Buying a face mask was a luxury for me. Before, I had to make sure my skin suffered before I would even consider a face mask. If it could go through a process of hundreds of whiteheads and blackheads, sweat, dirt, sleep deprivation and a dash of depression, then my skin deserved a LUSH face mask or one of those cool reptilian-like peel-off ones. However, since college started roughly a month ago, I recently started to make an effort to treat my body a little better. After losing a dozen-sized muffin top, I wanted to move onto my next self-improvement goal: my skin. So, I researched some of what *I thought* looked like the best DIY face masks (keyword: thought). Here are the five DIY face masks my boyfriend (Dylan), best friend (Brenden), and I tried (and survived).
In our experiment, the three of us decided we should try each recipe. Needless to say, our faces were extremely soft but smelly afterwards. Side note: Please do not make the same mistake we did by trying out all of the face masks at once. Just choose one per day or every two days.
#1: Breakfast face mask
Time: 15-20 minutes
Purpose: Matte-ify oily skin
The breakfast face mask was definitely not what any of us expected. It was the first one we tried, as it was one of the more complicated ones to make (for us, at least). As I was making it, I did not know whether to use cooked oatmeal or just the oats. The cooked oatmeal is for the texture, so after having to restart the concoction, I lathered it onto Dylan’s face.
Because of the oatmeal, the mask stayed on. However, it looked like someone had thrown up oatmeal on his face because of all the chunks. It was actually disgusting, and needless to say, kissing him was even more disgusting. I highly recommend you do this face mask with someone whom you don’t plan on kissing. The texture of soggy chunks on your lips is not a romantic or pleasant feeling. I mean, at least the smell was good. His face smelled like dough and baked goods because of the egg — like nostalgia, and it tasted like it, too. While I was applying it onto his face, Brenden decided to start eating the face mask straight out of the bowl, which made me want to eat it. I can honestly say the taste matches the smell perfectly. The egg, as nasty as it feels on the face, adds a delicious touch to this DIY face mask.
A few minutes after Dylan put it on, I did too. A few masks later, Brenden eventually did as well. For me, the mask really burned my face. It felt like any face mask did until my throat started to close, and to be honest, I still don’t know what happened. Apparently, Dylan and Brenden were fine, so maybe this just triggered a reaction in me. Oh well. For Dylan and Brenden, they felt “all the air conditioning in the room,” and it tightened their faces as well as mine.
Taking it off, however, was a nightmare. Do not expect a pristine sink after washing this nightmare off. Dylan referred to it as hydrophobic because water just didn’t do the trick. He literally had to scrape it off his skin. I ended up having to peel parts of it off my own face.
So, would we use it again? Dylan and I are in agreement on this one. We would not use it again; It was just too much of a hassle, and the allergic reaction was not worth the tight skin. Brenden, on the other hand, liked it. He said the mask did the job of matte-ifying quite nicely.
If you want to try this mask out, the recipe is listed here.
#2: Banana face mask
Time: 10-12 minutes
Purpose: Acne
Banana? Delicious. Lemon juice? I guess. Baking soda? Not in a face mask. Who knew that three random ingredients could actually make a decent face mask when combined together. Although it looks nothing like the picture on the website, it works quite well once you get all the ingredients together. When I, as a self-confident woman, decided to do face masks with two men/brothers who are in a constant battle for dominance, I should have known better than to ask for their help. That’s where this face mask went downhill.
Once I brought out the lemon juice (notoriously hard to open), the primal instincts came out. For this reason, I advise you get all the ingredients prepared ahead of time before a full-on “manliness” competition ensues. Once the dominance was placed back with me (as it normally does), we ended up having an okay time with this mask. It smelled really good, arguably even better than the first one did. It also looked more pleasant than the first one did, despite the bits of bananas on our faces. If you do happen to try out this mask, I recommend maybe blending the bananas.
Whatever you do, do not eat this inedible face mask. It tasted like actual tears. It is really salty because of the baking soda. Brenden ate this one and ended up underneath the sink. However, what it lacks in taste, it makes up for in quality. We felt our faces get tighter (to the point where Dylan could not blink), and my face burned once more. It did not have too much of an effect on us, but we like to think it helped a little.
So, would we use it again? Again, Dylan and I were in agreement. However, this time we both said we would use it again. Brenden did not really feel any effects for himself, so for him to do this again would not be worth it.
If you want to try this mask out, the recipe is listed here.
#3: Tomato face mask
Time: 15 minutes
Purpose: Tone skin, fight breakouts and reduce scarring
Tomato and Aloe Vera gel should never be put together like this again. Ever. The two did not mix well, nor did they mix into a gel at all. Maybe we got the measurements wrong, but the face mask was more a face drink. Imagine the most disgusting bloody Mary of all time, and you would get this monster. Satan himself made this one.
It smelled like pure Aloe Vera gel on your face, which is a hellish smell. Brenden really wanted to do this one at first until he started to put it on his face. After his incessant screaming, I decided to join him and experience the pain myself as a true journalist should. Once we were screaming together, we felt a spiritual bond of mutual pain.
The first two were “inedible” DIY face masks, but from a safety standpoint, this one is truly inedible. We just drank the tomato juice, but the aloe vera gel has menthol and lidocaine, which just sounds terrifying and unsafe to eat.
The face mask itself worked surprisingly well. Maybe the pain was purposeful, but despite the fact our faces were sticky, they were definitely dry and free of moisture. If you have an oily face, this is the face mask for you.
So, would we use it again? Brenden and I said hell to the no. The pain itself was not worth the extreme drying of our faces. Dylan, for some reason, said he would for this very reason.
I don’t know why you would, but if you want the recipe to this face mask, the link is here.
#4: Honey and cinnamon face mask
Time: 10-30 minutes
Purpose: Acne
If I ever decide to do a DIY face mask again, it will definitely be this one. This was amazing. Not only did it smell the best out of them all, but it tasted and looked the best, too. It was scrumptious. I would put this on graham crackers and s’mores after scraping it off my face (kidding)!
It really exfoliated my skin. My skin felt baby soft when I was done with the mask, so I know it worked. To my delight, my face did not burn this time! I just felt really clean and refreshed, which I definitely did not feel with the first three masks.
Brenden and Dylan loved this one, too. We all have somewhat oily skin, and exfoliation helps clean out our pores. It made us all feel really clean and soft.
So, would we try it again? We all said yes! We actually all agreed! We all loved it for its exfoliative powers and deep-clean feeling.
I highly recommend you check out the recipe here.
#5: Brown sugar face mask
Time: 10-15 Minutes
Purpose: Exfoliation
We saved the messiest for last. This one got so chunky and sloppy that Dylan actually had to lay flat on the floor immediately after putting it on his face. By this point, our skin had endured so much that we were afraid to put anything else on it — especially something so disgusting.
Despite its horrific appearance, it is absolutely delicious, but do not kiss anyone with this face mask either. The texture on this one is also horrible, and it reminds me of kissing tar. It also chunks and breaks very easily, so much so that when I leaned in to kiss Dylan, chunks started to fall onto his face and in his mouth (romantic, right?). While writing my notes for this, chunks fell on the notes, too! It is a mess, but it is a great lip scrub and/or face scrub. Even while taking it off, it exfoliates your skin. Definitely a good one.
So, would we try it again? All three of us would do this one in a heartbeat. It really got deep into our pores, and we were able to eat it. It was one of the best DIY face masks of the ones we tried.
If you want to try this mask out, the recipe is listed here. Enjoy masking the night away!