Review: Joanna Vargas Exfoliating Mask
Aaand it’s back to beauty. Or skincare, to be more specific. I suppose one of the few upsides of this lockdown situation is that, for the more fortunate among us at least, the increased time at home affords increased time for self-care. And although I am admittedly not very good at self-care — I can’t meditate for toffee, I don’t remember to take my supplements unless I set not one but two alarms, and I haven’t baked anything during this period — I am at least good at the skincare-related kind. This likely stems from over half a lifetime’s worth of skin issues but, for me, it is very much a case of skincare first, everything else second.
Since mid-March, Sunday evenings have become my designated exfoliation time, and my current weapon of choice is Joanna Vargas’ Exfoliating Mask. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll probably already be aware of my obsession with celebrity facialist Joanna Vargas and her namesake skincare range. After all, this is the third product of hers I’ve reviewed for Part Time Beauty, and the fourth I’ve tried overall. Having already been won over by her Daily Serum (which I recently purchased for a second time), Rescue Serum, and the Dawn Face Masks I took on my trip to Tokyo last January, I decided I ought to give the Exfoliating Mask a go, too.
Although this product is marketed as a mask, I would describe it more as a mask-scrub hybrid, as it has a significant grit to it. Fortunately, however, for the more sensitive-skinned among us, as well as those of us who remain traumatised by early exposure to St. Ives Apricot Scrub (honestly, the horror), it isn’t the sort of grit that is going to tear your epidermis off. Furthermore, the product presents as a luxurious gold-hued paste, which should assist you in feeling fancy even if you’re onto your twenty-third takeout pizza of lockdown and can’t remember what outdoor footwear feels like.
Used properly — I recommend following the instructions on the jar to the letter for optimum results — Joanna Vargas’ Exfoliating Mask should prove gentle enough to use up to twice a week. And while it can be tempting to leave some asks on for fifteen to twenty minutes or even longer, I would discourage anything more than ten minutes with this one; the powerful cocktail of fruit enzymes, galactoarabinan, kaolin clay, kojic acid and volcanic ash works its magic pretty promptly. I also advocate rinsing well, especially around the nose and hairline, as the mask may have left flecks of gold behind. (Yes, really.)
Although I like this product a lot, and I certainly wouldn’t refrain from recommending it to anyone, I can’t say I love it with the same fervour as the other JV products I’ve tried. There’s no doubt that it does what it claims to do, especially in terms of “sweeping skin clean for brilliance and glow”, and I notice that my make-up sits so much more nicely atop my skin on the mornings after I’ve used it. However, at £60 for a 50ml jar, I’m just not sure it does enough that my beloved Gentle Cream Exfoliant from Dermalogica, usually around £39.50 for a 75ml tube, doesn’t do. That said, I’ve heard rumours that the aforementioned product is being discontinued, so Joanna Vargas’ Exfoliating Mask might well become my go-to after all.
This piece was originally published on Part Time Beauty in 2020.