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Makeup Wars, The Best Facial Masks


This week the Makeup Wars group looks at the best facial masks. It is also an opportunity to see us in a different state (wearing masks instead of makeup)!

Yep, here I am just out of the shower, with wet hair and facial mask! I don’t plan to pin this photo, LOL!

facial mask

I have three favorite masks, one of which is ultra affordable. Here they are:

(1)  DDF Sulfur Therapeutic Mask , can substitute with Vibrant Skin Sulfur Clay Mask.

This is my go to mask for adult acne treatment. It is a quality clay mask for cleaning out pores and it contains 10% sulfur to kill acne causing bacteria. As long as I use this once per week, I tend to be able to keep a lot of my adult acne issues at bay. It also is great as a spot treatment. Put it on a blemish overnight and it will help dry it up and kill the bacteria from it. It is the mask that I am wearing in the photo.

Here is the sad thing though. When writing this, I discovered that DDF discontinued this item, despite it getting glowing reviews on most websites! However, Vibrant Skin Sulfur Clay Mask looks like a nearly identical product and I will be ordering it to try when my current tub of DDF runs out.

(2) Astara Green Papaya Mask

I hardly ever see anyone review Astara, which is too bad since it is a quality line of skin care products. Astara also makes particularly good masks, including my favorite mask for anti-aging and exfoliation, the Green Papaya Mask. This clay mask uses papaya enzymes to really work your skin and exfoliate.  When you put this mask on you can feel it going to work. The results are also fabulous.  It is kind of like getting a mini peel. I do one of  these masks every couple of weeks or so.

(3) Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask

This is a super affordable quality clay mask for time when you just want a nice standard mask to help clean out the pores, absorb oil, and smooth your skin. You can find a good sized tube of it at any drugstore, usually for under $5. It has long been my fall back mask for when I don’t need the sulfur in the acne mask and don’t want the enzyme action from the Astara mask.  If you like just plain old clay masks, there is no need to bother with high end brands, you can get the same results with Mint Julep for cheap!

Want to know the rest of the favorites? Click on through below to see what the other bloggers list as their favorite facial masks!

Disclosures: Beauty and Fashion Tech at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

Makeup Wars, Beauty Resolutions

What do beauty bloggers do for new year resolutions? Find out in this edition of Makeup Wars!


 
I usually am pretty good with resolutions, at least for a few weeks, lol! Let’s see if I can stick with these this year.

(1) Take Better Care of My Nails

I love nail polish, and when my nails look like the photo below, I am happy. But more often than not, I have broken and damaged nails. Typing all the time doesn’t help them either. So, I need to do more to work on applying nail strengthening products and generally keeping my nails looking nicer. I am still deciding on what products to use (I would love suggestions!), but I am kind of eyeing the Strong Nail System, which includes cuticle conditioning as well. I also might wear more glitter polish. the glitter seems to help protect the nail to some extent, and it wears longer for me, although it is a bit of a pain to remove.

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(2) Do Regular Glycolic Peels

I have oily acne prone skin, along with some melasma. I always see huge improvements in my skin when I do regular home peels twice each week, yet I have been bad about dong them recently. So, I plan to go back to twice per week treatments with either Kate Somerville Resurfacing Pads or the Brazilian Peel, which are my two products of choice that I have seen good results with.  When I use either of those regularly, I usually get compliments that my skin is looking good. I also am going to return to doing twice weekly or sulfur masks with DDF, which also tends to keep my acne at bay. You can read my review of that here: DDF mask review.

Kate Somerville Resurfacing Pads

(3) Try New Makeup Shades

You would think this would be easy for a beauty blogger who is always testing products, but I tend to get in a rut of wearing the same neutral shades over and over. I recently experimented with more colorful eye shadow shades and liked it as long as I avoid too much shimmer or glitter (that makes my wrinkles show up too much). I plan to do more experimenting and also try  darker or brighter lip shades than I normally wear.  I might try the Kat Von D Star Kissed Lipstick Set below for a variety of shades to try. I might also dig out some of my bright MAC lipstick shades.

