I’m a huge fan and advocate of clay face masks—I love the pampering factor, how they gently exfoliate, and how they help clear out my pores, leaving my face refreshed and invigorated. For all the praise I heap on them, though, it’s been a hard thing to get my not-DIY-inclined friends to adopt, and I get it. It’s not cheap to buy store-bought clay masks, and when you look at buying the supplies for yourself you’re often looking at minimum quantities of clays and other ingredients that aren’t all that “mini” if you’re not using them for anything other than face masks. All of this adds up to make face mask mixes awesome gifts. Thoughtful, inexpensive when you’re already interested in the ingredients, and valuable to those who don’t want to find space in their home for a kilo or two of light, fluffy powders. Booyah. Enter this Snowflake Face Mask Mix—your friends will thank you!
In the interests of pleasing many friends and family members I’ve kept this mask fairly simple and gentle, designed for gentle cleansing, a touch of exfoliation, and some all-around post-Christmas pampering. The base is mostly white kaolin clay, and I definitely recommend sticking with the white stuff—no need to introduce your giftees to face masks only the force them to clean their bathroom directly afterwards!
A touch of calcium carbonate helps with oil absorption, and some Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) helps boost the rinse-off of the mask, which I am really appreciating lately as it seems I find streaks of un-rinsed clay lurking somewhere along my jaw more often than not after doing a mask. A touch of Epsom salts helps soften the skin, and some white willow bark brings along a touch of acne-fighting thanks to its salicin content.
Scatter in a couple drops of argan oil to help keep the mask from being too drying, and some pine essential oil for a bright, fresh, wintery scent and you’re done! You’ll need to blend this mask together in your DIY-only coffee grinder to get the salt and dried willow bark to thoroughly incorporate, which makes this really simple to make—basically just dump and blend! Easy peasy. Simply spoon it into some cute jars afterwards and consider topping them with some festive bows or ribbon and some printed instructions to polish it off. Voila! Your friends will thank you for their happy skin 🙂
Snowflake Face Mask Mix
36g | 1.27oz white kaolin clay (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz calcium carbonate
2.5g | 0.088oz Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) (USA / Canada)
6g | 0.21oz Epsom salt (USA / Canada)
1.5g | 0.053oz dried white willow bark1g | 0.03oz argan oil (USA / Canada)
0.25g | 3 drops pine essential oilPut on your dust mask.
Weigh out the kaolin clay into a small bowl.
Weigh the calcium carbonate, SCI, Epsom salts, and white willow bark into your DIY-only coffee grinder, top with as much clay as you can fit into your grinder, and then scatter the liquid oils overtop of the powders. Gently shake the coffee grinder back and forth to shift some powder on top of the oils (this prevents them from leaping up and sticking to the lid of the coffee grinder, where they never get incorporated).
Pop the lid on your grinder and thoroughly blend the mixture for thirty seconds or so until you can’t hear any distinct bits rattling about. Leave the lid on the grinder for at least three minutes to allow the dust to settle before uncapping the grinder and stirring with a small spoon to ensure the blend is even. If it’s not, turn the mixture over with the spoon and blend again for another thirty seconds. Let the dust settle again and re-check.
Once the mixture is even and uniform, spoon it out into some wee jars for gifting; I used these cute little jars.
To use, measure 5mL/1 tsp of warm water in a small dish. Using a small whisk, blend in enough of the clay mixture to get a creamy paste. After mixing the clay with water, use the mask immediately.
This mask mix should last at least a year if kept cool and dry. Once hydrated, it might last a day in the fridge, but I wouldn’t count on it. This mix should occupy ~180mL of space, though that can depend on how fluffy your clays get with blending, and with how much you tamp the mixture down. I filled four 45mL jars and had enough left over for one mask.
Substitutions
- You can use another light, soft clay (French Green, French yellow, etc.) instead of the white kaolin, but I did choose white for ease of cleanup and to fit the snowflake theme. DO NOT use bentonite or rhassoul.
- The SCI is optional; it helps with rinse-off. Replace it with more clay if you decide to eliminate it.
