L’Oréal Paris | Pure-Clay Masks + An event at the top of the world (sort of)

It bears repeating: your face is your canvas, and taking the time to properly prepare said canvas yields nothing but amazing results — from skin that looks & feels healthy to makeup that applies so much easier (seriously). With these goals in mind, L’Oréal has just recently launched their Pure-Clay Mask Collection, three new face masks, each targeting specific needs.

Right after I returned from holiday, I received an invitation to attend the preview of this new range (which also showcased several other new upcoming & very interesting products from L’Oréal) – a timely invitation indeed, as my skin was ready to be whipped back into shape.

The event took place at Les Enfants Terribles located at the summit (the 44th floor) of Montréal’s Place Ville Marie, offering not only a wonderfully delicious menu but spectacular 360° views of the city. Kicking things off with glasses of chilled Veuve Clicquot to set the tone, we enjoyed a tapas-style meal surrounded by all the new products that we were able to test in situ, ending with a refreshing iced dessert (which was so like eating a dozen Piña Colada) and going home with a gift bag filled with all this newness.

A huge thank you to the entire L’Oréal Paris team for all their love ♥

A full review on the masks follows the photo recap of this event – enjoy & keep scrolling!

Just hanging with my L’Oréal fan (totally sticking out with my ultra-tan)

Why yes, that is a bottle of Veuve chilling in a bag

I absolutely adore this girl. Love her even. Just putting that out there

My city is so pretty

The other Big ‘O’ – Montréal’s Olympic Stadium built for the 1976 games

Media table set-up (don’t you just love the fresh eucalyptus touches?)

Couldn’t NOT include a shot of these Panton Butt Chairs

One of the other launches of the day, the Extraordinary Clay haircare range

… plus new products from cult-fave Elnett too

Give me a cheese platter, and I’m yours

Meat platters do it for me as well. Just saying.

Island vibe with a tropical-style dessert

Well equipped to test out the new Pure-Clay range

Passing the sniff test with flying colours (and no, I’m not about to drink the mask)

Moving along, let’s dive into the Pure-Clay masks, shall we? I’m that person who is not only ~~mildly~~ totally obsessed with skincare, but love the ‘me’ time of the ritual itself. Apart from the instant results you get from a mask, it has the added bonus of letting you multi-task while it does its thing, since you generally have to leave it on for several minutes. Renowned for their purifying properties, clay masks aren’t exactly front-page news, but finding the right one to address your individual skincare needs is not always clear cut either.

Enter L’Oréal’s Pure-Clay range, formulated with beneficial clays, a creamy texture and fresh scents (yes, they all actually smell really, really good). Since this isn’t a product for daily use, you’ll definitely get good mileage from each jar and their price point won’t break the bank either (retailing for CAN $19.99/each, although I’m betting you’ll be easily able to score them on sale as well). One of the newest trends in the world of skincare is to ‘multi-mask’, which only makes sense; your skin isn’t the same all over, so why would you want to use the same mask on all parts? I’ll gladly sport tribal war paint if it means my skin will glow.

Each mask is formulated with 3 complimentary mineral clays for maximum impact along with other beneficial ingredients that are sourced from around the world:

Kaolinite – present in kaolin clay and known for its absorbent properties, helps rid skin of unwanted impurities (like anyone actually wants impurities?!) and removes excess shine without stripping the skin’s natural oils
Montomorillonite – a clay derived from the ‘igneous rocks of the smectite family’ (I know, right?) which technically comes via rocks that have been formed from the cooling & subsequent solidification of lava. So basically, volcano mud – yay! Helps to purify and rebalance the skin, and also has the cool feature of swelling when in contact with water.
Ghassoul – extracted from the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where it has been used by women there since the 8th century for its natural cleansing properties. That’s a pretty impressive pedigree for clay, wouldn’t you agree?

L’Oréal Paris | Pure-Clay Masks

Energizing/Detox & Brightening (CAN $19.99) | Its blackened gray colour points to the charcoal contained in this formula, reputed to help reduce the look of dull skin by increasing luminosity and evening out skin tone. With a pleasant citrusy scent, it dries to a lighter grey hue (so you actually know it’s dry. Duh). Great for blemish prone and/or oily skin — I’ve used this all over for those times when I wanted a real deep cleaning but more often than not, I’ll apply it to a specific area such as my cheeks.

Purifying & Mattifying (CAN $19.99) | The sage green colour points to the eucalyptus in the formula, a plant known for its ability to absorb impurities, unclog pores, and help to reduce shine. With its fresh and almost ‘soapy’ scent, this mask is probably my fave out of the three due to how gentle it feels upon application, without leaving behind that ‘tightness’ normally associated with face masks.

Exfoliating & Pore Refining (CAN $19.99)| The only mask with textured granules, its ruddy hue points to the red algae in the formula that helps in exfoliating dead skin cells (sounds gross, but if it works…), smooth imperfections (I’m guessing that’s what the exfoliation part is for), and tighten the look of pores. I’ve been really loving this along my nose, chin and forehead for major ‘debris-cleaning’, although I’ve also found that a mini-version on the cheeks (mini as in leaving it on for about 3 minutes instead of longer) does an excellent job of actually making my pores seem smaller, and therefore my foundation subsequently lays down smoother. Win-win.

L’Oréal Paris | Pure-Clay Mask swatches

L’Oréal Paris | multi-masking with all three Pure-Clay Masks at once. Fun times.

There’s something almost soothingly primitive about a mud mask and which hearkens back to our earliest beauty roots (if masking was good enough for Cleopatra, then it’s definitely good enough for me). At the end of the day, it’s results that matter most and I’m actually quite impressed by these new Pure-Clay masks — all three of them, in fact. I’ve been reaching for the green and black ones the most, although the red one is at the top of the heap for those times I need gentle exfoliation. Definitely worth checking out – gives new meaning to getting dirty. And then clean.

Available through mass-market retailers nationwide