Balea Detoxifying Face Mask

This week’s face mask was a traditional one made by Shoppers Drug Mart’s Balea brand. It’s got some pretty big claims attached to it, my favourite being “Pamper parched, worn skin with this blissful detoxifying remedy.” While my skin isn’t exactly worn, it could certainly do with some detoxifying.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find this product to be very “blissful” feeling. Texture-wise it’s sort of mud-like but it’s not quite thick enough to be called a mud mask. It’s also nowhere near as refreshing or relaxing feeling as Balea’s actual mud mask. In fact, this product actually had a bit of a burning sensation though once I washed off, my face wasn’t at all red or irritated.

In fact, my skin looked pretty good. It was bright, fresh-looking and any blemishes were visibility reduced. My face also felt super-smooth and soft and because of that, I do agree that Balea’s claim that this mask softens one’s skin.

Balea explains that the softness is due to this mask containing “luxurious lotus blossom.” It then says that the mask’s inclusion of ginseng “helps(s) to nourish and repair.” Personally I didn’t see any evidence of that. Yes, my skin did look “beautifully clean” but the dry patches on my nose were still there, even if they were smoothed down.

I’m also not totally sold on this mask’s detoxifying powers. Balea says that, “This mask will assist flushing away toxins.” By “toxins,” I assume the company means gunk in my pores. While it did clean some of that out, it didn’t get out everything, though it soften my skin up so that manual extractions were easier.

Like all Balea masks, this one is cheap, under $2, and while it’s packaged to be used once, you can get more than one use out of it (just wrap the opened package in cling-wrap).

Would I buy this product again: No. I prefer the company's Detoxifying Mud face mask. It felt much nicer on and I think it brought more gunk out.

Should you buy this product: Nah. If you want a cheap, pore cleansing face mask, go with the mud version of this product.