GlamGlow Powermud Mask

I've raved about the GlamGlow SuperMud Mask before and now comes their more recent addition to the face mask range- PowerMud. A mud to oil formula, this mask was something very different to anything I'd tried before and was very intriguing. I saw Nicole Guerriero mention this in one of her videos months ago and had been waiting for it to reach our shelves since. One fateful evening visit to MeccaCosmetica after work and it had arrived! It was on their 'New In' shelves and not long after, it was in my bathroom cabinet. I did want to wait to finish a few other masks I had on rotation because at the price point that this mask is, I didn't want it sitting unloved and unused in my cabinet.

PowerMud as I mentioned, is a mud to oil formula so because of its' description I didn't expect it would dry fully on my face but it does; I applied a thing layer all over my face and within 5-10 minutes it was almost fully dry. With a very pleasant pear scent, I left it to work its magic for 15-20 minutes then instead of removing it with a  face washer or cloth, you use warm water and circular motions to wash the mask off. When you do this you feel the mask turn to an oily feel which I think is meant to further penetrate the skin.

PowerMud is described as a dual cleanse treatment as it's meant to deep clean your skin from weekly buildup of makeup, dirt, pollution etc  that gets trapped in your pores. It's designed for all skin types and both men and women. For this reason I like to use this mask on Sunday evenings as my weekly prep to cleanse my skin from the week before and prepare it for the week ahead. I do generally apply at least one mask mid-week as well and I tend to go for something more clarifying.

In terms of comparison with the SuperMud mask, they are quite different; SuperMud is more of a traditional clay mask in my opinion, the way you can see it working on your pores and problem areas makes it more obvious that it's penetrating your skin. Whereas with PowerMud, I think the results are more subtle and long-term. It's meant to cleanse from weekly build up and my skin definitely feels soft and smooth afterwards but I'm not sure it does as much for treating any active breakouts and spots that I might have at the time.

Both are different and work on different issues, I don't prefer one or the other I would recommend either SuperMud or PowerMud depending on your skin concerns. Both are available from MeccaCosmetica and MeccaMaxima in Australia.

The Luxury Face Mask

GlamGlow is a high-end face mask brand that gets quite a bit of hype on social media and YouTube but at quite a high price point, I was a little hesitant to take the plunge but then I had a yolo/feeling spendy moment and thought really, if this can improve my skin then it is worth the pennies! I bought  Super Mud months ago from MeccaCosmetica but it was one of those things that I didn't want to use  because it's an expensive product. Anyone else have that logic?! It's ridiculous I know, and it's why things can sometimes go to waste in my collection. (I'm working on it I swear!) Another reason I hadn't opened it yet was because I had so many masks already open and on the go so I didn't really want to add the collection hence I waited to finish a few of them.

not the most appealing looking product

GlamGlow's time to shine finally came last week and boy, did it shine! I came home from a long day at work and was feeling a mask so I double cleansed and removed all my makeup and opened the little pot of muddy goodness. For $70+ the size of the pot looks ridiculously small but they say you'll get 17 uses for full-face or over 100 uses as a spot treatment. From this I took the less is more approach and just put a thin layer all over my face; as I've seen in reviews and on YouTube it dries to a light grey on the majority of your face and in the spots that it's targeting more deeply it stays a darker colour. Hard to explain but if you've used it you'll probably understand or even if you've seen photos. I think it recommends to leave the mask on for 15-20 mins and I probably was closer to the 20-25 minute mark by the end, I just got a bit distracted. As it is a clay mask it dries quite stiff so don't put this on before you want to eat or have some serious discussions or laugh or really make any facial expression 'cos it won't be happening. I used a face washer (flannel) and warm water to remove it which was super easy and I could honestly see a big improvement in the redness of my breakouts and skin in general and once dried it felt super smooth. It calmed my skin but also brought some icky bits to the surface so improved overall clarity.

A couple of minutes after application

The next night (or night after) I used it as a spot treatment on my more deep/blind spots which I probably left on for 10-15mins and they definitely felt reduced afterwards. Since putting a photo up on Instagram I've been told that the Super Mud is no longer sold in Australia due to some ingredient that it contains.. slightly worrying but I guess it must just be Australian regulation because it's still readily available overseas and online if you're interested. If anyone knows more on that please feel free to inform me! Now that I'm convinced of it's magic I'm very eager to try more from GlamGlow especially Thirsty Mud and their newest addition, Power Mud- a dual cleanse treatment that turns to oil and is apparently great for heavy makeup users like myself who for the most part wears foundation on the daily. GlamGlow if you're listening (or MeccaCosmetica for that matter) please bring more of your range to Australia!