Sanctuary 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask

This face mask has been doing the rounds within the beauty community recently, with a lot of hype surrounding it. Sanctuary is a brand I've heard a lot about but not really tried too much from their range, though I do really like their body butter! After hearing so many people rave about this mask I decided it was time to give it a go. My skin can be pretty sensitive so, rather than buy a big tube and find out I can't use it, I decided to buy one of the sachets to give it a testing before I fully commit.


To use the mask, you massage a thin layer onto damp skin after cleansing, leave it on for five minutes, as the name would suggest, and then remove with a damp face cloth. Once the mask comes into contact with the water on your skin, it begins to heat up, which opens up the pores and allows the Charcoal and Kaolin Clay to get to work deep cleansing your skin by removing impurities and soaking up excess oil.

I found the warming sensation to last around 30 seconds before the mask then starts to cool. It's definitely a strange feeling, as I've never tried a self-heating mask before, but it wasn't too hot a feeling and it didn't irritate my skin. What I liked about this mask is that, as opposed to a lot of other cleaning masks I've tried, this doesn't start to dry up and cling to your face making you unable to move - it stays wet throughout the application time so it's much more comfortable to wear and easier to remove.

Scary!

This mask is mainly designed with oily skin types in mind. My skin is quite dehydrated, so I was worried that it might be too much for my skin, hence only buying the sachet, but as I am also prone to breakouts on my forehead and chin, I really wanted to give it a go to see if it would make a difference. Usually after using a cleansing mask I have to apply a hydrating mask afterwards, as they tend to leave my skin feeling a little parched. The first time I used this mask I applied it all over my face and, although my cheeks did feel a little dry, the rest of my face was fine afterwards, so I just applied it to my forehead nose and chin whenever I used it afterwards and my skin coped with it fine.

The results were not amazing to start with. I could see my skin was a little brighter and cleaner, but nothing had wowed me. I managed to get three applications out of the sachet and by the time it was gone I could see much greater improvements in the condition of my skin. It looked so clean and the texture of my skin felt a lot smoother too. I will definitely be purchasing one of the larger tubes and intend on using it once a week to give my face a thorough cleaning.

You can pick this mask up from Boots for £10.50 or, if like me you want to start with just a sachet to test it out, those are £3.00.

Have you tried the Sanctuary 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask? What's your favourite cleansing face mask?