Dermalogica Charcoal Rescue Masque {Review}

I always hate the titles of my posts. I think to myself that perhaps I should be more creative….’World’s best charcoal masque reviewed today!’? That would probably get me more reads wouldn’t it? I’m just not into clickbait, so you see the title and you know…. She’s reviewing a face mask. By Dermalogica. That contains charcoal. Simple enough right? Just something I’ve been thinking about…let me know if you feel I need to spruce up my titles a bit though. Okay, so back to the actual post…..Surprise, I am reviewing the Dermalogica Charcoal Rescue Masque.

The first time I saw this was on By Megan Kelly’s Instagram Stories. I love a good face mask, and this contains charcoal, which is something my blemish prone oily skin loves! When I had to opportunity to ‘shop Megan’s stash‘, this mask was up for grabs and I jumped on it.

What is this masque about?

Fast-acting, easy-to-remove masque rescues tired, lackluster or dull skin. Activated Binchotan Charcoal powerfully adsorbs impurities while Sulfur promotes cell turnover for dramatically brighter skin. Volcanic Ash, Sea Silt, Bamboo Extract and alpha hydroxy acids further accelerate skin brightening with dual-action exfoliation. Niacinamide helps reduce congestion and calm the skin while Chilean Wild Mint helps refine pores. Formulated without artificial fragrances, colors or parabens.

Claims:

• Detoxifies, brightens and invigorates all skin conditions.
• Provides physical and chemical exfoliation for visibly revitalized skin.
• Addresses signs of skin aging, breakouts and sensitivity all at once.

Packaging

This comes in a white tube. The white and grey just has that ‘professional medical skin care’ sort of feel. Also the tube is nice and soft, so you won’t be squeezing yourself to death to get the last bits out like the regular harder plastic tubes.

Where and how much?

Dermalogica products are available online, at various salons and Sorbet stores. It retails for R799.

The formula and my experience

This mask has a very unexpected consistency (to me), almost thick, but really spreadable….if that makes sense? It’s looks ‘sticky’ as you spread it, but it isn’t….I don’t feel like it has the consistency of any other charcoal masks I’ve tried. I usually want to layer it on really thick, but: a. The Price. b. You don’t need a thick layer.

They advise on the website that you leave the mask on for around 3 to 5 minutes, on the tube it states 7 to 10 minutes. I decided to disregard this completely and kept it on for about 30 minutes.There’s a reason they advise you to keep the mask on upto 10 minutes! When I removed the mask I thought my skin tingled a bit. About 3 minutes later my skin was on fire and covered in red patches. I didn’t realise it was the mask and assumed it was a new facial mist I had used. The next time I used the mask…I put on an episode of Jane the Virgin….and kept the mask on through the whole episode. I rinsed my face…and if I thought it was on first the last time, I was about to learn that even your forehead can be on fire too apparently! Cold water and a soothing mask later though, everything was fine. The burning didn’t cause any damage and within an hour or 2, there was no redness.

I am not dumb (no really….), so the next time I used it…I went with 5 minutes and all was well with the world. No tingling. No burning, no patches. What did we learn? Follow directions! They are there for a reason. *shakes head at myself*

The smell of the mask as you wash it off, can be a bit annoying. I thought my shower drain was clogged and nasty, then realised it was sulfur. There is sulfur in the mask. This really only happens when I am rinsing the mask off and the smell doesn’t linger on my skin at all, but it is there. You know I love to add side notes about smells of products. The ingredient is there to do a good thing though, to promote cell turnover, so I’ll tolerate it.

Would I recommend this mask?

I think the mask does all that it claims to do. My skin is visibly brighter and clearer after I use it and it feels smooth. The last time I used it, I did hope it would help with my breakout, but it didn’t. I felt that it did calm the blemished spot,  but I feel this is more for your tired skin, not your hormonal acne/spots/blemishes. It’s a pretty good mask and I do enjoy it and recommend it. I don’t spend R799 easily on a face mask (and in this case I didn’t pay full price), so I’d say…go pick up a sample and you make the decision if you think it’s worth the spend. I ALWAYS recommend that you get samples of high-end products. With this burning my skin when it’s on too long, if you have sensitive skin, you may not even be able to do the 5 minutes. So SAMPLE if possible.

I’ll have a few more product reviews on the Dermalogica brand up in the next few weeks, so if you’re a fan of the brand or curious about it, do look out for that post. There is a bit on the Daily Microfoliant in THIS post for now. Do you currently use any Dermalogica products? If yes, what do you love and recommend from the brand?