Summer is just about the only time of year I regularly put something on my face that I didn’t make—sunscreen. And as much as I can go for the good, effective, non-icky stuff… my skin does not love it. The combination of sunscreen, sun, sweat, and general summertime antics is, apparently, not my face’s favourite thing. It communicates its general disdain for my sun safety with zits. Oh… joy. This deep cleansing midnight face mask is my counter attack.
I’ve selected a handful of deep cleansing ingredients to give this mask its fire power. The base is bentonite clay. Bentonite clay is a pretty strong, heavy clay, with an ability to slurp up water that’s far above and beyond that of the French clays.
They say bentonite and metal don’t mix, so go for glass or plastic for mixing and storing here. If you do end up getting some metal in there, don’t fret—it won’t make the clay unsafe, just slightly less effective.
Up next—power detoxifier activated charcoal. If it’s good enough for food poisoning, it’s good enough for my face. Seriously, though, activated charcoal is highly absorbent because it has a ridiculous amount of surface area in its dusty little particles.
To this powdery base I’ve added a dollop of raw honey, some witch hazel, and a blend of tea tree and lavender essential oils for an added cleaning/cleansing/anti-bacterial punch.
The end result is a rather dark mask that will attack the depths of your pores with conviction. Be sure to follow up with some argan oil to re-hydrate your skin afterwards, and enjoy!
Deep Cleansing Midnight Face Mask
½ tsp raw honey
1 tbsp witch hazel or aloe vera juice (not gel!) or water1 tsp bentonite clay
¼ tsp activated charcoal3 drops tea tree essential oil
3 drops lavender essential oilCombine the honey and witch hazel in a small dish and whisk to combine.
Sprinkle in the bentonite clay and activated charcoal. I mashed everything together with a flexible silicone spatula. Bentonite clay is much more absorbent than the French clays, which I’m a lot more familiar with, and you’ll find you very quickly have a paste on your hands (I made a video on the difference between kaolin and bentonite—watch it here!).
Finish the paste off by adding the essential oils and mashing them in.
To use, spread the pitch black goo all over your face and let it dry for about twenty minutes. Rinse off, and follow up with some argan oil.
Because activated charcoal is insoluble this mixture isn’t hugely inclined to stain. All the same, I wouldn’t smear it on your wedding dress 😉
Have you tried Badger Balm’s Damascus Rose Face Sunscreen? I have issues with sunscreen clogging my pores and it doesn’t. It’s only SPF 20, but it dries down pretty nicely to a non-sticky finish, and I don’t feel gross reapplying it if I’m outside a lot. And it smells lovely.
I haven’t, but I’ll keep an eye out for it! I do love roses 🙂
This recipe looks powerful! Pinning it on my recipe board to make at some point. That pic is adorable!
Thanks 🙂 I had a lot of fun taking selfies with my hilarious pitch-black face!
Can I make a larger batch of this and store it in an air tight container and if so how long do you think it would last?
Hi Jona! I have an FAQ article on the storing of face masks here.
Perfect timing! I just ordered some activated charcoal last night to get my basket high enough for free shipping. Now I can’t wait for my order to be delivered to try this out.
Exciting! Soon you can look just as freaky as I did 😉
Hi Marie,
I am a home soapmaker and have followed your blog for awhile. Thanks for all the great ideas and inspiration!
Just wondering if this mask could be made in a larger batch, and kept in a jar for later use? Or will it dry out/spoil if kept.
Thank you!
Hi Kate! Thanks for reading 🙂 I have an FAQ article on the storing of face masks here.
Looks great. I have tried one similar but had problems getting all of the black out of my pores, any recommendations?
Have you tried steaming your face after/as part of removing the mask to open up your pores to aid rinsing?
Funny, this is so similar to a mask I’ve been making lately! I’ve been combining french green clay, activated charcoal, aloe and rose hydrosol for this mask that I find simultaneously moisturizing, detoxifying and refreshing! I don’t put any essential oils in it because the hydrosol is so strong (which I love). I also love the blackness 🙂 There is some sort of cosmic karma though, because every time I put it on someone knocks on my door!
