Review: Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque

Some people do masks. Some people don't. Some people use the popular Japanese and Korean 'sheet masks', while others use clay masks. I think I can say a lot of us don't use any masks. I'm very guilty of this. I don't want to find and buy sheet masks (I'm very impatient on waiting for things to ship!), and the Asian grocery store only stocks Missha masks. Would love some by My Beauty Diary but alas, they shan't be mine. Instead I will use clay masks! This particular mask is said to reduce pore size, rinse away blackheads and dries out pimples.

33% More?! Oh whatever shall I do?

The Mint Julep Masque comes in a simple white tube with a green screw-on cap. This is an 8 oz tube with "33% More" at the top. I've only used it twice, its still super full. Not a complaint! Its an easy to squeeze tube but the product sort of sticks to the inside and doesn't come out in one solid line. You might need a squeeze or two to cover the whole face evenly.

Ewww its green!

When you open this, it smells like mint. Its seriously mint, think extremely minty chewing gum! Personally, I like mint but I find this to be a bit of overkill. I wouldn't suggest this is you're sensitive to scents in skin care products. This is pretty thick but its easy to smooth across the face. It has a serious cooling feeling on the skin but its a little too cooling in my opinion. It almost stings. I've had cooling face washes that were actually quite pleasant but this is a bit of overkill.

Clean, freshly exfoliated & washed face

You wash and dry your face before you apply the mask. I suggest clipping or otherwise removing all your hair from your face as best you can. Mine was actually slipping out of my clip in the back! You can easily wet your hair to remove the mask if it happens to get in your hair. I have very short strands of hair where my bangs are that I can't seem to catch in a clip and I had the product on those strands. The joys of medium length hair.

Mask on! So not attractive

After you apply the mask, sit around and find something to do. I checked emails, fooled around on the web. This mask will slowly dry on your face, tightening your skin as it works. If you're wondering why I have that giant blank spot near my nose, its where my nostril piercing is. Its on my left, but you know, front facing iPod camera.

Even more unattractive! Its cracking

As it dries, you'll see the mask lighten in color and making it easy to tell when to take it off. It says use a wash cloth but this stuff stains cloth. I used a white wash cloth and now its a sage green color in the middle. Its easiest to use a wash cloth, just pick an old one. Use warm water and rinse it now and then. I work from my chin upwards and then wipe my face again with warm water and the cloth.

Clean! A bit tight though and my hair got loose from my clip

Your skin should feel nice and clean after removing the mask. A lot of people say their skin feels tight after they remove the mask and I have to agree. This is nothing your favorite moisturizer can't fix. It does make skin look better, sucks up oil but I don't see any serious changes in my pores. Maybe a few more applications later on. I'll be picking up the Pores Be Pure mask by Formula 10.0.6 soon, which is said to work better at clearing out pores of all the nastiness.

I think this will be nice in the summer, since it gets ridiculously hot where I live and my combination skin becomes basically an oil slick. Right now its combination-dry since its quite cold. If you just want a relaxing mask, consider picking this up.

(And people, I know you're looking at my blog. Leave a comment! Tell me something!)

SPOOKEHDOOM