Ok, its been a while. I've been busy with the whole endometriosis/ chronic pain thing, but this post isn't about that...er ok it kind of is. This post is inspired by my acne prone and troubled skin. While I've been away from the blog I mentioned my endometriosis and adenomyosis, I spent a little over a year on all kinds of birth control pills in an attempt to treat some of the symptoms. Not only did they not do diddly for the symptoms, I ended up going through eight or nine different pills, gained 30lbs, and my acne was beyond out of control. This was the deep cystic hormonal beasts that prompted many horrendous comments from people and dramatic feelings of being too ugly for my cats to love me. Now before all this went down, my skin still was far from blemish free, but I at least had it, for the most part, under control; except for blackheads and the monthly breakout.
You're probably thinking after I quit the pills my acne went away the same way it came, but unfortunately, no. It stopped popping up new horrors, but I was left with a face full of blemishes that took time to get rid of. (I did lose the rest of the weight after surgery though, so there's that)
Now, the acne is pretty minimal, but I'm left with a ton of scarring and dark spots.
So I've tried a lot of different face things and decided why not blog them?
...So here goes....
This is the "Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay" This stuff has a cult following it seems and for a good reason. I first looked this up on Amazon, because I love Amazon, and the rating+amount of reviews, along with the price is what prompted me to try this. But if you're going to slather something on your face,
I encourage you to do your own research.
I found the majority of negative reviews were from lazy people. You do have to mix this stuff to turn it into mud. And if you don't have patience or brain cells for that, taking it off will be just as difficult. I'll get to that.
First, lets talk money.
Price: This stuff is cheap as ...dirt? Amazon has it for under $8 and I bought mine from Vitamin Shoppe for a little less. There is a ton of product for the price; the container could realistically last at least six months.
This clay can be mixed with either water, or Apple cider vinegar. But buying the vinegar is equally inexpensive. I use "Braggs" brand and got a large bottle for under $5. I'd have a picture but I gave it away. :c
The vinegar gets fizzy when combined with the product and mixes easier than with water.
Mixing: There's directions on the package,(says to mix equal parts) but after following them I realized im better off just mixing it until I get the consistency I want.
A tiny bit of this will cover your whole face. I use a glass container, because of the apple cider vinegar, and a little scoop I saved from Oxyclean. I use that to measure and my finger to mix it. I use only a little bit at a time, but for a large batch I recommend you do use a spoon.
I use a small amount of mud and twice as mucb apple cider vinegar or until I get a very creamy consistency.
The directions also say to put it on 1/4 of an inch thick on your face, but it's too thick to dry, so again, just put it on however thick you like.
Mixing it can be messy for some people, so if you're messy and cleaning up after each mask sucks too much, you can mix a large batch, and put it in the refrigerator. But if you absolutely refuse to clean at all, because you're an adult and only own paper plates, you can mix it all in a giant zip lock bag, use it and refrigerate it until it runs out and just toss the bag in the trash.
Im not judging because Im lazy too. :p
Your face: the package says the mask "pulsates" and really the mask gets so stiff it feels like your face circulation has ceased, so yes, that does create a sensation some may call "pulsating". I like it though because it makes me feel like it's working.
Oh and don't expect to make any facial expressions. It's what I imagine botox face is like.
Some reviews I've read say that the mask comes off in chunks and clogs your drain and a lot of elaborate, "I wash my face outside with the garden hose" solutions, but again, I think it's lazy people that try to take the mask off as quickly as possible that have a drain clogging problem. I will say it's easier to wash it off in the shower just because I have more room. The big secret to getting this stuff off your face is to just be patient and take it off in gentle circular motions, much like you would when you"re putting on face wash. It really doesn't take long at all.
Results: Your face will be red from all lack of circulation action that just went down. It goes away in about 30 minutes. This dries out big blemishes, brings the ones that stay under the skin to the surface, and removes blackheads or at least brings them up enough to safely squeeze out. I actually used this for two weeks, first every day, then every other day just to get my gross birth control blemishes under control. This stuff does make things come out, but thats good, because afterwards is clear skin.
After the two weeks just mentioned, I used the mask 3x a week. This stuff was getting out blackheads that have been there for ...years. Gross I know. But it was very exciting and now they're gone ^_^
Be sure to cleanse your face first and use a moisturizer after. That is a must, this stuff will dry out your face.
Cons: The only real downside is that the more my skin cleared up, the less noticeable the results were. It's easy to see the effects on a face full of trouble, but when you're just using this mask for maintenance, it's really easy to question weather it is still an amazing product.
Another possible con could be that the apple cider vinegar doesn't smell great, even though I kind of like it, the smell could be off putting to others. And of course the mess factor could deter some as well.
I encourage you to read other reviews, pinterest, whatever, but overall this product is definitely one of my favorites and if you try it, I hope you like it as much as I do :D
