For thousands of years, our ancestors have been using clay masks to cleanse and purify their skin. Gentle on our faces and perfect for drawing out impurities from all over the body, the benefits of clay masks are proven to be highly effective at improving skin health and controlling or eliminating skin conditions including oiliness and acne without drying out the skin.Â
Suitable for all skin types from oily to combination and even dry skin, clays are normally made from natural materials, although synthetic clays are available and have been used for many years in some skin care products. At Kiika Skin, we only use the most natural, purest ingredients to help you get the best benefits from your White Australian Clay both now and long term.
Remove excess oil from your skin
Do you have oily or overactive skin? The benefits of a clay mask are obvious where the skin is oily. With a quality clay mask excess oils can be easily removed without drying out the skin. But what about dry and combination skin? Believe it or not, clays can also be of great benefit to combination skin and dry skin as they will be effective at removing any excess sebum without drying or stripping the skin (unless they contain other drying ingredients). At Kiika Skin, we do not use other drying ingredients, which makes our formula just as skin-loving on dry or combination skin. Take a look at our White Australian Clay here.
Unclog and reduce pores
Are you regularly fighting breakouts? Have you noticed your makeup isn’t creating a flawless look, but more so highlighting all the little lumps, bumps, and clogged pores? It’s time to clean those pores! Even if you don’t use makeup or moisturisers, the pores in your skin can become clogged with naturally produced oils, pollution in the air and dead skin cells. The benefit of a quality clay mask is that it grabs hold of these unwanted materials and extracts it out. At the same time, a well-formulated clay mask will also tighten the skin (you will often feel a tingling or tightening effect) and reduce the pore size, creating a more even skin tone for that clear skin look. Read our blog on Types of clay for your skin to find out which clay mask is best for you.
Reduce pathogens in the microbiome
The skin microbiome is the community of microbes (single cells and cell colonies) that occurs on the skin. Normal healthy skin has a range of microbes living on it. When this ecosystem falls out of equilibrium though, there can be an opportunity for some harmful species and bacteria to flourish out of control and this can lead to skin problems. Clay masks can help to reduce the pathogens (problem microbes) without upsetting the skin’s natural pH balance. At the same time, it can reduce the nutrition sources that pathogens feed off and so help prevent their ability to return.
Remove heavy metal deposits from your skin
Did you know that heavy metals can be found in a large number of household products, skincare and even our built-up environment? Some heavy metals are toxic when absorbed by the body. These materials are largely the result of modern industry and lifestyles and are not able to be removed by our normal biological pathways. This is where purchasing good quality clay is important. The natural ingredients in your clay can help remove heavy metal deposits from the skin surface with the simple application of a clay mask.
Remove other pollutants from the skin
Other pollutants that have come about from our modern lives can also be the cause of many skin issues and skin irritations. Pollutants can include but are not limited to organic materials like pesticides, cigarette smoke, car truck and other emissions. These can be the root cause of many skin problems including free radical damage to skin cells, collagen damage in your skin barrier and even radiation-induced damage to the skin. There are also many other toxic effects on the skin that happen because of pollution. This is where clays are very effective at removing many of these harmful materials, helping to detox and clear out the skin and preventing them from settling into your pores further.
High-quality clay masks can have evident effects on all types of skin and achieve real, positive outcomes for a wide range of skin conditions. Just take a look at this glowing review from one of our Kiika Clay Mask Customers here:
“Kiika Skin have stunning masks, gentle and effective and leaves my skin glowing, what surprised me the most is the lift it gives your skin, especially under my eyes (really use your own way) Customisable skincare is so my thing. My skin was glowing and so smooth to touch, it smelt beautiful, and most of all the ingredients are so luxe it really was a day spa at home. 15 mins and done.” - Carlia O.
If you’re not sure which type of clay is most suitable for your skin, take a look at Best clay mask for your skin type. At Kiika Skin, we recommend always ensuring that the clay masks you use on your face are not made with artificial fillers that dry out the skin. As Australia’s go-to waterless skincare brand, we do not use water in our formulations, which means we don’t need to add harsh chemicals or alcohols to our formulas to prevent harmful bacteria from forming in the products. It also means that you only pay for the raw active ingredients, and not for water (which let’s face it, you can add fresh on the day of use, yourself). You can shop our waterless range of skincare products here today.
About Researcher, Doug Millar B.Sc.
Doug has over 25 years of experience in the personal care industry manufacturing and Research and development, creating formulations and working with companies from small start-up brands to large multinational household names.
He currently runs his own formulation laboratory where he creates bespoke formulations for a wide range of clients. www.cosmeticscienceau.com.