You scroll up and down on your social media accounts and find that friend of yours wearing a black mask of some sorts. Others wear it with cucumber slices over their eyes. In the world of beauty and wellness, these “masks” are called detox masks or simply facial masks.
The trend started in South Korea and immediately attracted people from all over the world to use masks. Not only do people use masks to “fit in” but they also see the health benefits of using it correctly. Here are some more things that you should know about face masks.
You Can Use Masks for…
Since masks aren’t only for being in with the trend, they often work well in making acne go away. Some masks have sulfur in them which is perfect in soothing inflammation. Clay masks also do an excellent job in clearing the extra oil from your face. Other ingredients like Salicylic acid also help up in unclogging any blocked pores in the skin.
Some masks also contain licorice extract which helps brighten up the skin. Fruit enzymes are also common ingredients which help hydrate the skin and prevent it from drying up.
Washing Your Face
A lot of people who apply masks often do it wrong because they don’t wash their face beforehand. Never wear a mask when you have unwashed skin because makeup and dirt get trapped along with the mask which essentially is doing you more harm than good.
Another problem that you’ll have is that the healthy minerals and ingredients in your mask don’t make contact with your skin because of layers of dirt or grime. Wash your face thoroughly and apply your mask afterward. It’s also good to wash with warm water as it opens up your pores more efficiently.
Avoid Facial Hair
For the ladies, it’s best that you don’t apply a mask over your eyebrows. Although some masks don’t do any harm, some of them may cause hair removal by accidental peeling. For men, if you don’t want to grow a beard, then it’s best to apply masks on a regular basis to slowly prevent hair from growing too fast.
Types of Masks
There are a lot of types of masks. A good example of this is an overnight face mask. These masks are put on before sleeping, hence the name sleeping packs. These sleeping packs help you moisturize your skin and rejuvenate it while you’re sleeping. Overnight masks are perfect for people who have dry skin.
Another type of mask is the charcoal, clay, and mud face masks. Most of these masks have detoxifying properties which help your skin recover from everyday exposure to harmful elements. They’re called detox masks because they literally pull out the impurities that your skin absorbs during the day.
They also allow your pores to tighten and can also absorb excess sebum, an oily secretion that comes from your face. Sebum is also responsible for causing pimples by clogging up your pores.
What’s with the Cucumber?
Most people use masks with cucumber. However, a lot of us don’t know why we use it at all. Cucumber has a lot of healthy compounds in it such as ascorbic acid. The reason why cucumber slices are put on the eyes because they reduce swelling and puffiness, to make it shorter, cucumber slices is a good natural way to remove the dreaded “Eye bags.”
Takeaway
For those who don’t know about masks, they think it’s weird. However, it’s no longer being treated as a fad because a lot of people swear by its fantastic health benefits. Although there are a lot of masks such as green tea scrub, clay masks, charcoal masks, and overnight face masks. They each have different effects, but mostly, they help clean up your face.