Perform: Once or twice a week
What you'll need: A ready-made mask or a bowl, a brush, manuka honey, tea and other ingredients of your choosing.
Duration: 10 minutes to an hour
For exfoliation, hydration and healing there are plenty of premade masks to address these needs, but you can also blend your own. A great base is the all-powerful and healing manuka honey. Moisturizing, cleansing, exfoliating and a natural anti- bacterial, this star ingredient is a beauty hero. Add to that any number of ingredients tailored to your needs, and you can’t go wrong, so alchemize away. Here’s our mini guide to making masks:
Add 2 tablespoons manuka honey to a small mixing bowl. Brew some green tea or matcha or, for very sensitive skin, try chamomile. Slowly add about 1 teaspoon of the tea and stir to combine. Be careful not to overthin the mask. Then, pick and choose from the ingredients below to create your custom mask. Blend together, brush onto your freshly cleaned skin and take a rest. This is also a great time to take a bath. The humidity will further activate the honey. Leave on your face for 10 minutes or longer (you can leave it on up to 45 minutes if you wish). Then, rinse with warm to cool water, and gently pat your skin dry with a clean towel. Follow with an oil or moisturizer of your choice, but keep it simple. This is not the time for your most active and intense products. Your skin is fresh and clean. Let it be, and enjoy its luster.
Here are some mix-ins for nutrient masks:
Tocotrienols. This rice-bran soluble powder is light and airy, and it’s packed with bioavailable vitamins D and E. If you live in a northern climate, your skin is most likely lacking vitamin D. Feed yourself. Mix 1 tablespoon into your base for a nutrient rich mask.
Algae. Chlorella, spirulina and e3Live are three nutritional powerhouses that deliver chlorophyll and oxygenate the skin. Look for single ingredient powders or a blend. e3Live also comes as a frozen liquid. If you’re using this form, thaw slightly and pour a teaspoon or so off the top and blend with your mask. Otherwise, simply add a teaspoon or so of powder. Your mask will turn a satisfying shade of deep green and will mineralize and alkalize your skin.
Shea Butter. Richly hydrating and emollient, this old school and high hippie ingredient takes on even the most severely dry skin. When you’re really parched, this is the ingredient to add. Straight from the jar, Shea Butter is almost solid and difficult to incorporate. Start with 1/2 teaspoon, and, using clean hands, warm until soft. Add this into your bowl and continue to blend. Then, reap the riches.
Matcha. Any chance we have to use matcha, we use it. Even on the skin. Loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C, this Japanese delicacy translates perfectly to the face by encouraging a reduction in inflammation and evening out skin tone. Teatime for your skin.
Prefer to skip the DIY and go for a ready made mask? Our top picks for deep cleansing and intense moisture below.
JOSH ROSEBROOK CACAO ANTIOXIDANT MASK
Cacao cleanse. This antioxidant packed mask deeply detoxifies the skin while feeding it with plant nutrition and boosting collagen production for the ultimate glow. Cacao stimulates circulation and assists in the delivery of nutrients from this treatment’s team of healing botanicals, supporting the skin’s natural ability to heal itself.
MARIE VERONIQUE MICRONUTRIENT + HYDRO MASK
Deliver nutrients and hydration on high. With its focus on barrier function, environmental protection and DNA methylation, this mask blends a force of micronutrients to support vital processes and awaken health at skin’s surface. A total skin reset born from the intersection of nature and science.
Gentle, healing and simple organic charcoal clay mask. Eradicate impurities, fight free radicals and soothe the skin. Charcoal is the super detoxifier working to treat issues above and below the surface of the skin, creating change for now and later. Aloe Juice pacifies irritations and softens the skin. Create a ritual, get clear and do less with LESSE.
JOSH ROSEBROOK ADVANCED HYDRATION MASK
Hydrating cells on a cellular level, the Advanced Hydration mask heals dry or dehydrated skin with aloe vera, botanical hyaluronic acid and a host of botanical oils and butters infused with healing herbs. Skin is plumped, pampered, glowing, and more receptive to the hydrating steps to follow.
MARIE VERONIQUE PROBIOTIC EXFOLIATION MASK
A rich and dynamic blend of enzymes, Lactic Acid and Probiotics gently polishes and refines skin for a superior satin finish. Shea Butter and Sodium Salicylate hydrate and soothe inflammation for a radiant and even complexion. A treatment that ticks all boxes, this is multimasking at its finest.
Activist Raw Mānuka Honey is wildcrafted in New Zealand by bees that pollinate the native Mānuka Bush. Raw, unprocessed and produced in small batches, this honey is teeming with the life force of the hive. Activist Raw Mānuka Honey is independently tested and certified in New Zealand using the Methylglyoxal (MGO) grading system, which verifies the authenticity of Mānuka honey. 1000+ MGO honey is guaranteed to contain at least 1000mg Methylglyoxal per kg. It tingles made of thousands of tiny molecules of crystallized enzymatic and antibacterial power.
