little white truths

Water, Bentonite, Glycerin, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Water, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Kaolin, Calcium Carbonate, Squalane, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Methyl Gluceth-20, Montmorillonite, Niacinamide, Xanthan Gum, Verbascum Thapsus Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower/Leaf Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, Sapindus Mukurossi Peel Extract, Verbascum Thapsus Extract, Plankton Extract, Boswellia Carterli Oil, Commiphora Myrrha Oil, Pinus Sylvestris Leaf Oil, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Powder, Panthenol, Allantoin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hexylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Caprylyl Glycol, Urea, Yeast Amino Acids, Betaine, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Disodium Edta, Inositol, Taurine, Trehalose, Hydroxyphenyl Propamidobenzoic Acid, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Limonene, Methylisothiazolinone, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).

Verdict

As mentioned, you do need to follow the directions with this one and apply it to clean, dry skin: if you do what I did initially and use it before you've washed your face, the 'mud to oil' thing mightn't happen.

The product is a pale mud that's lightweight and applies smoothly to the skin. It contains a few grainy bits that have an exfoliating effect when it comes to massaging your face with water, although the grains are sparse so you wouldn't buy it for the exfoliation factor alone. It dries quite quickly and becomes almost invisible (you just look a bit ashen), and there's a slight tightening effect as it dries that isn't uncomfortable.

It has a reasonably strong smell - to me it smells like a mix of plastic and tropical fruit (sounds weird I know) - but the scent is quite pleasant and there's something fresh about it. I enjoy the experience of putting it on my skin, from the moment I squeeze the product out, smell it, and feel its texture on my face. It's also quite cooling and soothing, until it dries down and feels more tight.

Once you come to adding water, the product does turn to oil and I love that. I'm a huge fan of cleansing oils and it feels nice against my skin - I probably massage it around far too much just because I love the feel of the oil on my face. It's not a greasy oil but one that feels nice and light to the touch; however I can't remove it completely without another product because it leaves a film on my face that won't budge without hot water and a decent cleanser. So I have to wash my face both before and after using this treatment: that's a lot of work for one product that's meant to be a super duper cleanser!

On the results: despite how much I enjoy using this product, I'm sorry to say that I don't think it does anything for my skin. I don't think my face looks any brighter or cleaner after using this, and it doesn't do anything for my fine lines. I'm pretty sure it hasn't helped any break-outs either, although I don't have many blemishes at the moment because my skin cleared up after using the Suki kit I've been posting on recently, so I can't really comment on that side of things.

The good news is that it hasn't irritated my sensitive skin or dried it out (and some masks can do this), so that's a plus. I've also seen a few reviewers talk about how much they love this product, so as always it all comes down to personal opinion.

One thing to note is that Paula's Choice gives it a pretty scathing review. While I don't think it's quite as bad as all that (mainly because I enjoy the process of using it), I have to agree that this isn't worth the price tag and you could spend your precious pennies on something that does a lot more for your skin. It's interesting to note that Paula's Choice states: 'the ingredients in this mask-type product are actually too large to penetrate much past skin's uppermost layers', so it 'cannot deeply clean skin or remove product buildup any better than a well formulated cleanser'.

Good to know!

I would avoid this one, or at least test it before committing to the purchase.