“This Intense Deep Cleanse Facial Mask contains antibacterial Tea Tree Oil and skin calming Witch Hazel in conjunction with activated Charcoal to keep your skin clear and healthy by:

• The power of charcoal removes dirt, sebum and impurities deep down in the pores
• Rebalances oil to leave skin clean & purified with a silky touch.”

That’s what the Boots website says anyway…

This multi use face, sorry, facial mask (with the ridiculously long name) has a lot of great ingredients that you will hear time and  time again as being what you need for your skin. Tea Tree, Witch Hazel, Charcoal, it’s all good! So this mask should work wonders right?

I love the smell of Tea Tree and pretty much every DIY product I’ve made since I started this healthy hair and skin journey has included it. Hair cream, oil mixes, whipped butters, it’s almost guaranteed to be in there. The main reason I use it is because I get quite an itchy scalp and it soothes that feeling. So with that said, the soothing quality is essential for skin care but it is also antimicrobial and antifungal so kills bacteria and can help prevent skin infections. It’s also antiseptic so is effective for cleansing cuts and abrasions but you have to remember when using it in its raw form, you need to make sure it is diluted otherwise it is going to buuuurrrrn.

The partner ingredient for the Tea Tree is Witch Hazel. I had a Witch Hazel stick when I was a spotty teenager that came out every time a dreaded blemish appeared. I wouldn’t say it was a cure-all but it definitely did help calming the redness. I now know why. Due to its anti inflammatory qualities. It has antimicrobial which means it could potentially prevent certain skin conditions, helps with tightening skin which due to being over the Dirty Thirty mark is crucial. It’s said to have healing qualities which makes me think it’s like the hippy healer of ingredients! Oh, that’s just me…never mind!

Finally, there’s the Charcoal. It’s always something that has intrigued me but I’ve never used. It seems to me, to be counter intuitive to use products with strong colours as there is a [paranoid] feeling that it’ll stain and I don’t want to have to explain Black Black Face to nobody!

Well it’s grey really, thankfully but no amount of contouring or highlighting would make having a grey face okay. Although I don’t know if it’s like that whole dress controversy because my son was adamant it was blue. There was no persuading him. I suppose to him, I looked like a Smurf.

I recently read an article on the Telegraph,  because I’m high brow like that, which described why Charcoal is sooo good. It’s “incredibly porous, acting a bit like a sponge for the grease, grime and other assorted impurities that sit on our skin… [also] drawing gunk towards it.” Sounds gross but also amazing at the same time.

So above are all the reasons why it should work. So did it?

I only got 6 uses out of the tube which was a bit disappointing when comparing it to the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Peel Off Mask. I got about 10 uses of that one. But can I just say at the £2.99 I paid, can I complain? No. Even though it’s currently £3.99, still not too shabby. And if I’m being completely honest, I could probably have got another couple of uses if I was able to be a bit more sparing with the facial mask (I am trying…and failing!)

I have to say my skin does feel smoother and it is looking better. And that’s what it’s all about. All of the ingredients are proven. So if it didn’t work I would be ridiculously disappointed because it really should be effective. Turns out Boots might just know what they are doing especially when it comes to my budget conscious life.

Let’s keep growing together!

xx Lee xx

Please note that nobody gave me nothing for this post! Not a thing…Haha, I am not sponsored or affiliated to any brands at the time of posting.