A few weeks ago, I decided that enough was enough when it came to my nose. For as long as I can remember (Probably my early teens) it's been oily, congested and full of quite frankly disgusting blackheads and it was definitely time for change. Armed with as much knowledge as I could find I took to the internet to find some reasonably priced products that claimed to work on these sort of problems. One of these products is the Mudd Original Mask.

Clay is a well-known oil-busting product, that claims to soak up any excess oil and dirt and leaves the skin feeling smooth, soft and thoroughly cleansed. With this in mind I set out to find a product that primarily included kaolin clay in the ingredients list. Kaolin features third on this mask's list after water and bentonite, another form of clay. Whilst there are many higher priced clay face masks out there, I know that it is the clay that does all the hard work - all the other ingredients are pretty much unnecessary. So, for a very reasonable price, that is exactly what I got. What drew me towards this particular product was the resealable aspect - I wasn't planning on using this all over my face, just on my t-zone so being able to use a bit of the mask at a time was definitely a bonus.


The mask itself is khaki green in colour, and doesn't have any discernible scent - that is to say, it doesn't smell heavily of any parfum despite it being featured in the ingredients list. With the nozzle at the top of the sachet it is easy to squeeze out and after using it several times, the mask that is left in the sachet has not dried or clogged up the nozzle in any way. To apply, I use an old foundation brush, which makes it less messy and much easier to apply than your fingers. I concentrate particularly on my nose but also bring it slightly onto the cheeks, upper lip, forehead and chin - basically anywhere that my skin feels congested. The three images below show the mask having just been applied, after five minutes and after fifteen. As you can see, the mask dried rock solid and it is pretty much impossible to move your face when it is fully dried! The dark spots you see all over my nose is the oil being drawn out of my pores, along with any dirt and hopefully some blackheads too. It looks pretty gross and I do apologise for the unforgiving close-up, but it's weirdly fascinating to see such results in such a short amount of time.


After the mask has fully dried, I remove it using a flannel and plenty of hot water - which isn't nearly as messy as you might think. After it is all removed my skin feels deeply cleansed but also slightly dry, which is to be expected with a mask of this type. However, applying some light moisturiser straight after solves this problem right away. My blackheads were not much improved, but the over-production of oil on my nose was dramatically reduced in the days thereafter. This meant that my nose took longer than usual to become shiny; however it was only a temporary result. To get the best out of this mask I would suggest using it once a week and no more to keep the oiliness at bay, and to give your skin a real deep clean. Any more would potentially dry out your skin and cause it to over-produce oil, leading you back to the same place you started. This is by no means a permanent fix for oily skin but needs to be maintained to see continuous results, which is exactly as I expected! I will continue to use this on a regular basis along with other products in order to keep the oil on my nose at bay.

Final verdict: When used appropriately, this mask produces fantastic results for an amazing price. An excellent mask to use for a quick-fix before a night out or if used regularly, can help improve your skin tenfold. Highly recommended!

Mudd Original Mask can be bought in individual 10ml sachets for 85p from Fragrance Direct, or in a resealable 100ml sachet for £3.99, also from Fragrance Direct.