Face masks are one of those really great skincare products that can take your skincare to the next level. There’s a mask for every need, that addresses every concern, and you can do other things while you’re letting one sit and work its magic. One brand I’ve mentioned on my Instagram is Complex Beauty, which is cruelty free, and vegan! I’ve been focusing a lot more on hydrating, soothing masks lately, since my skin is dehydrated and a lot more sensitive than I thought. So, I decided to test the Complex Beauty Ocean Potion mask to see how a replenishing mineral mask could help my skin.
About Ocean Potion
On their website, Complex Beauty describes their Ocean Potion mask as a healing, calming, and nourishing mask. Featured ingredients include Irish moss, kelp, safflower seed oil, and spirulina among others. They also have ingredients such as ocean minerals, which appears to include various magnesium and sodium compounds, as well as a few clays. Minerals are essential to various biochemical processes, and often act as catalysts for necessary reactions.
MSM is also on the list, which seems intimidating at first, but as I looked into it seems pretty interesting. Technically it is methylsulfonylmethane, which again seems intimidating but when simplified is just organic sulfur. Sulfur is a fantastic ingredient, as it maintains and enhances collagen bundles, is necessary for keratin, and is a building block for connective tissue. Bottom line, it’s a great option for anti-aging skincare. Don’t be scared by systematic names (like MSM). They’re technical but usually easily simplified.
How to use
To use, Complex Beauty says to apply an even layer to clean skin, or you can use it as a spot treatment on troubled areas. You leave it on for 15-20 minutes, and then you wash it off! I used it three times a week, for 20 minutes each time, for two weeks to really give it time to work. I didn’t use any other face masks during that time, and no other treatments.
I really enjoyed how this mask applied and how it felt when I was wearing it. Lots of masks will dry down, but this one didn’t. The texture was somewhat like mud, but instead of simply drying, it absorbed into my skin over the twenty minutes. Clean off was incredibly easy and my skin immediately felt calmed. No redness after, which I get after some masks, and my skin was hydrated and plump afterwards.
Final thoughts
Overall I’m thrilled with how well this mask helped heal my breakouts and calm redness. As you can see in the before and after, my breakouts were bad enough that they were scabbing, which yes is gross but yes is part of severe breakouts. At the beginning my skin was raw, irritated, inflamed, yet still somehow dull. Which is just adding insult to injury, y’know. Usually, even with my usual skincare regime those kinds of breakouts would take weeks to start to heal and even longer to disappear.
But, with using this mask not only these breakouts heal almost entirely in the two weeks, but there was no scarring, no flaking or peeling. Something very common with severe breakouts is flaking skin, but I didn’t experience any of that with this mask. Really, I have nothing bad to say about this mask! I absolutely loved using it and it’s definitely going to become a staple in my regime. It usually runs for $35, which is a bit more expensive. But if you keep an eye on Complex Beauty’s Instagram they often have sales and discounts going. I bought this one along with their Godmother enzyme mask for a buy one, get one free deal.
Have you used any Complex Beauty masks? What’s your favorite soothing mask?