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You Need Only 2 Ingredients To Make A Skin-Healing Clay Mask
It doesn't get more natural than clay. Truly: Good old-fashioned earth has been used medicinally1 for its healing properties since as early as the days of Aristotle. And thanks to the potent impurity-pulling, skin-protecting minerals found in the multipurpose powder, clay is still a star ingredient in many of the masks we use today.
According to Eileen Feigny, esthetician and founder of natural skin care company Tulura, two skin-friendly clays worth knowing are bentonite clay and Rhassoul clay (aka red Moroccan clay). Made from ancient volcanic ash, white bentonite clay is chock-full of skin-health-supporting minerals like silica, magnesium, calcium, iron, and potassium, plus it contains kaolin—a gentle ingredient that helps repair skin. Antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, bentonite clay is a great choice for deep cleaning and flushing out pores. Rhassoul clay has similar impurity-absorbing qualities as bentonite but is less drying, so it's a gentler choice for anyone with sensitive skin.
Both clays are safe and easy to use in a homemade mask—the key here is lots of moisture. Clays are only active when wet, so keeping the mask moist while it's on your skin will get you the biggest bang for your buck. In our video below, we mixed these clays with a cleansing oil, adding an extra dose of nourishing ingredients (for acne-prone skin, we used the Revealing Botanical Oil Cleanser by Tulura, which contains tea tree and salicylic acid; for sensitive skin, we used the Pure + E.O. Free Oil Cleanser by Kristina Holey + Marie Veronique).
Watch our video to see how, and read on below for the ratios and some extra tips. And just keep in mind, different oil cleansers and mixed clay powders will produce different consistencies, so use these ratios as a loose guideline.
1. Sensitive or dry skin
Clay: Rhassoul clay
1:1 ratio clay to cleanser
2. Combo or acne-prone skin
Clay: Bentonite clay
2:1 ratio clay to cleanser
Tip from Feigny: "The less oil added, the more the clay will absorb oil from the skin."
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