- You can use table salt or Himalyan sea salt instead of Epsom salts
- You can use a different dried herb instead of white willow bark—chamomile, lavender, and calendula would all be good choices
- You can use a different liquid oil that you face loves instead of argan
- You can use a different coniferous tree essential oil instead of pine; think fir or spruce
thanks!!
why not rhassoul?
This mask is light, fluffy, and white—rhassoul is exactly the opposite of all those things lol.
Looking forward to trying this!
I noticed a portion of instructions that didn’t make sense, maybe from another recipe? “I recommend scooping down, rather than across, to try and get a bit of both colours.”
Whoops, that’s exactly what happened! I fixed it, thanks for the heads up 🙂
Hi Marie, just a quick note to share condolences and deepest sympathies on your gran’s passing. Take plenty time for you to mourn and don’t worry about us patrons, we will be here when you return.
Thanks so much, Annette 🙂
Hi Marie,
I also wanted to offer condolences for your nana’s passing and also I was saddened to hear of the horrible emails you’ve been receiving. Some people in this world seem to have nothing better to do than think up ways to hurt others. Please know there are thousands of us who think your great and appreciate all the effort you put into these wonderful recipes and posts.
Blessings to you ~ Linda
Thanks so much, Linda 🙂
Hi Marie,
First, I wanted to express my condolences for your grandmother and send healing vibes your way. Second, love the simplicity and relevance of this DIY! Third, love your videos and look forward to them every week!
Cheers!
Thank you so much, Tinisha 🙂
Hi there,
This sounds delightful. I am new to this area and this feels like something I would like to make for friends. What would be the instructions you would give? Add to water, leave to harden for 10 minutes and rinse off?
Thank you,
Kathleen Charters
“To use, measure 5mL/1 tsp of warm water in a small dish. Using a small whisk, blend in enough of the clay mixture to get a creamy paste. After mixing the clay with water, use the mask immediately.” 🙂
Marie,
I have made a few masks and put them in the same cute jars for xmas presents. I’m putting together an instructional manual so people can add raw ingredients like honey etc.. do you know how many masks one can get per container?
Thanks!!
Probably at least four, but that is going to depend on the size of your jar, how tightly you pack the powder, and how liberally your giftees mix up each mask.
Hi Marie,
I haven’t got any calcium carbonate, could I use my own from ground egg shell in this? Thought I could make this for my daughter, she loves face masks. Also if it is for someone with normal to dry skin, leave out the calcium carbonate? Thanks Marie, you are an angel
You can, but keep in mind the stuff you make has the texture of sand while purchased stuff is more like icing sugar; that coarse consistency can be a deal breaker for some people, especially on the face. I’d say I have normal skin and do fine with the cal carb, but I would leave it out for dry skin 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to answer Marie 🙂 I will probably leave it out then,I wouldn’t want to damage my daughters skin.
Love your recipes,and you give me confidence to play around trying to do my own :-D. Take care.
Have fun! Making is the best 😀
Hi Marie,
Im really new to diy cosmetics. Im really loving your oil and wax based products. Im making my own stuff and gave your recipies as xmas gifts for family. Thank you for all you do!
I have acne issues more than usual after going off the pill and your oil concoctions and acv toner have really helped.
Thanks to you I’ve looked into bicarb soda and how its bad for skin due to alkaline ph level. Calcium carbonate is similarly alkaline.. is it therefore bad for skin also? Cant really seem to find the answer…hoping you can help?
Id love to try this recipe and your other (I think its the silver powder) one for blackheads.
Thanks again,
Natalie
Hey Natalie! While I wouldn’t use calcium carbonate on my face daily because of the pH, I’ve found the performance is lovely enough to warrant use a couple times a month. The studies I read showed that you needed to be using something ~2x a day in order for the use to outpace your skin’s ability to repair the moisture barrier 🙂 Hope that helps!
Hi! I want to make this but I don’t want to put any essential oils in it, is that possible?
Yup, definitely!
One of the things you can do if your worried about the pH of ingredients like calcium carbonate and bentonite clay is, after you wash off the face mask, apply a toner. The purpose of the toner is to correct the pH of your skin.