Let me introduce you to my sibling, ‘the creature from the black lagoon’.

My face, the window to my soul (or is that the eyes, I forget) has been misbehaving. I tried sending it to the naughty step – gave it a stern talking to – but all to no avail. My last step was the doctor’s surgery.  The doctor told me that my skin was still a grade A student, but instead a sebaceous gland had become infected and turned into an incredibly painful and ugly cyst. All the lovely natural goodness I was feeding my skin was going to make no difference in this case. Firstly antibiotics then a visit to a plastic surgeon to have it removed. Fabulous. I can’t wait to have someone cut into my face and to have a scar left on my skin. Oh well at least it was nothing I had done wrong. The point to my story is that even after due care and attention things beyond our control happen to the most diligent of us.

As a special treat for my poor skin I though I would step outside my comfort zone and treat my face to a shop bought face mask. Off I trotted to Holland and Barrett. After lots of mooching around I happened upon an interesting looking package that promised to:

“. . . dramatically improve skin texture, leaving it soft, refreshed and youthful ”

The Dead Sea Spa Magik – agimud active seaweed mask also featured a smiley face symbol (who knows what that means) and a little box saying no parabens. After a sneaky peak at the ingredients and deciding they looked okay I parted with my money and took the rather smart looking package home with me.

Just before retiring for the night I decided to give it a whirl.

I tore open the packet and dumped its contents into a bowl. Measuring the require cold water I stirred it together using the spatula supplied. My first thought was that this was a lot of product for one face but it does say to cover your face in a thick layer.

My spatula to the ready I started applying the mask. I won’t lie to you it was pretty gross. It smelled strongly of seaweed (not unsurprising I suppose as it is made from seaweed) or of a pond on a hot day, but not too off putting. I also felt it sliding down my face in globs as I had it on so thickly. Determined not to give up though I carried on covering all my face and some of my neck – being careful not to get it round my delicate eye area or mouth. Even after all that there was still quite a bit left which went in the bin. I now resembled the creature for the black lagoon’s slightly more attractive sister, but apart from the slight pond whiff it did feel deliciously cooling on my face.

I settled down on my bed with my book and read for 15 minutes. After this I went back to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. The gloppy mask had morphed into what can only be described as a rubbery substance. I moved my face and I could feel it peeling off my skin. This was the fun part – it just peels straight off your face.

Luckily it does not pull your skin or take your eyebrows with it, but it just gently peels away. Underneath my skin felt beautifully soft and I might even use the words: “. . . refreshed and youthful “.  Small bits couldn’t be peeled off but I just wiped them off with a bit of witch hazel on a cotton pad.

I have to say I was really impressed with this mask. The upset my cyst had done to my skin (a few bumps and dry patches) seemed to be magically erased. I had soft, glowing skin and it was quite a fun and relaxing experience. I will definitely be venturing into the dead sea again though maybe nose plugs might be a good accessory next time.

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