Hi Ali, Where do you get your rose hydrosol from? Thank you! 🙂
A great place to check is your local middle eastern market if you have one—rose water is a culinary ingredient and often stocked at good prices 🙂
Ha! I love how ridiculous this one looks—I was shocked by just how black it got with so little charcoal. It went from “meh” to “BAM” so fast!
What a great idea. I’ve never done face masks but I’ve been becoming more and more tempted to give one a go after reading all your recipes. Now I have the perfect reason. With summer not far off and the sun already showing it’s burning face here and there, I’m dreading having to get out the claggy yucky sunsceen. But avoiding it will just end in worse trouble so I’ll definitely be giving this a go 🙂
Enjoy it! Be sure to invite your friends around to have a laugh, too ;P
Hi Marie, I know you did your facial care routine a couple months ago and was wondering if you could do your hair care routine?
Done! 🙂
Will this mask last a while if not used immediately? Or should you only make it in small one time use batches?
Thanks!
Hi Shannon! I have an FAQ article on the storing of face masks here.
Made a white clay and activated charcoal mask today (didn’t add in any essential oils and mixed it just with water, I wanted to see the effect on it’s own) and when I washed it off, my face was black! Hahahah, wasn’t a big deal since I’m not going out or anything and I managed to clean it off with a few drops of oil on a cotton pad. But I don’t really want that happening again. I’m wondering if it’s my charcoal, I bought it in a drugstore and it comes in pills, which I crushed to use.
Ha! I think this mask might be one best washed off in the shower. I doubt it was the fault of your charcoal, but you may find it’s easier to wash off if you include that bit of oil in the mask 🙂
I concocted a similar recipe a few days ago! I used rhassoul and french green clay with the activated charcoal, honey, carrot extract and aloe extract. I find bentonite a bit too drying for my more mature skin. While I use lavender/rosemary/tea tree in my green clay, spirulina and charcoal shea spa soap, I chose rose Otto and sandlewood for the mask….again an aging skin formulation. Wow. My face was amazed….as was I! 🙂 Since I have started learning about natural skin formulations, I don’t think I can ever go back to buying who knows what in the fancy packages behind fear distilled marketing tactics ever again.
I love your site, the discussions which ensue and applaud what you are doing and what you share. You go girl.
Oooh, your mask sounds utterly lovely! And yes, isn’t DIYing with all your own ingredients awesome?! I love how I’ve got an apothecary at my fingertips whenever I need something 🙂 Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
Hey Marie, I was wondering what activated charcoal you use, there are a lot of different types and I was wondering if it doesn’t really matter for this mask what type is used
Mine is always just labelled “activated charcoal”, with no other specifics, sorry!
I’ve been looking around and it is very hard to find activated charcoal that can a) be shipped to Australia b) be shipped for under $30.I have found some in eBay but they mostly come from Thailand and Sri Lanka and I’m not quite sure the quality would be as good, is there anywhere else you can think of that I could find activated charcoal? Thank you,
Have you tried the pharmacy? It’s often sold in capsules there or at health food stores.
Hi Marie,
Just wondering if there is a dried substitution I could make for the raw honey in this recipe? I’m struggling to find dried honey here in NZ – it’s out of stock everywhere!
I’d like to make this in dried form to make a decent sized batch and “just add water” each time it’s used. (I also thought it would be a great stocking filler this Christmas but can’t be sure it’s recipients would use it in a timely manner!). 🙂
I’m afraid I can’t think of anything specific, but you could try different dried things, like a dry milk powder 🙂 Happy making!
How about aloe powder instead of honey, Robyn?
I mixed up a baggie of dry ingredients and EO and shook/kneaded it to disperse the EO well. Now I can just mix up a bit of honey and witch hazel in a cup and bring that to the bathroom, shake in the powder, and have a mask ready to go.