Face masks are excellent additions to anyone's weekly or monthly skincare routine and product collection. However, although many people love to use face masks, they can also end up using them too often which can result in issues like dry skin or acne.

Today, let's examine how often you should use facial masks and why giving your skin a break from time to time is often a good idea.

What Are Face Masks and How Do They Help? 

 

Facial masks are skincare products that can rejuvenate and hydrate your skin once applied. They're essentially layered creams, clays, or sheets that infuse helpful vitamins and minerals directly into your skin so they can be absorbed through the pores.

Unlike face serums, however, masks are designed to be removed after most of their nourishing elements have been absorbed. This allows masks to be a little more potent than many moisturizers and serums.

Additionally, facemasks can be used for tasks like exfoliation and pore cleansing. When used with certain ingredients or materials, masks can draw out impurities in the skin, like dirt or dead skin cells, and lift them away when the mask is removed.

More benefits include:

• Reducing the appearance of pores
• Improving skin texture
• Improving skin elasticity
• Lubricating and hydrating the skin
• Exfoliation
• Reducing the appearance of wrinkles
• Helping to improve acne by improving overall skin health

They're versatile and effective facial skin care treatments that everyone should incorporate into their weekly routines. The trick is knowing how often to use a facial mask.

How Often Should You Use Face Masks?

 

The answer is dependent on a few key factors: ingredients and your skin type.

For your skin type, there's an easy rule of thumb to follow. If you have sensitive skin, try to limit your facial mask usage based on what's comfortable for your skin. This may take a little trial and error, but over time you should be able to work out a weekly frequency that works for your skin. Take the individual recommendations for different mask types into account, of course (more on that below).

Ingredients Matter

 

The ingredients included in a given mask matter as well. If a mask has a lot of deep pore-cleansing elements or can exfoliate your skin, then it should be used less frequently than a mask packed with moisturizing and nourishing vitamins alone.

In general, masks that are a little harsher on your skin or that help you get a deep cleanse should be used less frequently. Gentler masks can be used more frequently.

Now let's break down the actual ideal frequencies based on mask type.

Facial Mask Frequency by Type

 

Clay Masks

 

Clay masks are some of the most common. Many of the best are made with kaolin clay, like Suki Skincare's Transforming and Purifying Masque. Kaolin clay is so well-regarded since it can draw out toxins and impurities while also leaving your skin clear and moisturized. Additional ingredients like salicylic acid are included to assure hydration and clarity.

Clay masks are great for those with sensitive skin since they don't tend to irritate the pores. They're also ideal for battling acne or dark spots.

But while they're effective, their purity cleansing properties can make them harmful to your skin if you use them every day. Because of this, clay or mud masks should only be used once or twice a week at most.

Cream/Liquid Masks

 

Cream or liquid masks are usually much gentler. They often have water bases and are packed with extra vitamins and minerals to improve your skin's cellular turnover rate: this makes your skin shed old skin cells more quickly and bring new cells to the forefront more often. The result? Glowing and radiant skin that looks a lot younger and feels much softer, too!

Suki Skincare's Moisture-Rich Brightening Masque is a perfect example of one of these. You can use these masks a little more frequently, especially since they don't directly exfoliate or cleanse your skin the same way clay masks do.

Still, you should only ever use these masks 2 to 3 times per week. While they're helpful, your skin can only make use of so many minerals and vitamins at once. Using masks more than this frequency is essentially wasting them since your skin won't fully absorb all the excellent nutrients and antioxidants they have to offer.

Activated Charcoal Masks

 

Lots of people also like masks made with activated charcoal. This intense primary ingredient can clear away skin impurities and get rid of whiteheads and blackheads like few others can. This does mean that charcoal facemasks are a little harsher on your skin than average. Because of this, you should only use charcoal facemasks around once per month. This prevents you from stripping away healthy facial oils and allows you to keep up a regular skincare routine (complete with exfoliation) in the meantime.

Sheet Face Masks

 

Sheet face masks are basically synthetic sheets lined with helpful vitamins and other ingredients to hydrate and nourish your skin. These should only be used about once per week since they often contain ingredients that can clog your pores and make acne or oily skin worse. 

Gelatin Masks

 

These masks are often packed with ingredients that can improve your skin cells' collagen production. Gelatin is made from animal products, so you can often find masks made with all-natural products! But these masks also exfoliate your skin quite deeply. You should only ever use these masks once or twice per month depending on your skin's sensitivity level.

Tea Masks

 

Lastly, you can find excellent facial skin care masks made with tea ingredients. Tea masks have tons of antioxidants and vitamins to improve your skin's health. You should still only use these masks about once per week because certain tea masks can irritate the skin, depending on the ingredients.

Conclusion

Face masks are excellent products that can really make a difference for your skin's appearance and overall health. Use them wisely and at the right frequency, and the face mask process as a whole will leave you feeling relaxed, recharged, and with fresh, rejuvenated skin!

Resources:

https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/tips/what-is-exfoliation.htm

https://cosmresearch.com/blogs/journal/clay-so-many-skin-benefits

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/collagen