Drugstore Face Mask.... is it better to splurge?

First of all, I want to apologize for being absent for the past few weeks. Between Christmas and New Years I got hit with a cold that morphed itself into a flu virus of epic proportions. I am just starting to feel like myself again, so I knew it was time to get back at it. Time to play guinea pig!

One of my goals with this blog is to try things out and give my unfiltered thoughts so that you guys (my friends) don't waste your money on things. It's so hard to to know the honest reviews of people on the internet, because there are so many sponsorships (both announced and hidden) that can alter how someone presents something. I will not do that. I'm hoping that you guys can look to me to find out the truth on how a product performs for me. As always, if you guys have any questions about products, please feel free to ask me via Instagram, Twitter or even as a comment here! I would love to help in any way that I can. This is my passion!

Now, onto the review.

Last night I tried out the L'Oreal Pure-Clay Mask, Exfoliating & Pore Refining. This is the one with the orange coloured clay. If you didn't know, I have the largest pores I have ever seen. I'm not saying this to be overly critical of myself, I'm saying this as it is an absolute fact. Anything that says "pore refining" or "pore minimizing" always gets my attention. They also have a green mask that is "Purifying & Mattifying" and also a black one that is "Energizing & Brightening". Everywhere I looked people were talking about how much they enjoyed the "Energizing & Brightening" mask and how it was a dupe for the GlamGlow masks. If that is something that you think would benefit your skin and you pick it up to try, let me know what your thoughts are on it! I moreso needed the pore shrinking variety which is why I swayed the way I did. Plus, I hadn't heard anything on it.... good or bad.

First, let's look into the claims that this product has. It is said to:

          ~ Unclog and tighten pores
          ~ Exfoliate dead skin cells and smooth skins texture
          ~ Draw out build-up of impurities, dirt and pollution
          ~ Refresh skin and allow it to breathe

Not only that, but it claims visible results IMMEDIATELY. These claims include:

          ~ Skin texture looks refined and smoother
          ~ Pores are visibly minimized
          ~ Dead skin cells, dirt and oil feel removed from skin

This mask was pretty simple. Apply a thin layer to your face, avoiding the eye and mouth area. Let sit for ten to fifteen minutes. Rinse off using circular motions to help exfoliate skin. Applying it was very easy, it has a really nice texture that isn't difficult to apply to the face. To me, it felt almost whipped with fine particles for exfoliating. It didn't burn or tingle at all, which was great! It was very comfortable.

I let it sit for the full fifteen minutes and began to wash it off. I will say that, because of the soft texture, it wasn't very difficult to wash off. One thing I dislike about most clay masks is that it takes you twenty minutes of scrubbing and harming your skin in order to get everything off. I don't like to use anything too harsh on my face and cause any damage.

Now, the results.... my skin did feel a little bit smoother and cleaner than before the mask, however my pores didn't look any smaller. I was slightly disappointed as my main goal was to minimize the appearance of pores, at least a little bit. My skin does feel like it can breathe a bit better, which was great when it came time to using my night cream. I felt like it really was able to penetrate the skin and get the layers nourished.

Would I use this again? Yes. I will definitely use this face mask until I use it up. It did make a slight difference in my skin and made it much easier for my night cream to apply. I did also notice that my makeup went on nicer today as well, however these results are typical of many other exfoliating face masks I have tried.

Would I repurchase? Most likely not. Again, these results are pretty typical to most other exfoliating face mask I have used. If I were to recommend a drugstore face mask that exfoliates AND shrinks pores, it would be the Black Sugar face mask by Freeman. You can get it at Walmart for around $3 (CDN) and it is amazing. This L'Oreal face mask was $13 (CDN) and that was even on SALE! Unfortunately, this didn't do enough to justify a repurchase. I may look into the "Energizing and Brightening" one as there is a lot of hype around that formula.

If you guys want me to give one of the other two a chance and review it on my blog, let me know! I would love to try any products you guys are curious about. Anything I can do to help save you money, I am down for. Speaking of which.... have you thought of any Pintrest beauty hacks you want me to try? Leave me a comment down below and I would be happy to look into it!

I hope this review has been helpful for you. I'm always up for trying new products or answering any questions that you have. You can reach me on Instagram @cherrytrish or Twitter @cherrytrish17 anytime!

So, until next time, goodnight my friends!