you removed it from your face. Well it appears that I was wrong and I’ve upped my game when it comes to face masks and have been using them more than once a week; at the risk of scarring the living daylights out of my family I do try to keep the mud masks confined to the bathroom. The new regime is really working at keeping my skin smooth and the pores refined.
If I have time the fabulous Hungary Mud £20.00 is my first choice, just mix up a heaped teaspoon of mud with a little warm water and paint it straight onto your face in upward strokes. The mask takes a few minutes to dry and would certainly trick small children enough to stop them knocking on your door again at Halloween. It washes off easily, leaving your skin fabulously clean, clear, smooth and completely refreshed, there’s nothing quite like it for purity, it’s sheer unadulterated mud!
This is how I haunt the house!
Also originating from Hungary the “Magnet for impurities” – Omorovicza’s Deep Cleansing Mask* £68.00 contains Hungarian Moor Mud and White Clay, it’s intensely cleansing and refining, I loved using this mask until my daughter Charlotte tried it and it hasn’t been seen since, needless to say she loves it as well!
Also on the mud front GlamGlow YouthMud* £16.00 is a perfect 10-minute fixer, be warned it’s messy as the green tea leaf pieces tend to fall off, it’s ingredients include Volcanic Minerals, Pumice and French Sea Clay, it doesn’t dry hard, works quickly and leaves skin literally glowing.
Clayspray* £32.12 is the first product to harness clay in a spray – it does what it says on the tin! Mixed with mineral water for a smooth ready to use paste, Clayspray addresses all your concerns whether it’s refining, brightening, toning, mattifying or if your skin is just lacking in glow, and quite frankly whose isn’t?
If my skin is looking dull and lifeless I turn to a peel, I first discovered the huge benefits of dissolving the top layer of dead skin in the therapist’s chair, and facials at QMS and Murad taught me a thing or two about lifting and shifting the dead cells that make the skin look dull. QMS Exfoliant Fluid £73.00 used before a mask simply melts away dead skin, you can feel it working, and with the dead layer removed everything else you put on your skin works better, it’s expensive but well worth every penny if you want salon quality results.
I have my friend Galina (see her fabulous site The Curiosity Gap) to thank for introducing me to the three step wonder that is Ole Henriksen Power Peel Kit £44.00. Strips of three sachets contain all you need for the perfect at home treatment. Firstly start with the Almond Polish Scrub which gently exfoliates dead dry skin, then rinse away and follow with the Lemon Strip Peel, which smooths refines and tones. After 3 minutes slip over the top the third sachet of Chamomile Comfort Mask to calm and smooth. You are left with vibrant, clean shiny health looking skin.
Murad Intensive C Radiance Peel £55.00 acts quickly and is a great pick me up for tired skin when you just have ten minutes to spare. Using a powerful combination of Glycolic Acid, Vitamin C, Indian Fig and Myrtle Extract this peel is similar the ones used in the Murad treatment rooms in House of Fraser. Last year they literally rescued my tired stressed out skin just before Christmas; in fact the treatment was so beneficial that I repeated the treatment two weeks in a row. Exfoliating, protecting and boosting collagen all in one tube, the Intensive C Radiance Peel acts quickly to refresh and restore skin.
Merumaya have added the Skin Brightening Exfoliating Peel £21.00 to their range of integrative effective skincare products. Using Glycolic Acid and Pomegranate to retexturise, brighten and smooth skin, it also contains Aloe Vera and Allantoin to calm and moisturise at the same time.
A slightly different peel, where you use it overnight is Novexpert La Crème Peeling sounds rather more romantic than The Peeling Night Cream £39.90. Use just as you would a moisturiser and overnight the Papaya Extract and Glycolic Acid works to gently peel away the dead skin cells leaving your skin radiant by morning, perfect for post party skin!
Ultra Nourishing Saviour Mask from Gazelli £45.00 really is a hero product; it’s intensely moisturising, smells divine and with Gazelli’s magic ingredient White Healing Oil it softens, plumps and hydrates. It’s almost as if my skin sighs a sigh of relief when I use this mask, I like to put this on early in the evening and leave it on all night, waking up with a younger looking glowing skin by morning. Ideal under makeup to keep skin hydrated during the day.
Aromatherapy Associates Rose Hydrating Mask £43.00 ingredients include Aloe Vera and Rose Water which helps to restore moisture to sad dehydrated skin; a light clear gel feels like you are putting a veil of water onto your skin, so refreshing. This mask can also be left on overnight and leaves skin feeling beautifully soft.
I know that these products aren’t cheap, but you are paying for salon quality and results, a little goes a long way and they will make a difference to your skin. My top tip for getting the most out of a mask is to exfoliate first, and having more than one face mask treatment each week is really working for me. Give it a try and let me know how you get on.
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