I love a good face mask and I think it’s one area of skincare where more is definitely more! I mean, we all get attached to that one particular daily moisturiser, right? Our ride or die. Well, when it comes to face masks you can have one to suit every occasion… Dry skin? There’s something for that. Congested skin? Something for that too. Dull skin? Yep, that too. You get the drift here. We tend to jump from environment to environment, public transport, air-conditioned rooms, flying, sweating, dry, humid… Basically, it’s a wise move to have a selection of powerhouse face masks that will get you through whatever your current environment throws at you.

5 POWERHOUSE FACE MASKS I CURRENTLY HAVE ON ROTATION

01. Gallinée Mask & Scrub £17.90. Gallinée is a new-to-me brand and so far I’m in love, the branding is on point and the products really work. A bit more about them… Their products are created with the microbiome in mind (the microbiome is the collection of all bacteria – both good and bad, that lives in and on our bodies), their aim is to maintain microbiotic balance despite our ever changing environment. We always talk about needing to take pre and probiotics for our gut health but our skin is usually never a part of that story – this is where Gallinée comes in. Their mask and scrub contains lactic acid to smooth the skin and prebiotics to nourish our microbiome as well as kaolin white clay, sea minerals and that skincare superstar, vitamin E.

02. ARK Skincare Hydration Injection Masque £35.00. I discovered this brand almost a year ago now and their products have been a part of my everyday routine ever since. This hydration injection masque is full of bioactive ingredients and the addition of hyaluronic acid makes all the difference. Depending on your skincare needs you can either leave it on for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes or overnight for a super intensive treatment – which makes it even more value for money, in my book. It’s a great one to take with you when you’re traveling, perfect to fight off in-flight dehydration.

03. REN Skincare Radiance Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask £36.00. REN Skincare, another absolutely lush brand with a mission to not only clean up your skin but also clean up the planet. It’s great for dry or sun damaged skin and it also really does minimise those pores. I have been battling a lifelong addiction to squeezing and picking mine and I know it’s SO bad for you… It’s also a futile exercise as those pores are most often just filled with sebaceous filament, something that naturally occurs in our skin and actually just needs to be left alone! I know I’m not the only one who does this but I’m determined to break the habit and instead I’ve been upping my skincare game and adding in regular steaming sessions. Anyway, this mask seems to be great for that! I use it sparingly, once or twice a month, mainly so that my skin doesn’t just get used to the ingredients making it less effective (is that even a thing? I’m convinced it is).

04. Elemis Herbal Lavendar Repair Mask £32.00. (although I’ve just found it here for £19.00!! Not sure how long that will last but worth taking advantage of!). I’ve used this mask for YEARS, seriously I think I first tried it about 8 years ago, I’m sure it’s been developed slightly over the years but either way, it’s a firm favourite of mine. Soothing and purifying, it’s a great one for removing London (or, any City, I’m sure) from your skin! You can use this twice a week if you need to.

05. The Ordinary Alpha Lipoic Acid 5% £5.60. Ok so this technically isn’t a mask but it IS a treatment and one that gives insane results!! You put a few drops of this on at nighttime and you wake up looking like you’ve had a 10-year sleep! Seriously, it reduces wrinkles, brightens, plumps – all that good stuff that you look for in your skincare AND IT’S LESS THAN A TENNER. It’s tempting to want to use this every night but the directions are 2 to 3 times per week max – again, I only use it once or twice because I really don’t want it to ever stop working! Ha! I think I’ve mentioned this in previous skincare posts but it really is that good! I’ve seen it in action on Dan as well so I’m assuming it works on all skin types. Finally, don’t be put off by the slight sting and smell of burning rubber when you first use it, I know how dramatic that sounds but the results are so worth a few seconds of ever so slight discomfort.

It’s possibly the best budget skincare buy, ever.

For anyone wondering about my skin type, I’m fairly lucky with what I guess would be classed as ‘normal’… However I certainly do react to lower quality ingredients, my skin (just like me) definitely has ideas above its station! Ha!

Either way though, if you do have sensitive skin, I would imagine that all of the above face masks would work well for you as they all contain high quality ingredients. (Always do a patch test first though, if you’re uncertain.)

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