Mungo Murphy's Nourishing Seaweed Mask

I have had this little jar of facemask in my stash for a few months and not gotten around to reviewing it. Nourishing Seaweed Mask was part of January's SoukSouk box. Discovering that niche brand, that little gem of a product is the whole attraction of a beauty box subscription. Mungo Murphy is a man who loves seaweed, whether that be eating it or making products with it. You can read his story here. I have to say it really made me smile and I am intrigued by some of the recipes.

Anyway, onto the actual mask. The ingredient list couldn't be simpler. Just one ingredient, ascophyllum nodosum - seaweed. It is rich in vitamins (especially B vitamins), minerals and amino acids, and cleanses, detoxifies and balances the skin. Pretty impressive claims for just one ingredient.

The mask is a fairly fine powder, and has a greeny/brown colour. The instructions say to mix a teaspoon of mask with a little water, oil, yoghurt or honey. When I tried mixing it with water, there was nothing to bind it with. I did try it with water to begin with, but it was difficult to get it to stay put on my skin. For that reason I would suggest using honey or yoghurt.

Being a seaweed product, this does smell strongly of seaweed. Again mixing it with honey or yoghurt does dampen down the smell a little. Having said that, if you have a delicate nose, this may not be the product for you. Once I got past the smell I was really surprised at just how good a mask this actually is. Firstly it is very gentle. Even when I made it up with water, it didn't completely dry up on my skin, meaning their was absolutely no tight skin afterwards. I skin looked and felt like it had had a really thorough deep clean, but without the dryness I would usually associate with it. I would say that the results are comparable to that of a good AHA peel mask. Although it may not smell quite as appealing, this offers a really good alternative.