Today’s project is inspired by a face mask I spotted on Instagram that rings it at about $100/100mL. It definitely had some good ingredients in it, but nothing that should make it that sort of wince-worthy expensive. My version blends two different clays with some herbs, honey, and some other good stuff for an easy to make face mask that you can personalize every single time you use it. And it’s definitely not $100 😄
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!
This past weekend I ran my first-ever 10km race! It was in Montreal, and it was proper hot last weekend—so hot they cancelled the full marathon out of safety concerns. The 10k race was at 8:45am and it was already somewhere between warm and hot when that started, mostly thanks to the humidity; it was 28°C with the humidex when I checked. Those were ten extremely sweaty kilometres. Anyhow—I was expecting to be sore afterwards, but the thing that really caught me off guard was how my face felt. Hot, yes, but… well, it stung from all the sweat. Apologies if that’s far too much information, but there you have it. I was completely surprised to find my cheekbones were stinging and my eyelids were itchy like I’d just been in the ocean, but minus the ocean. So, upon my return home I thought a soothing face mask was in order—hence this Calming Milk and Honey Face Mask.
Last year, the first thing I ever made with Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) was a Gentle Foaming Clay Scrub that I really, really liked—I polished it off in a matter of weeks! For some reason or another I got to thinking about it again, and then I got to missing it, but I’m not one to re-make something if I think I can re-vamp it, so here we are! This Coconut Clay Facial Cleanser adds SCI to a base of clay, with added fragrant coconut milk powder for a rich, creamy feel and some marshmallow root for slip and some emolliency. Add a touch of water to work this creamy powder up to a rich, velvety lather. Oooooh, bubbles.
Have you ever stumbled across a for-sale skin care project that was so simple, yet so expensive, that it made you downright mad? That was my initial reaction to the product that inspired this DIY. $70 for mostly clay, some salt, some inexpensive herbs, and some spices I have in my kitchen. $70!?! And that’s US dollars, too, so that’s nearly $95 Canadian with the exchange rate these days, and… what!? Anyhow, I guess I like to channel my rage into making things (who is surprised?), so I did. I made myself a bunch of Cleansing Mud Mousse for a whole lot less than $95, and now you can, too.
It will not come as a surprise that I am no lover of winter, but I will concede that it can be very pretty. I love the sparkle of morning frost, especially when a thin dusting of it adorns every tree branch, porch step, and fence post. On a perfectly crisp morning the neighborhood looks positively frosted in diamonds, and if I have the luxury of staying in all day with a big pot of tea, my mukluks, and a good book, that’s a pretty darn perfect day. Days like that are what inspired this Morning Frost Face Mask.
