Like many of us, I've been feeling a little under the weather for the past few weeks. As such, my usual skincare routine has fallen completely by the wayside, and it shows. My skin has been especially dry and uneven, so when I found some samples of
Herbivore's Blue Tansy Resurfacing Clarity Mask when I was cleaning out my skincare drawer the other day, I felt like it was just the thing I needed.
From
Herbivore:
A truly natural mask that gently clarifies acne-prone skin with Fruit Enzymes, White Willow Bark, Aloe, and Blue Tansy Essential Oil to soothe the appearance of redness.
Including ingredients like papaya and pineapple, this mask is meant to target blemishes, pores, and uneven skin texture. It holds
impressive reviews on Sephora and is vegan, cruelty free, and even earned Sephora's Clean Beauty seal of approval. So far, so good, right?
First Impressions
My first impression of this mask is the smell. Oh heavens. It smells exactly like cough syrup, with a faint note of black licorice. Admittedly, two of my least favorite scents, so I'm probably biased from this point on. The texture was not unlike cough syrup either - a sticky but thin blue liquid, with a swirl of moss green suspiciously blooming in the center of my palm. My stomach turned and I debated whether I wanted to actually slather this on my face. For science, I went full speed ahead.
The mask is invisible once applied, though the smell is just as potent (seven minutes in I was beginning to develop a headache). On the face, it feels tight, which of course is not surprising for a face mask.
A little bit of that texture in action, courtesy of Herbivore's Instagram:
My Results
This mask did not wow me. I'm not even a little impressed, tbh.
Let's start with the application: there's a little confusion about how long to actually leave the product on your face.
Herbivore recommends applying a thin layer for 15-20 minutes, but clarifies that people with sensitive skin (which I would identify as) should leave it on for just 5 minutes. Meanwhile,
Sephora's product listing does not mention the sensitive skin time adjustment. Since the sample packs didn't have any printed directions at all, I decided to compromise by leaving it on for 10 minutes.
It did tingle a little as Herbivore said it might, so no major issues. When I washed it away with a generous amount of warm water and patted dry as per instructions, my skin's appearance was... not changed very much at all. So lacklustre, in fact, that I didn't even bother taking a photo for this article.
I mean, I get it: this is a skin mask, not a magic potion. However, my redness was not reduced at all, nor was my skin much softer. My pores did look tighter, but unfortunately, they felt tighter too. My face had become dry and uncomfortable, which is the last thing I look for in a face mask.
Final Thoughts
To reach the promised results, this mask is recommended to be used every other day for five days, and then 2 - 3 times per week to maintain whatever results you achieved. Maybe my skin would have been terrific using this product for that specified amount of time. However, that will definitely not be happening for three reasons:
First, the smell truly made me nauseated. With ingredients like papaya and pineapple, I was hoping for a light, fruity scent. I'm sure most people won't mind the scent as I did, and might even enjoy it. I just was not one of those people. Secondly, my skin feels so sapped of moisture, I do worry that using the mask several times a week would damage my skin. And the first two reasons bring in the last one, that I would now have to actually spend money on this product to continue using it as part of my skincare regime, and I just do not want to do that after my first experience. So for me, it looks like Herbivore's Blue Tansy Resurfacing Mask is a fail. Now, please excuse me while I slather up with extra moisturiser.
Have you tried this mask? I'd love to hear your experience with Herbivore's products.
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