This is Part 2 of my "Holiday Detox" series. This video is New Year's Eve themed featuring a face mask with major detoxifying powers and a little splash of glitter to make your hungover self feel better. Like all of these recipes, they can be used anytime of year, but I picked these specific recipes to get your game face on for the fresh, new year.
The previous recipe focused on gentle cleansing, while this recipe is a not-so-subtle detoxification. The main ingredients are bentonite clay, baking soda, activated charcoal, and water/oil.There are also the (fun) optional ingredients of essential oil and glitter.
Bentonite clay has a myriad of benefits, including: absorbing toxins, clearing pores and drawing out dirt, regenerating tissue, gently exfoliating, and reducing the appearance of scars. This is a great base for any face mask and you will likely see it in many DIY recipes. It can be bought online or in the bulk bins of your nearest health food store. Baking soda is also important. It works to open pores, smooth skin, heal scars, and help with acne because of its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory qualities. Activated charcoal is definitely the star ingredient of this mask. It draws out dirt and sebum in clogged pores, draws out toxins, exfoliates, balances oils, shrinks pores and tightens skin (so your skin will likely feel tight once you remove the mask), and, in the long term, improves skin tone. Activated charcoal can also be found at your nearest health food store, but will likely be in pill form, which is fine, but if you prefer to have a bag of the powder, you may need to look online.
On choosing whether to use water or oil (like coconut, olive or avocado) in the mask, oil should only be used if you are prone to dry skin or you have intense dry patches on your face. You may even want to do a mix of oil and water to help balance hydration. For this reason, this mask should be used no more than 1-2 times in a week.
Now for the fun bits: I also chose to put lavender essential oil in this mask because of it calming properties and relaxinng scent. And I put a splash of glitter in too, because let's be honest, who doesn't like glitter?
That's all the logistics for the face mask! I hope it helps you make a speedy holiday recovery. Enjoy!
