Review: Origins Clear Improvement Face Mask

 

For oily and combination-type skins, the Origins Clear Improvement Face Mask is both affordable and effective. Coupled with pamper essentials such as Lana Del Rey and a magazine, this makes for a great night in.

Hands up if blackheads are the bane of your complexion-life.

Also hands up if your significant other has blackheads all over their nose and you are just itching to try on one of those gimmicky pore strips on them.

Whilst pore strips can do dubious things to your nose, namely a swift transformation into Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, the Clear Improvement Face Mask by Origins Skincare does the job gently and without guilt.

With its active charcoal, this mask is especially great for oily and combination skintypes which are blackhead prone. Not only that, it claims to reduce and tighten your pores.

My boyfriend and I (well, I had the idea first..) decided to put this to the test. We both had oily skin types, and he has massive pores. Like you don’t need to go to the moon to see craters, it’s right there. Ii tend to take more care of my skin so I had tighter pores and less blackheads, whereas his pores were visibly dirty.

Before using this mask, make sure you’ve washed your face with your choice of facewash.  I use Sukin Foaming Face Wash ($9.99 at Priceline) for a more stripped back skin as a good base to use this mask on. Then either steam your face over a big bowl of hot water, or dampen your face washcloth in hottest water and press it to your face for 20 seconds. This will open the pores up – and makes a difference, I promise. The mask will come out charcoal coloured yet smooth and almost gel like. warm it up a little between your palms, and then apply a thin layer over your face, and then add a second layer over your areas of concern – which for us two was the nose area.

Now you sit and wait for it to dry, and yes, this is one of those masks which will harden up and crack. You’ll actually feel a real tightness on your skin as it dries up. Also, PS: when it is wet and when you apply the mask, you may experience stinging for a couple of seconds. I did, but there was no ensuing redness or anything for me. Boyfriend did not report any stinging, but then again he has elephant-thick skin.

After it’s dry and you just can’t stand it any longer, run your water to as hot as possible, and wet your face washer. Wring it out, and then press the washcloth over your face for as long as you can stand, and then GENTLY – yes, gently because I too was a criminal of the ‘I rub my face too vigourously’ variety – wipe the mask off your face with the washcloth. You’ll need to rinse the remainder off with your CLEAN HANDS. Tone and moisturise as usual, feel the difference.

I like this mask because the results are not only instant, but also visible. Not ony that, it is safe to use two-three days in a row, although  I use it only on my nose on the second and third days. Say hello to pores as open as your heart when you have no pimples…so goodbye to blackheads!

As for my boyfriend, I noticed a difference, and so did he, despite his myopic vision and incredulity towards these things. That should be reason enough to try it, no?

Get the Origins Clear Improvement Face Mask from Mecca Maxima for $25.00 AUD for 50 ml, and 37.00 AUD for 100 ml.