Let’s face it – face masks are fun, simple to use and achieve amazing results. The only problem is when you don’t know what you’re doing or when you pick the wrong ingredients for your face!
Many face masks look great in advertisements but fail in real life because they contain harsh chemicals, irritate sensitive skin types and don’t work on treating any of your face problems. So if you want to avoid wasting your money on bad face masks, here are 8 things to avoid when looking for face masks in-store or online:
1 . Avoid sulphates
Sulphates in face wash strip away all the moisture from our skin without even getting rid of dirt. Look at the ingredients list to find out whether face washes contain sulphate.
2 . Avoid face masks with fragrance
These face masks are usually cheap because manufacturers use cheap ingredients like synthetic fragrances to scent their face mask products. Synthetic fragrances can irritate sensitive skin types and worsen acne or other face conditions without actually helping fight the face problem you’re trying to fix.
3 . Be careful with face masks that contain parabens
Parabens are preservatives that extend the shelf life of cosmetic products by preventing microbial contamination, but they also act as endocrine disruptors which means that they mimic hormones in our body, cause hormonal imbalances and lead to premature ageing – all things we don’t want on our face! So look out for face masks that contain parabens.
4 . Avoid face masks with mineral oils
These face masks usually sit on top of your face and prevent actual face moisturizers from sinking into your face. Mineral oil is a cheap, non-renewable resource that makes a great base for a face mask because it ultimately doesn’t do anything besides make your face feel slippery when you apply the face mask! So avoid mineral oil in face masks – if it’s one of the first 5 ingredients listed on the back of the pack or jar, carry on searching.
5 . Be careful with face masks that contain petrolatum
Petrolatum is another name for petroleum jelly which is also a non-renewable resource used to extend shelf life in face masks. It also doesn’t do anything to help face problems, so it’s just a useless ingredient that’s used in face masks to make them look good on the outside!
6 . Avoid face masks with waxes
Wax is another cheap but useless face mask ingredient that makes your face feel smoother while making it tougher for active ingredients and actual face moisturizers to sink into your face. So avoid face masks with waxes too!
7 . Avoid face masks with silicones
Silicone is an anti-foaming compound used in ‘no more oil’ face masks because it clogs pores and prevents dirt from getting into our skin – sounds great right? Wrong! Silicone might sound amazing on paper, but in face masks, it also prevents face moisturizers from sinking into your face and working on treating face problems. So avoid face masks with silicone!
8. Avoid face masks with preservatives
Preservatives are used to inhibit microbial growth in face masks but these days, cosmetic chemists have improved preservatives that counteract this effect without actually compromising the integrity of a face mask or do anything harmful to our skin.
So look for face masks without parabens, mineral oil, petrolatum and other useless ingredients – if you can’t find face masks without preservatives at your local store, get them online instead where they’re usually more likely to offer products without the bad stuff!
So if you want to get rid of dirt and make-up from your face without damage, avoid the bad face mask ingredients listed above and look for face masks without sulphates, fragrance, parabens, mineral oils, petrolatum and other useless face mask ingredients that don’t do anything besides making a face mask smell or look nice.
If you want to know what detoxifying masks do for your skin besides removing dirt from it, click reference.