Description:

A deep cleansing exfoliating mask, which draws out impurities, removes dead cells and brightens the complexion.
Australian clay has been used for thousands of years as a beauty aid as it is high in minerals and purifies the skin. It is self heating and as the mask dries out it draws out sebum, lifts impurities and the exfoliating removes dead skin cells. This promotes deep pore cleansing and helps to heal blemishes. Skin is left feeling more toned, smooth and soft.
Bamboo wood powder gently exfoliates without abrasion whilst the lavender, geranium and lime soothes and balances.

Ingredients:
Purified Water, Sesame Seed Oil, Stearic Acid derived from Palm Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol Vegetable Wax, Jojoba Oil Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, Vitamin E, Rosemary Extract (Amiox), Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate (Amino Acid), Australian Pink Clay, Bamboo Wood Powder, Organic Lavender, Geranium & Lime Essential Oils

First impressions of the mask? Sweet mutha, it’s red! I learned about laterite soil back in primary school, played with them, and this mask couldn’t look any more different than the red stuff I used to bring home (much to Mother’s chagrin). To say I was apprehensive of putting this on my face was putting it mildly. I was freaked.

So, chickenshit me waited for the other beauty bloggers to try it out first 😛 First Violet, then Amy. Okay, me next!

Despite the scary-looking reddish-pink clay, it actually smells really good. Very much like the natural products you get on day spas. Lavender and rosemary. Mmmmmmmmm …

The clay contains minute exfoliating beads, which I just realised after 10 minutes, when the mask has hardened on my skin. It spreads well and is not abrasive on the skin. However, I did experience a wee bit of tingling on the cheeks upon application, which is why I would not recommend this to those with sensitive skin.

Post mask? Skin feels utterly refreshed and smooth. An enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

Okay, I was contemplating hard on posting the picture of me below. A very scary, literally-red-faced me in my shower cap. Yikes! 😛

Absolutely Gorgeous Pink Clay Exfoliating Mask retails at AU$34.95 for 100ml and is available at their online store.

What I like about it: Aussie-made goodness, good deep-cleasing and exfoliating action without being abrasive, relaxing scent, scary pink.

What I do not like about it: Not recommended for sensitive skin, scary pink 😛

I’m very, very happy to announce that my skin is finally back to normal. Thank God, the peely ordeal only lasted a week. I really was worried it might stretch more and leave goodness-knows-what-sort-of scars and permanent blemishes on the skin.

Thanks very much to those who commented and emailed me about this. I really appreciated your input and help on this. After a process of further elimination, I’m afraid to say, it really was the Clarisonic that wrecked that much havoc on my skin. Even though everyone I know who has a Clarisonic use it daily without any problems, I’m afraid my skin just couldn’t take that much exfoliation. I shall now be limiting my use of the device to a maximum of twice a week.

Speaking of the Clarisonic, a couple of days ago, my skin had finally settled down, the redness and sting were gone but was really peeling badly. I kid you not, I had a mirror in front of me, and my itchy fingers started to play and pick at the dead skin 😛 In the evening, I had a sudden idea to use the Clarisonic to brush away the dead skin. It was a gamble, all right, since it gave skin problems in the first place. So when I was in the shower, instead of the usual 1-minute of brushing on the face, I brushed for about 5 seconds on each cheek. When I washed everything off, the dead skin was gone, revealing smooth skin.

YES! It worked! 😀

During the week of peeliness, I couldn’t use any of my usual skincare products because they stung something fierce on my raw, red cheeks. These were the only items I could use without any problems, and they really did help heaps.

– Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser – used this to cleanse the skin. I tried to minimise the use of makeup the past week, so I didn’t require a stronger cleanser.
– Cetaphil Moisturising Lotion – I’ve never used this on my face, only my body. But I’m glad to say this worked well on my cheeks and chin. It was still a little too rich for my T-zone though, and my nose started to sprout a pimple or two. But compared to the rest of the very dry face, those spots were peanuts.
– Avene Thermal Spring Water spray – Sesame recommended I spray my skin with a facial spray to keep it hydrated and not so tight throughout the day. I started with my Evian facial spray but switched to this instead. Worked like a charm, especially on warm days.
– Trilogy Sensitive Skin Very Gentle Calming Fluid – this was the only serum gentle enough to not burn my skin. Soothed the redness too.
– Lucas Papaw Ointment – I obviously cannot sing enough praises of this red tube of gooey goodness. The first few days of the raw cheeks really burned, and nothing I used helped. Except this.

I couldn’t be happier with the results of these products. Which made me wonder why the heck I spent so much money on expensive products when these cheap ones did the trick and more. Funny, right?

Anyway, if you ever have the misfortune of going through what I had, do try out these very simple but effective products. They will, literally, save your skin.

Credit: CRUs23

Altogether now …. AAWWWWWWW!!!