I love face masks! Masks are an excellent way to treat your skin to the additional TLC you need in between professional faces and an easy way to relax at home. Charcoal, a skin detoxifying ingredient, is definitely trendy right now, yet it’s also something all skin types can benefit from. My skin type is generally dry and sensitive, which causes small bumps that are accumulated skin toxins that get stuck under the skin surface from the lack of moisture. For me, charcoal frees these trapped toxins and brings them up to the skin surface, but it also helps clarify acneic, oily or stressed-out sallow skin. Why do I keep yammering on about charcoal? It’s the all-star ingredient in the Philosophy The Microdelivery Detoxifying Oxygen Peel, an at-home face mask that mimics the exfoliation of a professional chemical peel by giving your skin a deep exfoliating cleanse.
The product is pretty foolproof: The package includes two tubes and a plastic dermablade. Step 1, the black tube, houses the detoxifying charcoal gel that features activated charcoal. The black gel has a a heavy cream consistency that feels cool when applied on the face and works to lift impurities such as dirt, oil and bacteria from the skin up into the surface dermal layer (basically your skin is detoxifying by removing all of the waste). After applying this all over your face (but NOT the eye area!) rinse your hands. Be careful not to wipe it off on towels as the black colour will stain.
Immediately after, apply a generous layer of the Step 2 (white tube) mousse-like oxygen foam booster all over your face where you applied the charcoal gel. The mousse contains an oxygen complex to let your skin cells regenerate and barley leaf extract, an active that features nutrient rich antioxidants and vitamins for the skin. Leave on for three minutes (so quick right?!). The mousse foamed up almost looking like I had whipped cream all over my face, but this is a good sign: The foaming indicated the skin reabsorbing the oxygen to help increase blood circulation in order to enable a healthier, glowing complexion. (Just a heads up, the tingling sensation during this foaming is completely normal and shows the product is working to bring life back into dull skin).
The magic unveiled when I used the plastic microblade included in the kit and began scraping the mask off using a shaving type motion. The shaving motion helps to remove dead skin and impurities while you clear off 
the thick mask concoction. Although this part was a bit messy, it was also a lot of fun because you get to reveal the skin underneath. My skin was a bit red after I rinsed and patted my skin dry, but this is because the mask brings blood back up to the skin surface to improve circulation. The redness went away and left behind a really fresh and bright looking complexion that you will fall in love with.
Overall, I loved how quickly you can use this mask and the instant pick me up it gives the skin. The mask is great to use just a couple of days before a special event; the day of an event would be risky in case the peel brings up any blemishes from under the surface of the skin. You can probably get about five to seven uses out of the tube, so although it’s not a steal (that works out to $13 per use) the cost is a far cry from the price of a professional facial. Although the box says to use it three times a week, I’d prefer to use it once a week and then also complement it with a hydrating mask for my skin type. Three times a week would work better for someone with clogged pores.
Philosophy The Microdelivery Detoxifying Oxygen Peel ($89)
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