Montagne Jeunesse's Colorful Face Masks: Review

I was sent a colorful assortment of Montagne Juenesse face masks from Farleyco, a national distributor for the brand, and was extremely tickled when I opened the box.  I don't know if you're as familiar with these masks as I am but I can recall MANY times using these masks during my spa-at-home days.  Needless to say, I was really excited to start mask-ing again.

I invited my friend, Bronwen, over for a spa evening (she's the face behind the blog Rubyna AND the creator of the Wedding Wednesday posts) and after perusing the selections, she chose the Dead Sea Mud Pac while I settled on the Chocolate Masque.

After a quick cleanse of our faces, we applied the masks and were both, instantly, blown away by the smell.  Mine actually smelled like a delectable chocolate bar and hers like fresh seaweed or the ocean.  Either way, it was a great first encounter.  Both masks were easy to apply, though extremely messy, and spread evenly over our faces with no irritation.  (This is very unusual for a packaged mask, as I'm sure you know).

We left the masks on for about 15 minutes and then rinsed them off with warm water.  Our thoughts were:

Pros:

Extremely smooth skin

Fresh looking complexion

Masks were very deep cleaning

Pores were left much tighter and less noticeable

Cons:

Drying (lots of moisturizer was required)

Despite the tight skin and dryness, these masks are absolutely worth it.  The true test came the next day, though, when my skin was blemish-free and still glowing.  I've always known I liked these masks but it was nice to remember why.  I will definitely try these out again.

Have any of you ladies tried these masks before?  If so, what are your thoughts?

DIY Beauty Fridays: Preventing Pimples with Aspirin

I'm a twenty-something year old woman and I still get pimples. There, I said it.

I should be thankful, I guess, that I don't break out all the time but when I do, my zits are rather large. (Big red horrible bumps would probably be more precise.) I've tried everything to prevent getting these red visitors: drinking more water, not eating chocolate or anything deep fried, changing my pillowcase every night before bed, not touching my face during the day, and, my personal favorite, spot treatments. My problem is that for all the water I drink, I'm unable to stop eating chocolate, french fries and am ALWAYS resting my chin on my hands at work...Needless to say, I need a spot treatment that actually works and to think I found it in my medicine cabinet.

Aspirin Mask

3 - 4 uncoated aspirin (the box will specify if it's coated) 5 little drops of water 1/2 tsp. warmed honey Let the aspirin sit in the drops of water and dissolve. (You'll know when it's dissolved as the pieces will be floating around the water.) Add the honey and mix everything together. Apply to clean face and let dry about 15 minutes. Wash off, gently, with a warm cloth, dry face and add a moisturizer promptly.

Aspirin Spot Treatment

1 uncoated aspirin 2 little drops of water Again, like above, let the aspirin dissolve in the water. Once done, dab the mixture on your pimple and let air dry for 10 - 15 minutes. Rinse off gently. Apply moisturizer immediately once face is dry. Why does this work? The active ingredient in aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid, is very similar (but not the same) to salicylic acid which is used in almost every acne product on the market. It's also an anti-inflammatory which reduces swelling and redness. For all you skeptics out there, I was exactly in your shoes last week. I was sitting at work, eating lunch at my desk, and could literally feel a small country growing on my chin. After work, the pressure was getting worse and I looked in my car mirror and was met with a massive zit. I got home, created this mask and was completely blown away by how much my skin glowed and how the redness of the pimple had actually dissipated. I woke up the next day to find the pimple 7 times smaller than it was and very easy to cover with some concealer. I highly highly highly recommend this easy concoction to anyone who suffers from minor breakouts or the occasional pimple. It helped me drastically. **Quick note: do not use this mask more often than once a week. The aspirin will dry out your face and unless you have very oily skin, you may end up flaking.**