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Permalink Reply by Marty Glenn on September 2, 2013 at 7:59pm

Sara

A clay mask is just that a clay mask. :) 

The clay within the mask will accomplish two things:

1. It will, once dried, remove ONLY very, very superficial items that are on the surface of the skin.  By its very nature and that of the skin it can only do that.

2. It will leave very fine amounts of clay behind, after removal, to occlude the skin and keep TEWL at a minimum and this will help with hydration. (See attached document)

With that said overdoing masks and over drying the skin, as you know, is a bad thing but if you like Image you should stick with that.  My only recommendation would be to make sure you are not combining treatments in the mask as this is probably a waste of money and the very nature of how a mask works makes this process not possible and or at the minimum un-proven.

Marty

SkinCareScience.com

Attachments:

• Healing-Facial-Mask.jpg, 2.2 MB

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Permalink Reply by coldsalineplexus on September 3, 2013 at 5:50am

It's been ages since I've sampled the mask you mention, but I do think clay masks are beneficial at home.  I disagree with Marty in that I do believe that combining certain ingredients within the mask can be helpful.  I am thinking specifically of salicylic acid, sulfur, and vitamin C esters.  DMAE might also be a good ingredient to look for in a clay mask, as it provides a temporary tightening that clients enjoy, therefore they might be less likely to forget to use it.  Anti-inflammatory ingredients like aloe and allantoin are also not out of the question for a clay mask.  Where you start wasting money is on ingredients like peptides, ceramides, mucopolysaccharides, and other ingredients whose effectiveness would be negated by the clay mask format.  Apply those after the mask is rinsed away.

Also remember, clay masks are not your only option for the skin types you describe.  Several lines are now offering at-home enzyme masks, and there are also gel masks with effective acne treatment ingredients.  The difficulty there is that if you are going to make a gel format of anti-acne ingredients, you might as well call it a serum and have them leave it on.  Does that make sense?

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Permalink Reply by Sara Kathleen Bohlmann on September 3, 2013 at 7:58am

Makes sense! And I've been thinking of recommending an enzyme mask for homecare use; problem is, there's so many out there now. My client has been through almost every product line (or so she says) out there, so I'm trying to make it cost-effective for both of us.

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