So it seems I have never done an actual review of the Youthmud. Not sure how that happened. You all know how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Supermud. But I never really talk much about this black one. At a cost of $21 for 0.5 oz. and $76 for the full 1.7 oz. size it is a pricey mask and at that price, it needs to not be ok, but be FABULOUS. So the big question is, is it.
I will tell you that when I realized that I had not reviewed this one on my blog yet, I thought "ok, time to do it. Ill put the mask on, take some pics then explain to my readers why its not worth the money". I have never LOVED this one. I have always thought it did little to nothing I realized though in using it again how much I actually like it for what it is.
I think of mud masks, I think of charcoal, I think of clays pulling out toxins and dirt and guck (that is the technical term) from my skin. I want to see smaller pores, cleaner pores, and smoother skin. If I don't, odds are I am not using it again. What you have to keep in mind with this is that is NOT what this is for. If you want a vacuum to suck out and deep clean your pores, get the white version of this, the Supermud and send me a thank you note when you see the results (review of that one can be found here). But if you want something to brighten and smooth your dull tired skin, this is really great. If you want an invigorating and rough without being painful exfoliating treatment, this is also great. It took my using this again to really realize what it DOES when I was not being so focused on what it does not do.
Its a mud, but with bits of dried up Green Tea Leaves inside. It tingles a bit when you put it on, but more like in a cooling and calming way, not in a burning uncomfortable way.
You can clearly see the leaves
Now as it dries it tightens. You will certainly know when its dry by feel alone. It feels very uncomfortable as it dries, and by that I mean to the point that talking or smiling is a physical effort. It is like your skin is tightened into a mask that leaves no room to readjust your facial muscles. It is not painful but a bit of a weird sensation.
It also dries to a chalky white.
When its dry, you wash it off. But here is the most important part of it. Remove mask with water in circular motions to exfoliate. That part do not ignore. It is one of the most aggressive exfoliators I have used on my skin. It feels like the strongest scrub I have ever used. Now that being said, it irritated my skin in the way that my skin was red and a tad sensitive aftewards, but not in a painful way that many scrubs do. I guess it felt a lot more harsh than it must really be since my skin usually does not love harsh scrubs. Now that being said, if you are more sensitive and cant handle the harsh exfoliation you can be a little less vigorous with your rubbing it off in circular motions part of this treatment.
As you can see afterwards, my skin is red (and by that I mean more red than normal, as my skin is ALWAYS red).
Within 10 minutes however the redness (or extra redness) went away. Did it help with all my spots and marks and such? No. But my skin was definitely smoother and brigher after having used it.