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(4) Finish My Home Laser Hair Removal

Way back, I tested the Tria Laser on my lower legs and saw good results after about 9 months or so, even with somewhat inconsistent use. But I didn’t use it anywhere else because I wanted to have hair for testing other products. Now I wish I had done the full legs, or at least my bikini area and underarms. So, I am going to go back now and do those areas!  I already own the Tria and love it, but if starting over, I would consider the Silk’n Flash and Go since it is cheaper and can be used on the face. For a comparison of the two products, see here: Tria v. Flash and Go.

Flash and Go

(5) Run 5 Days Per Week and Improve My Overall Condition.

I already run marathons and half marathons on 4 days per week of training, but I want to run a 4:20:00 (or maybe even 4:15:00) marathon this summer at the Missoula Marathon, and I need to increase my mileage in order to do so. So, I am going to  add another day of running and also add an extra strength training session. Hopefully that will do the trick! Plus, as I get older, the pounds tend to stay put, so I could use that extra conditioning in general.  Related to this is that I want to get my neglected running blog, Run Gadget back up and going again!

Want to see more beauty blogger’s new year resolutions? Click on through the links below!


Disclosures: Beauty and Fashion Tech at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

The Best and Worst Acne Products

Does acne have you down? What about adult acne? Personally, I have battled adult acne on and off for yeas and tried a number of options. My current favorites happen to be the Claro Treatment Device, Home LED Light Therapy, and Peter Thomas Roth Acne Sport Treatment.

The article below, which is syndicated from Total Beauty, looks at the best and worst acne treatment products based on their reader’s reviews. In the worst category, I agree with the raw minerals rating. Murad’s items were on that list and I am OK with those, although there are items that I like better. Also on the worst list is a 10% benzoyl peroxide product and, while I haven't tried that particular one, I wouldn’t recommend that strength of benzoyl peroxide to anyone. There are better items that won’t dry out your skin so much-something that just usually leads to rebound oil production anyway.  There is also a Neutrogena wash on the list that I have sitting here waiting to be tried. Now I am having second thoughts! The surprise item on the worst list is one very popular seen on TV product.

On the good list, there is a DDF mask that I adore, and a Peter Thomas Roth item that I like. But the M2 product that is very high on the list did nothing for me.  Can’t win them all I guess!

Overall, this is a nice and useful list of products. To see all of the best and the worst  acne treatment products, click on through below.

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TotalBeauty.com
The 18 Best and Worst Acne Treatment Products

Are you still dealing with acne even though your youthful high school days are well behind you? Try one of the acne treatment products that readers say works wonders, while skipping the duds

 

18 Best and Worst Acne Products

This is a TotalBeauty.com acne article

So much for saying "so long" to acne: Even adults are plagued by what was once though to be a teenage woe. As we get older, the spot treatments of our youth are less effective. If you are in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, seek a product that will address your skin's unique needs. Don't know where to start? Check out our reader favorites and flops here.

Read reviews

The Worst No. 10: Clinique Acne Solutions Post Blemish Formula, $14

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 6.8

 

The Worst No. 10: Clinique Acne Solutions Post Blemish Formula, $14

"This product caused one reader to break out again and didn't even lighten the prior spots. Overall, readers saw 0 percent improvement after using the product on their red, post-acne marks."

The Worst No. 9: Bare Escentuals RareMinerals Blemish Therapy, $18

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 6.6

 

The Worst No. 9: Bare Escentuals RareMinerals Blemish Therapy, $18

"The product doesn't stay on the pimple, and the color is so light that it makes my pimple more obvious and it's four shades lighter than my skin tone so it doesn't blend."

The Worst No. 8: Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Stress Control Power-Foam Wash, $7.99

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 6.5

 

The Worst No. 8: Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Stress Control Power-Foam Wash, $7.99

"This cleanser aggravated what was already problematic on my face, and dried out whatever clear skin remained to the point of flakiness."

Want to see which one was the worst (and which were the best)? Click here!

Do you have a favorite acne treatment product? What didn’t work for you? Share in the comments here or provide your own comments and rakings on Total Beauty after you browse through the list!

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Disclosures: Beauty and Fashion Tech at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page