Masquerade

The humidity and lovely stressors of moving across the country (unemployment, for example) have my skin in a state of  disaster. Lately all I’ve been saying is how I want to take a vacuum to my face. Basically, I need a purifying facial, but don’t want to fork over the cash. Ya know that feeling (after the holidays, for example) where your body is craving a detox? Well, that’s exactly how my face has felt. I’ve been on the prowl for a face mask to do just that — detox. I’ve been meaning to make it over to Lush to grab a Fresh Face Mask, but the said heat and humidity have kept me in pretty close proximity to my apartment. I was browsing the aisles of CVS the other day looking for a drugstore alternative. There is a serious lack of drugstore face masks. Take a gander if you don’t believe me. I was kind of shocked. Anywho, as I was walking out of the face aisle, the SkinnyGirl logo caught my eye. I was secretly judging the CVS employees for putting alcohol in the wrong aisle, but when I took a closer look, I saw that it was, in fact, skincare. WHAT? Totally missed the memo that B moved beyond low-cal cocktails. Low and behold, the tube read “Detox Face Mask.” At $10, I promptly put it in my basket.

When I got home and was in my bathroom ready to apply the mask, I got a little hesitant. What the hell does Bethenny know about face masks? Is this going to cause some weird outbreak on my face? Whatever, I thought, it can’t get much worse.

I felt the cool cucumber extract instantly. The mask went on flesh-colored, which was kind of nice… You don’t have to worry about scaring the sh*t out of anyone. (Anyone remember the “ghost” scene in It Takes Two?!) I left it on for 7 minutes and then washed off with warm water. And I was impressed!

Not only did my pores look smaller, my face finally felt de-gunked, for lack of a better term. And the best part? My face didn’t get oily the rest of the night. Seriously! A little goes a long way so I imagine this tube will get me close to 10 masks.

In other words, if you’re itching for a detox, go buy it. You won’t regret it!

PS – Nails are Essie ‘Tart Deco’

The hair treatment that I had been using was discontinued so my hair stylist recommended this Bumble & Bumble mask for me! A little bit of back story… my hair is on the road to recovery. I was seeing a hair stylist in my home town for a few years and she was completely annihilating my hair. I knew my hair felt brittle, but I didn’t understand the damage until I went to a different hairstylist in February of 2011. I believe her exact words were “this chick deserves to lose her license.” I’m pretty sure I started crying at the salon. BUT, we’ve been working to get it better since! Now it’s basically just from the chin down that is extremely fragile. Since I refuse to cut my hair more than a half inch each visit, I probably have another year of dealing with the damage!

I’m so scared to let anyone new touch my hair so I actually drove from Chicago to Champaign (a 2.5 hour drive each way) to get my hair done every 6-8 weeks. I can’t exactly fly back to Illinois to have her do my hair now and I’m not sure what I’m doing to do. But I’ve still got 3-5 weeks until I need to figure that out! 🙂

ANYWAY, the Bumble & Bumble mask is PHENOMENAL! It’s kind of a pain because you have to wash your hair, then get out of the shower and apply/wait, then get back in and wash it out. The tube says to leave it in for 10 minutes, but I got sidetracked and ended up leaving it on for about 30 minutes. Hey, can’t hurt, right?!

My hair has felt so much softer and smoother since! The added shine is a nice bonus, too. This is definitely becoming a weekly ritual. At $37, it’s a bit pricey, but definitely worth it if your hair is “truly damaged” like the tube claims. You can buy it here! At once a week, I’m thinking the tube will last a few months.

Now that I know I love the mask, the shampooconditioner, and leave-in treatment from the same collection will be what I choose when my current products run out. Better start saving…

Have you tried either of these masks?? I’d love to know what you thought!

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6 Comments

  1. 7.29.12

    The absolute BEST detox mask you can find in stores (ULTA) is c. booth Deep Cleansing Volcanic Mud Mask. Trust me, this one is it! It’s like little miracle clearing mask, you should try it!

  2. 7.29.12
    Lauren said:

    The latest thing I found on the internet was to just do a pure coconut oil hair mask, so I’m going to try it. I bought some coconut oil at Whole Foods and never got around to cooking with it (I don’t love coconut flavors so not sure why I bought it) but I figure I’ll use it on my hair! Pretty cheap and all natural, too.

  3. 7.29.12
    Rachelle said:

    Thanks for the review, I thought the same thing “what does Bethenny knows about skincare” lol. But my all time favorite masks are by Origins one is called “out of trouble” for when you have those out of nowhere breakouts and another named “It’s getting warmer” that is kind of like an argile mask. I love them both

  4. 7.30.12
    Dragana said:

    Marie Robinson is a great place to get your hair done in NY. Alison is awesome.

  5. 7.31.12
    Dani said:

    I didn’t know SkinnyGirl made beauty products, either! Bethenney is a serious mogul! (Also, I just watched It Takes Two on late night TV last week so I’m totally laughing at your ghost-face comment!)

    Also, I’ve got tarte deco on my nails right now. Coincidences! 😉

    Thanks for the recommendations! 🙂