Wellness Wednesday:

Favorite Face Masks

As I was putting together this post, it struck me that I needed to clarify that I’m talking about ones for your skin and beautifying, and not ones that go over your face for germ protection-what a wild change the last few months have been! In terms of face masks for skin, we have both been big fans of masks. I really got into masks with the whole sheet mask trend, but now I’ve really come to love a more traditional one. Dinah and I are excited to share a few our favorites and how we combine them with other products to make them even more effective.

Eloise’s Favorites

My favorite way to do masks is to exfoliate first to get my skin super clean and prepped and then I apply a super moisturizing mask to really pamper and heal my skin. I have dry skin but I also get break outs, so I’m always looking for treatments that will moisturize without causing clogs. I usually do this process at night and then keep them on overnight to get the maximum impact and glow. Here are some of my favorite combos and how I apply them:

Clark’s Botanicals Dual Charcoal Detox with Farmacy’s Honeymoon Glow and Summer Friday’s Jet Lag Mask: If I feel like my skin is looking dull or clogged from a late night or too much time on the boat, this is the easiest way to restore radiance. The charcoal scrub will physically exfoliate my skin and prep it to be able to able to absorb the next steps, while the Honeymoon Glow will chemically exfoliate with clean AHA’s, then the Jet Lag Mask will moisturize and soothe. I apply the scrub to my dry skin and massage it gently in, sometimes letting it sit for a minute or two. Then I wet my hands and continue to massage the scrub around my face a little more, before rinsing it off (I try to also quickly pass it over my neck and décolletage. I pat my skin dry with a clean fave towel and then apply a few squirts of Honeymoon Glow to my face, neck and chest. Once that’s settled in for a few minutes, I apply a dollop of Jet Lag Mask to my face and neck and just a smidge to my chest. I’ll sleep in that all night, and I wake up, the Honeymoon glow has exfoliated any roughness or dullness, while the Jet Lag has provided major moisture and calmed down any pimples.

Beauty Pie Wonderscrub with Biossance Squalane and Vitamin C Rose Oil and Drunk Elephant F-Balm: This is a similar philosophy, but with a gentler exfoliator and heavier duty moisturizers for when my skin feels more dry or fragile. First, I’ll wash my skin with a gentle cream or gel wash (I like Glossier’s and Drunk Elephant’s). When the skin is still damp, I’ll dot the wonderscrub cream on my forehead, nose, cheeks and chin and then gently rub it in a circular motion for a few minutes. I’ll rinse that off and pat it dry, then apply several drop of the Rose Oil. I’ll let then sink in for a minute, and the apply a squirt or two of the F-balm to seal everything in and hop into bed. This is super-moisturizing and makes even my dry skin glow the next day.

Other Masks I Love: Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask, Lush FOMO mask, sheet masks by SKii, Dr. Jart and Karuna.

Dinah’s Favorites:

I love to keep a regular rotation of masks that address several different needs, doing each once a week or as needed. Since my skin doesn’t react well to physical exfoliants, I use a gentle, balancing face wash, like the Youth To The People Superfood Antioxidant Cleanser to wash off the day, then I start my masking fun!

Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial: My Sunday night routine always includes this cult classic. One of the strongest exfoliating masks out there, it includes a whopping 25% AHA Blend, which my skin responds especially well to. As the name suggests, it leaves my skin feeling baby-soft and smooth, really helping with dark marks, keeping my skin clear and leaving it visibly brighter. Babyfacial can tingle a bit, and I don’t recommend leaving it on longer than they suggest (I set a timer!) since the exfoliants are so strong. Once I rinse it off after the allotted time, I pat on my CosRX Snail Mucin followed by either Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide or another intense moisturizer so that my skin doesn’t dry out.

Youth To the People Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Mask: Reasons I love this mask: It’s clean, it’s hydrating, and it makes me glow! After washing my face, I typically put on my Snail Mucin, then pat a generous amount of this on top. It’s key ingredients are squalane and Vitamin C, with an extra dose of anti-oxidant rich berries. This combination is ideal for my skin when I have gotten sun recently or am feeling dry and dull - sometimes my daily dose of Vitamin C isn’t enough! In the summer, I use it once a week when my skin needs some extra love.

Dr. Jart Dermask Micro Jet Clearing Solution: Dr. Jart makes some of the most effective but more affordable sheet masks and this is one of my go-to’s  for clearing up my skin. Even with Babyfacial and my other daily actives, sometimes I need to use this when I feel a bigger breakout coming on as it has salicylic acid, tea tree oil, and niacinamide to stop zits from getting larger and eliminate redness. Sometimes I find that acne-fighting sheet masks can actually have the opposite effect and clog up my pores more, but this is one that really and truly helps. To use this, I wash my face, then apply the mask for the maximum amount of time. After patting in any extra serum left when I remove the mask, I follow it up with either Drunk Elephant Protini or another nighttime moisturizer.