DIY Detox Face and Body Mask

This face mask can be slightly drying but it great for pulling out deep-rooted impurities, getting rid of blackheads, drying out pimples and smoothing your skin. The batch I make is rather large since I usually use this as a whole-body mask. I will slather it on my face, back and chest all at once. You can cut the recipe down a little if you just want to use it for your face.

Ingredients:

3 Tbl Bentonite clay
4 capsules of Activated Charcoal
2 tsp Sandalwood Powder
5 drops of Vetiver essential oil (optional)
5 drop of Sandalwood essential oil (optional)

Directions:

Mix together clay and sandalwood powder. Carefully break open the Activated Charcoal capsules and mix with the clay and sandalwood powder. Slowly stir in water until it has reached your desired consistency. (I make mine pretty thick but if you want it to be a bit more gentle on your skin you can add water so that the mixture is a little thin.) Then add the essential oils and mix in. The essential oils are an added bonus but not a must. Then spread the mixture on your face and let it dry!

For a stronger mask: Substitute water for raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar. This will double the mask's detoxifying power but be careful! This mask can also really irritate skin and make it more inflamed if you have breakouts.

Side  note: You will feel the mask pulling at your skin as it dries and it may also feel a little itchy. This is completely normal. It is also normal for your skin to be somewhat red and blotchy after you rinse this mask off. Don't worry. It will soon subside. Remember, not all masks are right for everyones skin type. If something doesn't feel right, go with your gut and remove the mask.

Sometimes, for the sake of time, I will quickly whip up a modified version of this mask with just the Bentonite clay and the Activated Charcoal and mix it with some water.

Bentonite Clay: I spoke about Bentonite clay in this post. It is 100% natural calcium bentonite clay and is incredibly detoxifying. It has an amazing ability to pull impurities from the skin. It also increases circulation to the skin. More blood flow means more healing when it comes to blemishes.

Activated Charcoal: This wonder ingredient has the ability to attach itself to dirt and oil in pores which leaves your skin refined and smooth. It's kind of the "it" ingredient in skin care right now but you don't need to buy an expensive face wash with activated charcoal when you can go right to the source--and it's not even expensive!

Sandalwood Powder: Sandalwood has anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and astringent properties making it ideal for people with blemish or acne-prone skin. Sandalwood powder is also great for fading scars. This has long been a highly revered ingredient for skin by people in India. You can find more face masks using sandalwood powder here and here.

Vetiver essential oil: This is one of my favorite essential oils. It's a powerful antiseptic and helps stimulate circulation to the skin and it has long been used to treat all types of skin conditions. I have found that, for me, it is one of the most effective essential oils to use as a spot treatment for breakouts. You can find one resource for all things vetiver oil here.

Sandalwood essential oil: Similar to it's powdered form, sandalwood essential oil is a powerful astringent with toning, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. Unlike it's powdered form, sandalwood essential oil is highly moisturizing. Using it in this mask balances out the drying effect of the sandalwood powder.

Hollywood Secrets or Aztec Secrets?

 

 

Soo this product sounds promising.

Supposedly it is a "super-clearing mud mask" that vacuums out everything in your pores and can also be used as a spot treatment, literally sucking out pimples. Kind of gross but it gets my attention.

Want to see the vacuuming action? Take a look at this picture...

 

 

All of those little bubbles are said to be the gunk being sucked out of your pores.

 

The only problem? It's $69!

Needless to say I am definitely on the fence when it comes to buying this product, I need to be sure it is as awesome as it sounds before shelling out that kind of cash.

 

I have read all of the Sephora reviews, and honestly, I have never seen so many five-star reviews for one product. I think pretty much every single person gave this product five stars except for maybe one person. You can check it out for yourself here.

 

This mask came out of Hollywood and one of the big fusses about this product is so many movie stars swear by it. It is packed with tons of good ingredients for your skin and it utilizes this new PORE-MATRIX™ technology saying:

"NEW PORE-MATRIX™ Our Activated-X Charcoal is an Xtreme absorption carbon, attracting toxic substances into its mass up to 500 times its volume from all skin types, within the deepest & toughest areas. Our new proprietary K17-Clay™ will better extract & encapsulate excess sebum oils, bacteria & toxins in a controlled stasis state, revealing a Pore-Matrix™ of extraction dots & areas, ready to be washed away for seemingly poreless skin."

 

If you want to read more about it, please visit Ivory and Olive's review on this product here.

They go into even more depth about the ingredients in this mask and how it came about.

 

Now, one reason I really really hesitate to go grab this product, even the sample which you can check out here,  (even the sample packets are a lot of mulah), is because I use this super magnetic Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay mask that suctions everything out of my pores. It deep cleans and detoxifies and also improves circulation to your skin. The best part? It is only about $6 for a huge 1LB jar of it! The GlamGlow at $69 per jar is not even one pound.

 

 

I usually mix some of this clay with some raw apple cider vinegar (which works wonders for skin even on its own) and put it on my face and back until it dries completely--you will know when it is dry because the skin on your face is being pulled by the mask. It works wonders. It detoxifies and clears and heals.

 

It does not, however, contain all of the wonderful ingredients that GlamGlow clay has, but it is natural and it works, so do I really need all that extra stuff in the GlamGlow mask?

 

I mean, it does sound enticiing, but I am not sure that it is really necessary to drop $69 v.s. $6 if the difference in results are not going to be that huge.

 

Most of us really have no choice--we simply cannot afford the $69 little jar of supposed skin miracles. If you are in that boat, then definitely try this Indian Healing Clay. I think that it is a great, very cheap alternative/substitution for the expensive stuff.

 

This is the back of the jar.

 

 It is normal for your skin to be a little red or flushed for about a half hour after you use it, but a week goes by and suddenly your skin it starting to looking glowy and clear.

 

If you have really sensitive skin, do not mix it with raw apple cider vinegar, mix it with water instead. You choose the consistency of your own mask--how thin or thick you want the mask to be, the ratio of water or vinegar you use to the clay--thin masks will be a little more gentle.

 

 

 

You can find this Indian Healing Clay at really any health store around. I have even seen it in a few drug stores like CVS. I get mine at Sprouts but I am sure they have it at places like Whole Foods and New Leaf. If you cannot find any near you, you can order it online here. Here is also a link to the organic apple cider vinegar I use by Bragg.

 

Don't buy this jar for more than $8 on Amazon, that would be a rip off. I bought my jar for only $4.95 at Harvest House on Monument in Concord, CA.

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps for all you ladies on a budget, yet drooling over those little jars of GlamGlow like me!