It’s January and for us, January is all about staying in, and being cozy. To go along with that, we like to take advantage of the makeup-free time and work on getting our skin healthy! That’s why, for “Beauty at Any Age Volume 4”, we’ve decided to focus on face masks.
We’ve did an earlier post on face masks, but for this post we’ve narrowed it down to our personal favorites, based on our our individual skin needs…..at any age!
**Please Note: This post contains affiliate links and we will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on our links. However, we only recommend products that we truly love.
Jen’s Picks For Beauty at Any Age Volume 4: Face Masks
As I was putting together all my favorite masks for this post, I realized how many masks I actually use! There’s more that I use, but these are the ones that are on rotation most often.
They also have different purposes, so I’ll use one over the other depending on how my skin is feeling that day.
Exfoliating
Exfoliating is really important for keeping your skin looking bright, and helps your skincare products absorb better.
I love this E.L.F. Cosmetics Gentle Peeling Exfoliant, because it does just like it says. It gets all the dead skin off my face, and my skin feels super smooth afterward.
Some “natural” exfoliants have irregular and sharp edges that will create microtears in your skin, and irritation.
Pore Clearing
If my skin is feeling congested and needs a little bit of deep cleaning, I’ll use a pore clearing mask. They don’t typically irritate my skin, just make my skin feel clean after I wash it off.
Pore clearing masks will absorb some of the excess sebum and oil on your skin, and draw some impurities out of your pores.
I like using this mask once a week or so, when my skin feels like it could use a little help. I also really like using a mask applicator brush, so I don’t waste a lot of product.
Hydrating
Especially during the winter, my skin needs extra hydration any chance it can get! When I don’t feel like my skin needs a “deep cleaning”, I’ll usually turn to a soothing and hydrating mask.
I also like to use an overnight mask too, on top of the rest of my nighttime skincare. Or, if you want super hydration, use Vaseline as the last step in your skincare routine!
Dianne’s Picks!
So, I have to be honest. When Jen asked me if we could do face masks for “Beauty at Any Age Volume 4”, I kinda panicked. I have such sensitive skin that I have really gotten away from face masks over the last few years. You can see in the photo my natural skin and the issues that I am working with.
While I’ve never really had full-blown acne, there is rarely a time when my face is completely blemish free. As I like to say, “there’s always something going on”. It probably took me 30 years (not kidding) to figure out that overeating milk chocolate would show up on my face. So, I try to be as careful as I can.
That said, I am always open to trying new products. So I did some research on which masks might be the best for my type of skin and I settled on trying some Dr. Jart+ products which you can find at Sephora.
Before I share those products, I do want to mention exfoliating. As Jen mentioned above, exfoliating is a key element in making sure you have beautiful, glowing skin. Again, because of my sensitive skin, I’ve turned to the professionals to help me here. I regularly get microdermabrasion on my face done by my favorite esthetician at my dermatologist’s office. I wrote an entire post about Microdermabrasion that you can read if you’d like more information.
Back to the masks – here are all the masks that I purchased. The packets are individual sheet masks and the jar is an overnight moisturizing mask, especially formulated for sensitive skin.
As of this writing, I have tried three of these masks and I will share my results below. I will come back and update this post after I have tried them all and let you know which were my favorites. We’ll let you know on social media when it’s updated! (Note: Sephora has great detailed descriptions on all of these masks and how to use them. I recommend reading them for more information.)
Clearing Solution Sheet Mask. This was the first mask I tried. The reason I selected is was because it said it reduced redness and inflammation, of which I have both. I was pleasantly surprised after using this. I used it at night and when I woke up the next morning, I did see a reduced in both redness and inflammation, without any adverse reaction. This will be a repeat.
Cicapair™ Tiger Grass Sleepair Intensive Mask. I wanted to try an overnight mask because as I’ve gotten older, my skin has gotten drier. It’s hard to believe that I once had very oily skin (and that I would now miss it!). This product was selected as one of Allure Magazine’s “Best of Beauty” products which is typically a great endorsement.
This mask you use as the last step in your nighttime routine. It basically goes “on top” on what you’ve already put on your face. After one use, I didn’t see much difference, but I am considering that “operator error”. Because it’s a gel-like mask, I was a little afraid to put on too much and I think I didn’t put on enough. But my skin did not have a bad reaction to it, which is great, so I will continue to try this on a more regular basis and post an update here.
Ceramidin™ Facial Barrier Mask. This mask is designed for dry and damaged skin and again, seems to be good for sensitive skin. The photo I took above is the morning after I used this mask. My skin definitely feels more hydrated and soft.
The key to all these products is consistency. A one-time use will show some results, but to get the results that you really want, you have to keep at it. Now that I have “faced my fear” about face masks and found ones that seem to truly help my skin, I am going to stick with it and work to make some improvements – you definitely can do that at any age!
So, what are your thoughts about face masks? Will you give them a try if you haven’t already? Let us know in the comments below!
Click the link to see all our “Beauty At Any Age” posts!
