This rather exotic face mask is a great addition to any spa day. It’s a blend of Dead Sea mud, silk, and clay, with a spicy hit from black pepper essential oil. Creamy and dark, it’ll leave your skin tightened and clean, and as a bonus, anybody who catches a glimpse of you with it on just might scream like a little girl.
Dead Sea mud is taken from the Dead Sea, one of the most saline and mineral-high bodies of water in the world. It’s long been used as a spa treatment, dating back to Herod the Great, who used the area as a resort. The mud itself is thick and smooth, with a texture similar to that of peanut butter, though not at all oily.
I’ve thinned the mud out with some water and then blended in some white kaolin clay (USA / Canada) for the all-around wonders of clay, which I love in all my face masks. It helps clean out pores, lightly exfoliate, and increase circulation.
For an additional dose of luxury I’ve added a wee bit of silk peptides. Silk is high in proteins, and is easily absorbed into the skin. It helps manage moisture and strengthen the hair and skin.
And last but not least, just a wee bit of black pepper essential oil. It’s a warming essential oil (so go easy!) and it’s great for acne. It also stimulates circulation, meaning your face will feel a bit warm and tingly with the mask on.
The final mask is silky smooth and quite a bit more gentle than a full clay mask, leaving the skin less red than a straight clay mask. It smells of rain and pepper, and I quite like it.
Dead Sea & Silk Face Mask
1½ tsp Dead Sea mud
1½ tsp warm water¼ tsp silk peptides, powder, or amino acids
2–4 tsp white kaolin clay (USA / Canada)
2 drops black pepper essential oilPlace the Dead Sea mud and warm water together in a small dish and mash together to dilute the mud. Stir in the silk peptides, and then stir in the white kaolin clay (USA / Canada) half a teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired mask consistency. Add the black pepper essential oil and stir to combine.
To use, pull back your hair and spread the mask across your face. Let it dry, rinse it off, and follow up with some argan oil.
Love it!
It seemed to dry to a much harder surface than regular clay masks, but my skin feels super smooth and looks very bright.
I lack some of your fancier essential oils, so my argan oil has even amounts of rosemary, cedarwood, lavender, and bergamot in it, which makes for a nice smoky herbal scent.
Fantastic! I’m glad you like the mask 🙂 Your argan oil blend sounds like it smells divine as well!
Just tried this mask and it was awesome! My face felt so wonderful while it was on that I didn’t want to wash it off 🙂 I don’t have the pepper eo, but I added some honey powder.
I followed up with your argan serum, and my face feels fantastic!
Thanks 🙂
Wonderful! I’m so glad you (and your face) love it 🙂
hi!
Wearing the mask this very moment! Would you recommend refrigerating the unused portion, or is it ok on the shelf for a little while?
I’d cover it in clingfilm and pop it in the fridge—it should be good for a few days 🙂
Hey, where do you purchase the dead sea mud?
Check out my list of places to buy ingredients 🙂 I know NDA and Saffire Blue have it, but I’m in Canada and I have no idea where you live, so I’m not sure if they will work for you.
Thank you so much!
I personally dislike using the mud in this high of a concentration as my super sensitive, acne prone skin just becomes beet root red and stings like crazy. I was stupid enough once to forget spot testing and ended up with red painful skin. This is right after applying. Also, I’ll like to warn anyone that don’t use a Dead Sea mud on broken skin as the mud is very salty. Salt+wound=a lot of pain. Oddly enough I can use as much mud I feel like in soap and there’s never any issues.
Your point about spot testing is a great one—I’ve found that I can’t use seaweed powder in high concentrations, while other people love it. All skin is different!
Thanks for sharing this! If you wanted to add a preservative, what type would you recommend?
Honestly, there is so much delicious bacteria food in this I wouldn’t trust any home formulator preservative job to do the trick. Sorry! This is a make as needed and use fast mask! Happy facial-ing
Thanks! I was racking my brain for a way around it but that’s good enough for me. 😉 Three kids, I like things in bulk for time’s sake, ha ha.
I get that! I just have one puppy and that’s bad enough lol.
Hello, I have used the Dead Sea mud several times and love it , as do my customers. I have some silk peptide and would love to try this along with another clay & extracts in my mud mask for my customers however I know that this would not be possible to package and sell with it containing water and no preservative. Could I add in the silk peptide/clay etc. into the mud and package it along with instructions for the customer to add in water with each use as they go? The mud already contains grape seed oil.
That should be fine, but with all things you intend to sell, I would really recommend challenge/stability testing for peace of mind 🙂 Happy making!