Review of Garden City Essentials Charcoal & Coconut Clay Mask

Today I get a little vulnerable with the topic of aging, and I introduce you to a wonderful skincare product by reviewing Garden City Essentials Charcoal & Coconut Clay Mask.

I’m ready to fess up, I’m turning 44 this September. I’ve always looked young for my age, but I feel my skin and hair are finally catching up and showing my true age.

During the last few months of this pandemic, I’ve decided it’s time for me to take care of myself, inside and out.

I’m taking time to care for my hair (it’s falling out at an alarming rate), my skin (wrinkles, sun spots, poor texture), and balancing my hormones and even a few extra COVID pounds.

To tackle my aging skin, I’m trying out a whole new skincare regime that will tackle wrinkles, sun spots, large pores.

A bit on my skincare regime

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a girly girl. I’m rather low maintenance when it comes to beauty, although my husband might say differently.

I’ve ignored skincare for a long time. That was a mistake, and I’m seeing the results of that now.

While I’m experimenting with a new skincare regime, I thought I’d turn to one of my favorite, local eco-stores, Garden City Essentials, to see what they had to offer.

Garden City Essentials is a local natural beauty, wellness, and lifestyle shop in Niagara, Ontario. The Charcoal & Coconut clay mask I picked is from their in-house small-batch skincare line.

What’s in the Garden City Essentials Charcoal & Coconut Clay Mask?

Now, before I reveal my thoughts, let’s discuss what’s in the clay mask. Here’s the list of ingredients from the Garden City Essentiasl Website:

Ingredients: Activated Coconut Charcoal, Coconut Milk*, Rhassoul Clay, Australian Ivory Clay, Ground Oats* (gluten free), Ultra Fine Dead Sea Salt,  Australian Beige Clay, Kaolin Clay, Colloidal Oatmeal, Raw Cacao*, Vitamin C Powder, Sodium Bicarbonate, Ground Lavender Flowers*, Ground Chamomille Flowers*, Ground Calendula Flowers*, Marshmallow Root*, Pineapple Extract, Papaya Extract, Green Tea Extract*, Cucumber Peel Extract*, Raw Vanilla Bean*, Myhrr, Vanilla Absolute *=Organic

Why this Clay mask?

Well, after reading about all the wonderful ingredients contained in this clay mask, it has many wonderful properties to enhance the skin. It deep cleanses the pores, absorbs impurities, improves elasticity all the while providing nourishment as well.

The Experience

I have never in my life tried a clay mask and I really didn’t know what to expect.

The first time I tried it, I disregarded the suggested instructions for using a wetting agent. I used good old fashion tap water. What I got was a quick-drying, tight-feeling clay mask. It was uncomfortable, and I wiped off after a minute or two. I doubt I got any benefits from my first application.

The second time, I mixed 1 tablespoon of clay to 2 tablespoons of honey. I think next time, I’ll cut it down to a 1:1 ratio since I got too much product that ended up going to waste.

The second time around, I got it right. The clay mask felt much better on my skin, and it didn’t dry up, not at all in the 15 minutes I kept it on. It was a bit sticky though.

My skin felt so soft afterwards. After the mask, I followed up with a moisturizer. When I woke up the next day the skin on my face still felt amazing.

I also tried it using greek yogurt as a wetting agent and I really loved the way it felt going on my face. It was not as sticky as the honey and the cold yogurt was cool and refreshing.

The mask with greek yogurt did dry up more than with the honey. I preferred the soft feel of my skin as a result of the masks when used with honey as a wetting agent rather than with the yogurt.

Was the Charoal & Coconut Mask Worth it?

For my first experience using an exfoliating clay mask, I would say it was wonderful. My skin did feel soft and exfoliated afterwards.

For the price, $27 CND, and the quality of the product, this clay mask was absolutely worth it for sure. If you are looking for eco-friendly, hand-made, small-batch products, then definitely check out Garden City Essentials in-house skincare line.

Next on my list to try (when my current stock of serums run out) is to give Garden City Essentials Sea Buckthorn & Camellia Facial Serum a try.

If you like this type of review, you might be interested in the following:

Green Screen Organic Sunscreen
Green Beaver Natural Deodorant

Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. I bought this product myself. The opinions expressed are completely my own.