Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spas Dead Sea Mud Spa Mask Review

I try hard to be feminine, but it doesn't always work out so hot for me. You see, I grew up on a farm. With a dad that liked engines. And I was the firstborn. Unfortunately I also grew up with a mom who I thought was a beauty-queen and the epitome of stay-at-home-momminess. I wanted to be a tomboy and a girly-girl at the same time. So although I can go for days - even weeks - without the need to do something pamper-y, when that need hits: look out! Not only do I want to do it up, but I want to do it up in style and absolutely everything needs to be done. For obvious reasons, this scares my husband witless. He fears not only for the crazy things I will do to my hair (like the 48-hour period in which I went from brown to blond to red!), but also a little for his bank account.

You see, we're tight on money right now (and who isn't!?) so when I mention to him that I want a spa day, he gets a little pale in the face. He knows I haven't gotten my nails painted in months, my hair needs trimmed, I'm probably bored with the color, no one remembers the last time I got a facial, and I could use a foot scrub like nobody's business!! What my husband doesn't always realize is that since we have cut-back, I've been finding great ways to do all this stuff at home for myself. New nail polish (the beautiful, wonderful gel kind usually) is my new go-to for some killer nails. I've been trimming my own hair (and it's so curly no one ever notices if it's a little crooked) along with dying/highlighting my own hair at home. I've replaced those beautiful bubbly-moments in the spa soaking my feet in a hot-tub with a frequent regimen of lotions and a salt-soak in a bowl of hot water when the mood strikes me. And I've replaced my facials with at-home masks.

No, it isn't the same. Grouping up with a friend or your mom or sister helps some though! So does slipping into a robe and slippers and kicking the men and children out of the house for the day and lighting delicious-scented candles all over the place. I even wrote a little article a while back about how I like to create a spa day at home!

Even with all of that though, there is always some room for disappointment. The facial mask brand that I had been using (which shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) was doing not a whole lot more than making my face soft. I felt like I'd been putting pomegranate lotion on my face, smearing it on, and then wiping it off with a wet cloth every time. Just a yucky oily sort of feeling. Luckily for me, I was chosen by Influenster as a tester for their Violet VoxBox program, which just so happened to include a Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Mud Spa mask in it!

Although I received this mask for free from Influenster in order to do my testing, please know that any reviews or information I have chosen to put out about it are my own wording and 100% honest. (Not to mention voluntary, since this isn't a requirement of receiving the item, but more an appreciated gesture.) For more on my disclosure policy, please see the tab titled, 'Let me disclose to you'.

First off, I'd just like to point out that this is not a typical facial mask. I thought that it was going to be a cream that you smeared onto your face. It isn't. It's a fabric mask that has been infused with the mud! How cool is that?

The mask was really easy to put on, and I never felt like it was going to fall off of my face. It smelled really good too (something I wasn't so sure about since I've never smelled the Dead Sea). And yes, the mask was refreshing, and smoothing, and it felt great on my skin. I feel clean and renewed. But that wasn't the best part.

Remember at the beginning when I told you I had a streak or so of tomboy in me thanks to my awesome dad? Well I used the ornery nature he instilled in me to freak my kids out. Both of them let out bone-chilling squeals and gave me looks of horrified dismay when I got up close and personal to them. My daughter (who is one) could only stare at me until I got a few inches away, and then she started grabbing at her dad to save her from me! I needed a good pick-me-up this week, and a round of laughter is usually a quick way to do it. I had fun, and after my kids saw that it was really only me under that mask, they thought it was pretty funny too. Plus, now we have some great footage for future home-movie montages.

On a more serious note though... the mask isn't pretty when you are wearing it. Facial masks are rarely pretty, but this one gave even me the creeps. It looked like I was wearing an old-fashioned Halloween mask, and it wasn't something I'd want others to see me in if I was trying to be glamorous. To get to my point: if you aren't comfortable looking a little silly with the girls, or a bit shocking around your husband - save this mask for a time when you are alone and not likely to be intruded upon. I don't really have a whole lot of self-consciousness anymore so I didn't care if my hubby saw me in it, but I have enough awareness to know that wouldn't be the case for everyone.

If you don't mind how you look for the 10-15 minutes it takes to wear a mask though, I would recommend checking into these. They are cheap (around $2.50 a piece), easy to put on and easy to clean up after. My face felt great afterwards, no breakout that I can see (even though my skin is usually pretty sensitive to that) and I had a fun time with it.

You can connect with Montagne Jeunesse on their website at www.montagnejeunesse.com or visit their social media pages on Twitter, Pinterest, or YouTube.