Review: Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask

My first beauty review! So excited!!

It's the summer and of course we all know how much oil and sweat gets clogged in your pores during those hot, humid days... so I searched and searched for a mask that can unclog my pores and get rid of those nasty bits, and the Sephora skincare specialist convinced me to buy Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask. I told her my main issue is acne caused by blackheads and oily skin. She narrowed it down to two masks: the Origins one and the Peter Roth Therapeutic Sulfur Masque, and recommended the Origins one to me because she felt it personally worked better. It's also a heck of a lot cheaper!

Price: Reasonable -- $23 for a 3.4 fl.oz./100 ml tube

Description: When environmental toxins, dirt and debris get under your skin, its waste-filtering system gets jammed, pores get clogged, and skin looks cloudy. Nature's complexion clean-up crew gets to the bottom of skins overcast condition and clears the way for it to act its best. Without all that "stuff" down there, skin "breathes a sigh of relief."

-active charcoal acts like a magnet to draw out deep-dwelling pore-cloggers 

-white China clay (kaolin) absorbs environmental toxins

-lecithin dissolves impurities

Ingredients: water, myrtle leaf water, kaolin, bentonite, butylene glycol, montmorillonite, polysorbate 20, peg-100 stearate, charcoal powder, xanthum gum, lecithin, peg-150 distearate, propylene glycol stearate, sorbitan laurate, glycerin, propylene glycol laurate, simethicone, caprylyl glycol, ethylhexylglycerin, hexylene glycol, trisodium edta, dehydroacetic acid, phenoxyethanol

How To: Use one a week or as often as needed. Open pores with warm, moist towel and layer on. Allow to dry, rinse well. I HIGHLY recommend using this fresh out of the shower. I use a mild exfoliator in the shower before layering on this mask to help remove dead skin cells and allow this mask to work better to draw out impurities. When I say mild I mean use a scrub that you could use daily, as something too intensive combined with this mask is too much on the skin! Another VERY IMPORTANT step is to warm up the mask between your hands before applying onto your face. This makes the mask easy to spread on your face. Otherwise (trust me on this - happen to me the first time too!) the mask gets too streaky to do its job!

 The texture is thick and glossy straight from the tube. This is why it's VERY IMPORTANT to warm the mask between your hands before applying onto your face. The heat from your hands "melts" the clay a little and allows it to smooth onto you face easily. After warming it up, the texture is still thick and glossy, but easier to spread.

Pros:

-very easy to apply

-tube design makes it relatively sanitary to use

-you can feel your pores tightening as the dirt/oil is drawn out of your skin

-skin felt smooth and super-soft after using just once

-pores looked a lot cleaner and less visible

-no weird chemical/perfumy smell -- it smells earthy and clean 

-very good quality, as expected of Origins products

Cons:

-didn't completely draw out all impurities, just draw out some and made others easier to extract

Conclusion: This is something that I may repurchase. Overall, I liked the mask because it cleaned my pores. However, it did not actually take out ALL the stuff in my pores- just made some of them looser and easier to extract myself. As far as clay masks go, I think the quality of this one is really good. I can definitely feel my skin tightening as the stuff in my pores were being drawn out. I think it's definitely worth buying for a try. If you have dry or sensitive skin, apply only enough to cover your face - adding more may make you feel like your skin is burning rather than tingling. Go to your nearest Sephora and ask for a sample of this mask and see how they work for you!