In all my years of doing clay face masks, I really haven’t had much success getting men to give them a go. My dad rolls his eyes and laughs if he ever sees me in one, cousins have declined my goopy offers as politely as possible, and my brother wouldn’t dream of it. So, when I noticed my Glasgow-based model pal Ryan raving about Lush’s Mask of Magnaminty, I was intrigued. And then Elaine sent in a recipe request for it, and I was sold. Time to minty it up!
The original mask is sold in a tub, and it’s most white kaolin clay (USA / Canada) with talc and ground adzuki beans. The original is also sold wet, but I elected not to do that to give the dry mix a good, long shelf life.
I blended the white kaolin clay (USA / Canada) with some French green clay to get a green mask without adding a green colourant like Lush did. These clays give the mask a great base of relatively gentle pore-cleansing goodness.
From there I popped a few adzuki beans into the coffee grinder for some natural exfoliation, and added some vanilla flecks for a bit of soft vanilla scent and a touch of extra exfoliation. I whirred all of this together in my DIY coffee grinder until I couldn’t hear bean bits smashing around anymore.
I added some healing calendula petals, and these ones are special. Last fall Lucy got in touch about sending me some of her beautiful home-grown calendula, and a few weeks later a beautiful package arrived. There was an adorably labelled baggie of her gorgeous calendula, accompanied by a letter written on a real typewriter, all tied together with a bit of raffia. I’m so grateful for this lovely gift, and thrilled to be using it in this recipe 🙂 Thanks, Lucy!
For oils, I added some rich evening primrose oil and a touch of peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada). Now, you’re probably looking at the recipe and thinking “three drops? But that’s nothing!”. Please withhold your minty inclinations and stick to the three drops. I used six and it felt like I was doing my face mask in a gale-force winter wind. That much menthol close to my eyes and nose left me with watering eyes and a dripping nose (attractive!).
So, what are you waiting for? Minty it up and enjoy your refreshed, exfoliated skin!
Minty Face & Body Mask
1 tbsp white kaolin clay (USA / Canada)
2 tbsp French green clay
10 adzuki beans
1/4 tsp (~2 small pinches) dried calendula petals
¼ tsp vanilla flecks (optional)20 drops evening primrose oil
3 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada) (use spearmint if you have sensitive skin)To use:
1/32 tsp of raw honey (I use these tiny measuring spoons for tiny measurements like this)
1 1/2 tsp water to generous 2 tsp face mask mix powderFor this project I’d really recommend working in a dust mask so you can avoid breathing fine powders, which is never a good idea. The final product is weighed down with the oils, but when you’re initially blending the dry powders they really pouf up when you take the lid off the coffee grinder, making them very easy to inhale. So—get a dust mask, and always leave the lid on the grinder for a few minutes after you’re done grinding.
Combine the clays, beans, calendula petals, and vanilla flecks in your DIY coffee grinder and blend until smooth.
Drop in the evening primrose oil and peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada). Blend until smooth.
Transfer the final powder to a 125ml/half cup mason jar to store.
To use, blend 1/32 tsp of raw honey with 1½ tsp of warm water, and then whisk in a generous 2 tsp of the mask powder. Spread the creamy mixture over your face, let it dry, and rinse it off. Follow up with some argan oil.
If you don’t have adzuki beans, you can use any beans you happen to have on hand. However, adzuki beans are pretty small as far as beans go, so make sure you’re using about 1 tbsp of dried beans rather than 10, especially if you’re using something bigger like a kidney bean.
Yay! This looks awesome! I wish I hadn’t done a mask last night so I could try this tonight! (Book marking it for later this week!)
Enjoy it! I did it several times the week I whipped it up and I love the extra scrubbyness from the beans 🙂
I’ve been using it once a week since you posted it as a mask. Twice a week I grab a small teaspoon size amount, add a bit of water, smear it around my face, and then rinse off immediately. (I do my “deep” facial cleaning at night to remove makeup, so in the morning all I have to wash off is the frankincense and argan oil that I moisturize with, which most morning is just a rinse with cool water.) I’m in love!
Awesome, I’m so thrilled you’re loving it!
I love anything minty! This mask will be perfect for humid summer days when I need something to refresh my complexion and my spirit.
Enjoy it!
I was just thinking of figuring out how to make this and you did a post on it. Thanks so much! Do you think it will help with small blackheads?
I’ve found clay masks of all kinds to be helpful with blackheads, but nothing beats silver powder!
Super simple mask that women in north Africa have been using for ever is Rhassoul clay plus rose water. Cheap, easy, and it works wonders.
BTW, your captcha system is insanely difficult to read.
I’m loving rhassoul clay in my hair these days 🙂
I’ve tried dropping the captcha and the amount of spam I get is disgustingly overwhelming. We’re talking hundreds a day 🙁
What do you think about substituting coffee for the adzuki beans? They are both technically beans and the caffeine will temporarily tighten the skin.
You definitely could, especially if you like the smell of minty coffee 😉
Hi! I can’t wait to make this mask! I really want to gift this and was thinking about making it a two-part gift (powder and liquid). Can you use something else other than honey? I’d love to hear your suggestions on what I can use for the liquid part..
You can buy dry honey! If you want to gift a liquid part, be sure to preserve it 🙂
Aw, Marie, you beat me to the punch! I use powdered honey (I find it in the grocery store with the sugar substitute products)in my mask mix – this is my favorite mask EVER!! I use 2 tsp powdered honey for the entire mix. But, Thuy, I have to ask what you mean by “liquid” part? Do you mean the oils? If so, I mix the oils and powdered honey with the rest of the powdered goodies. It keeps wonderfully and then I only need to mix a bit of the dry mix with water when I use it.
Yes—if you have a coffee grinder that you use for DIY projects you can blend a few drops of oil into your clay and you won’t even know it’s there!
Thanks for the suggestion; I no longer need to make it a two-part gift now with the added powdered honey. I just made it tonight and it turned out fabulous!!
Fantastic! 😀
How often should one use this mask?
I usually do a face mask every 4–7 days, so that would apply here, too. That said, it does depend on who it is and how sensitive their skin is—they might be fine doing it more frequently, or they might prefer to use it less.
This recipe looks wonderful! Can’t wait to try it! Would it work to use calendula essential oil instead of petals? How many drops would you recommend adding? Thanks!
Maybe a drop or two? It’s obviously much more potent than the petals 🙂
Can you mix the water and the honey in before storing it?
No; I’ve got an FAQ on this.