Happy Canada Day! For anyone who doesn’t already know, I’m Canadian, and Canada Day was yesterday—a day where we celebrate red and white, maple leaves, apologizing to people who bump into you, and our delicious decision to elevate doughnut holes into their own food group. In honour of Canada Day I thought we’d celebrate with a simple clay face mask made from 100% Canadian ingredients!

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The clay I’m using in this mask is glacial clay. I will readily admit I bought it purely because it is Canadian—it’s “a product of erosion caused by the movement and melting of glaciers… [that] eventually deposits as a sediment in the ocean and becomes enriched with beneficial phytoplankton.” Glacial clay is a fairly weighty clay that reminds me of fine rhassoul clay. It is rich in minerals, and similar to bentonite clay, it has a negative charge (though I won’t tell you that charge is magical, and yes, you can use metal with the clay). The glacial clay I’m using is from Voyageur, and it’s very fine and silky, which I love on my face—it offers some physical exfoliation, but doesn’t feel too rough or unpleasant. I find it does a wonderful job of stimulating circulation and absorbing excess sebum, leaving the skin feeling clean and invigorated.

For liquid… it’s pure maple syrup, baby. All the way. We’re going full-out Canada here (sorry). I recommend using the dark stuff as it smells (and tastes) the most maple-y, but obviously the intent here isn’t to eat it so whatever you’ve got will be just fine… as long as it’s real maple syrup and not imposter “table syrup”. Real maple syrup contains antioxidants and minerals like manganese and zinc, and I’m afraid Aunt Jemima can’t say the same.

Using maple syrup instead of water means this face mask 1) smells amazing, 2) doesn’t dry down to the point of cracky, flakey, powdery discomfort, 3) brings some kissed-by-a-Canadian humectant-y goodness to your skin (well, that’s really just the sugar, but let’s pretend your epidermis is being lovingly massaged by a singing loon). I did try versions using a blend of water and syrup, and found the end product had a rather mealy appearance, while the pure syrup had a very cool glossy appearance and super smooth texture that’s quite decadent.

Here you can see the consistency difference that comes from using water with the syrup. The one on the left has water and syrup, the one on the right is just syrup.

You’ll be able to whisk this mask up in no time—measure the syrup, whisk in the clay, and bestow this Canadian gift upon the fleshy skin sack that keeps your internal organs from exploring the world without you (it works hard and definitely deserves a maple-y treat). Enjoy!

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Canada Day Clay Face Mask

4g | 0.14oz maple syrup
4–5g | 0.14–0.18oz glacial clay

Weigh the syrup into a small bowl. Add the clay about 1g at a time, whisking between additions, until you have a thick, creamy paste.

Spread the paste over your face and leave it for 15–20 minutes before rinsing it off; I like to soak a washcloth in warm water and hold that to my face for a minute or so to give the mask a chance to soften up before I begin gently wiping.

Follow up with your favourite facial lotion or serum!

Shelf Life & Storage

Because this mask is absolutely loaded with delicious bug food it must be made in single use batches and used immediately. No amount of preservatives will make it safe to store!

Substitutions

Let’s be real—this recipe has two ingredients. If you change either of them you have fundamentally changed the recipe. You can try a different syrup or a different clay, but that’s a different recipe at that point.