Make Me Out of Clay
I’m a believer in the beauty advice of Jean Godrey-June, Lucky Beauty Editor, and she hasn’t steered me wrong in a product recommendation yet. When she recently did a post about Promiscuous Skin, I felt as if she was describing my own Jekyl and Hyde skin, which I wrote about in an earlier post: my skin is great about 90% of the time, with about 10% breakout and other assorted problems about once a month.
In her post, she praised the merits of Fresh’s Umbrian Clay Face Treatment, for its breakout-preventing and treatment powers, converting the entire Lucky office. I started using the product during a 10% breakout phase this month, and have become another convert, thrilled by its practically magic powers, so much so that it might be my favorite beauty product of 2009. It has cleared up breakups overnight and restored moisture and balance to my skin. The Clay Face Treatment is a 3 in 1 mask, cleanser, and spot treatment, made out of a composite of cool, gray Umbrian clay, lavendar, stimulating white nettle, gentle chamomile flower, and purifying olive leaf extracts.
I attribute this formula to its combination of purifying and detoxifying, with the Umbrian Clay imparting its anti-inflammatory and absorbent properties. How many cleansers do you find that actually manage to do all of those functions? Not even the cleansers I’ve tried with salycylic aicd or benzoyl peroxide have done that, and even if they have managed to quell breakouts, they’ve also made my skin extremely dry and painful. Not so with the Umbrian Clay Treatment: I dabbed this on a blemish, and overnight it instantly shrunk without making the rest of the area flaky or dry as many acne treatments often do. I like applying the treatment also as a mask and leaving it on for between3-5 minutes as it dries. As a cleanser, you can also apply a small amount to damp skin and rinse if off with lukewarm water.
The treatment is a little pricier at $48, so I have been hoarding it like Heidi and Spencer hoarded their oh-so-precious shampoo and conditioner on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! The treatment comes in a soap bar version, but that doesn’t allow you to use it as a mask or spot treatment. In addtion, Fresh also offers a Oil-Free Clay lotion, toothpaste, and foundation.
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I love this mask as well! It is my holy grail for that one huge red cyst that will pop up on my chin every month! I love Pangea Organics Matcha Tea Mask though too.