The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask

Today's review is about a wash off mask which is the Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask from the brand The Body Shop. This mask was added to the latest face mask range called Skinfoods after a great success of the first four products and I am on my 2nd jar of it!

Claims from the manufacturer:

 Enriched with matcha green tea from Kakegawa, Japan, dandelion extract and soul-soothing Community Trade aloe vera from Mexico, our indulgently creamy, 100% vegan masking formula deeply purifies, gently exfoliates and liberates your skin from the weekly build-up of city pollutants and everyday impurities
 Helps remove pollutants and impurities
 Reveals radiant, younger-looking skin
 Enriched with matcha green tea from Japan and organic Community Trade aloe vera from Mexico
 100% vegan
 91% of women agreed pollution felt removed from their skin (based on trial results from 103 women)
 Formulated without silicones, mineral oil or paraffins

Directions from the manufacturer:

Remove make-up and cleanse the skin. Smooth an even layer of your mask using our Facial Mask Brush or your finger, avoiding the eyes and lips areas. Apply to your neck and décolleté too if desired. Leave for 5-10 minutes. Rinse off mask with warm water in circular motions to gently exfoliate. For optimal results, use 2-3 times per week.

Ingredients:

Aqua/Water/Eau, Kaolin, Propanediol, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Luffa Cylindrica Fruit, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter/Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum/Fragrance, Caprylyl Glycol, Polysorbate 60, Sodium Polyacrylate, Prunus Armeniaca Seed Powder/Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Seed Powder, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Tocopherol, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Taraxacum Officinale Rhizome/Root Extract/Taraxacum Officinale (Dandelion) Rhizome/Root Extract, Menthol, Sodium Hydroxide, Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate, Limonene, Citric Acid, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Caramel, CI 19140/Yellow 5, CI 42090/Blue 1.

My experience:

The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask is one of those masks that makes your skin clean. It may even border the squeaky-clean which is not always healthy for skin. The concept of pollution treatment is totally justified since mask contains matcha green tea which is a potent antioxidant, number one item to look for in anti-pollution products. Another interesting thing is clay which is also considered as anti-pollution ingredient as it battles clogged pores and aids at small dust particle removal.

 

Still talking about pollution as such, good barrier creams and proper cleansers are proven to be more effective than masks. I like the concept butI am not so sure about the entire execution by TheBody shop in terms of suiting various skin types. Sensitive skin is reacting to any sort of chemicals topical or floating around in the air, hence main target should be (yet again, in theory) sensitive skin. Unfortunately it is not the case here.

 

The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask has a lovely light green color and has a pureed fruit/plant consistency. It has little crushed apricot hell particles in it for extra exfoliation too. These are smaller than you would normally see in body products yet you feel that they are still very effective at mechanical exfoliants on face skin. Mask is slightly scented and has fresh green herbal fragrance. Applying it with classic make-up brush works best for me.

 

thin layer and 10 minutes is all you need to get rosy cheeks. In my case the first time I slammed it on in much thicker layer than on the image below, I ended up having red and angry skin because this stuff is so potent. In the end with some patch testing and experimenting, I am pretty happy with how it works now. Mask does even out my skin tone and moisturizes it quite well. The end result is happy, glowing skin that is very soft to the touch. As for anti-pollution battle, thumbs up for it! My skin is more happy than before. One big side-note though. Do not scrub your face with those apricot scrub particles, you will have more irritation than it is necessary in these colder months.

 

*Little tip for the new buyer. If you like the body shop masks as much as I do, try getting the “At-Home Facial Mask Experience kit” which retails for 80€ for 5 full-size jars of product. Unfortunately this mask line never runs on offer in NL and by investing into the kit can save some money by paying for 4 masks and getting 1 free.