DIY Beauty: Caroline’s Serious Acne-Busting Face Mask
Acne sufferers, rejoice! We have a new mask to share!
Name: Caroline
Current hometown: New Orleans
Product name that I made up: Caroline’s Serious Acne-Busting Mask
Ingredients list: bentonite clay, 1 MSM capsule, spirulina powder, ACV or lemon juice
How I made it: Combine one teaspoon of bentonite clay, 1/4 teaspoon of spirulina powder, and the contents of one MSM capsule in a small bowl. Add enough ACV or lemon juice to make a paste. The acid reacts with the clay to make a beautiful fluffy texture so you don’t have to mix as much. Stir as needed. Apply to a clean face for 20-30 minutes and rinse off with warm water. Be sure not to rub the mask off until you have softened it up with water, or it can irritate your skin.
How it smelled, felt, worked: This mask smells like spirulina. It gives the mask a really gorgeous forest green color and protective antioxidants, but you can leave it out if the smell bothers you or add some essential oils to cover it up. As the mask dries it gets pretty tight. My skin is not the least bit sensitive, so if your skin is sensitive you could try making the mask with water instead of acid or washing it off sooner.
Why I will or won’t do this again: I have been using this mask for two or so weeks. I will do it once or twice a week to clear up any residual acne before school starts! That being said, this is a serious mask that might not work for more sensitive or mature skin types.
Sounds intense but great. Next time we break out, you can believe we’ll be trying this one. Anyone have a go-t0 acne mask?
I’ve been using the Aztec Clay for about a decade now. I obviously like it alot despite how drying it can be. Just make sure moisturize directly after! I always use ACV with it as well. Word to the wise people, this will pulsate your face with the power of a 1000 moons!
A great mask that has done incredible things for my acne as of late is Acure Organics’ Argan Stem Cell Mask. This guy clears up my blackheads like a dream and leaves me glooowinnnnggg. Plus it doesn’t dry me out at all and my skin feels like completely new skin for about 2 days after.
I’m just wondering – why the MSM? Lately I have been mixing bentonite clay, rhassoul clay, Fuller’s Earth clay, activated charcoal, and ACV to make a mask. I really like it, but it’s a bit drying so I just make sure to put oils on afterwards. It clears up acne faster, but I wish I could just figure out a way stop the mid-cycle hormonal breakouts.
I just started using bentonite clay and so far I love it. I use it as a mask and a spot treatment. Normally I get small blemishes but every now and then I’ll get a huge zit. I apply the clay directly to the zit and leave it on for about 40-60 minutes. It dries that sucker up like nothing I’ve ever seen before!! (and I’ve used almost every acne remedy out there).
Question: If I accidentally make too much is it okay to store it?
What a great mask! I’ll have to try the Spirulina.
My go-to acne mask (hormonal acne @ 41) is greek yogurt, same clay as above, a bit of Amazing Greens wheatgrass powder, and a drop of lavender or neem oil. I use this mask at least 5x/week to keep my acne in check. I do mix in batches, but have found that it doesn’t really keep after two days. Leave on for 30 mins and steam off with a hot washcloth.
Sometimes I mix honey in with the yogurt and clay. (That’s a hot mess, so slick those fly-aways back and be prepared to clean the bathroom after).
Love this series and the comments! Great ideas.
I’ve been using an Acne Clarifying Treatment from Apothederm http://apothederm.com/shop-products/brightening-acne/acne-clarifying-treatment/ and it has been working wonders on my adult acne!
This one sounds like it wouldn’t suit my sensitive skin, but it is an interesting mix.
I love Fuller’s Earth Clay in water with a few drops of lavender EO. I often leave this on a blemish overnight and it’s gone or significantly improved the next day. I can’t use the clay without lavender overnight, because then it leaves me blotchy and inflamed – so I know the lavender is a really important piece of the puzzle.
Hey all! I had been using plain bentonite clay for a while before I got the MSM. The MSM takes it to a whole other level with its antibacterial properties. I also like to mix it with manuka honey for a more gentle mask. I usually make enough mask for single use, but you could certainly make up the powder ingredients in advance and then add the acid when you need it! I have never tried to store the liquid mask.
I’ve been using french green clay, manuka honey, milk powder, apple cider vinegar + lemon solution, and a few drops of the YULI Skin Fuel. It works amazingly well to clear my skin when I feel new breakouts forming.
@Jessica, not sure we’re on the same page about products but the product you suggested isn’t clean at all.. it is a silicone and chemical powerhouse and kind of the type of thing we are all trying to move away from…
I don’t have a go-to acne mask ’cause I prefer spot treatments.
Over the past couple of days, I’ve been treating a nasty breakout with tea tree essential oil, a natural clay mask (MJ Clean-Up Mud Masque) and DIY Greek Yogurt Face Masks. Two out of three pimples are super flat and almost healed now! Woo hoo!
In the future, I’m gonna experiment with the following for treating acne:
– neem powder as a spot treatment
– turmeric powder as a spot treatment & ingredient in a DIY Turmeric Face Mask [Greek yogurt/turmeric powder]
– bentonite clay as a spot treatment (*)
– aloe vera gel as a spot treatment (#)
It’d be interesting to concoct some sort of DIY super acne spot treatment. Hmmmm…
(*) I found a tube of hydrated bentonite clay on iHerb — Redmond Trading Company Facial Mud. The ingredients are super clean — water and bentonite clay.
(#) I found a clean brand of aloe vera gel on iHerb — Dr. Mercola Natural Aloe Vera. It’s the cleanest aloe vera gel I’ve found!
Could you all provide more info on the kind/brand of MSM you use? I’ve read so much about it and would love to give it a go, but the ones I find in internet searches of full of parabens and other junk that I want to avoid. Any info you have would be so very much appreciated!
Part of the reason I love this blog so much is that its followers are all so smart and willing to share. Yay! Thanks in advance :o)
@Courtney: I just bought some MSM powder from the natural food store – the brand is ‘now’ – and the only ingredient is MSM.
@Mangomadness: I tried turmeric on my face and it temporarily dyed my skin yellow…so probably do it at night and around people who are used to experiments…
@fern: Thanks for the heads up! I’m not too worried about the yellow stain thanks to my dark drown skin tone. I’ll be experimenting in my dorm room (no roommates) or at home (my family is used to my natural experiments).
@fern: if you remove the turmeric with coconut oil (I would assume other oils work well too, but I haven’t tried them) it helps lessen the staining effect. I would avoid using the turmeric at night if you have white pillow cases though – I found that one out the hard way!
I love using aztec clay with ACV for masks on my very oily/acne skin. I’m looking forward to trying your recipe though. Nothing wrong with changing it up every now and then!