PRODUCTS I 🖤 AND BELIEVE IN : Kiehl’s Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Mask
FULL DISCLOSURE: I was honored to serve as the voice of Kiehl’s for 7 years.
With that out of the way, I always wondered over those seven fun + gratifying years which Kiehl’s products I would shell out money for and use after I left -- and no longer had unfettered access to the marketing closet.
The relatively new Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Mask didn’t exist when I was at Kiehl’s. It was introduced just last year. It’s a “product extension” (marketing speak for a new product intro linked to an existing, often popular or iconic product; imagine a new eye product with similar ingredients, benefits and package design as your favorite cream) of Kiehl’s seriously iconic Calendula Herbal Extract Alcohol Free Toner (below), first introduced (as I recall) in the 1970s. (I take it back; just dusted off the archives, it was introduced in the late 60s!)
The one thing I’ve found in my skincare travels is my skin loves certain ingredients and loathes others.
MY SKIN LOVES: Honey, Vitamin C, Centella Asiatica (aka Tiger Grass), Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide) + Calendula
MY SKIN LOATHES: Snail Mucin, Peppermint Oil (I try to avoid all fragrant plant oils!) and DENATURED ALCOHOL (evil pure evil in facial skin care!)
My skin loves, loves, loves the Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Mask! It’s a light-as-hell jelly-type mask that's super soothing and, I swear, must be edible! In fact, Calendula flower leaves ARE edible. Calendula oil and extract have been used for millennia in traditional herbal medicines for their skin soothing and calming properties.
I want to put that on my morning toast!
Unlike most gooey masks of this type, I feel like I could leave it on for 5 hours with no risk of clogging single pore and causing an unsightly eruption. With Aloe and Glycerin the #2 + #3 ingredients, it delivers deep, lasting moisture that plumps and softens my skin for a while after. The only drawback is the inclusion of the fragrant plant oils that have no business in a facial skincare formulation --Lemon Peel Oil, Limonene and Orange Peel Oil. They’re not in the top 10 ingredients, but in far higher levels than other really good for skin ingredients like Sodium Hydroxide and Tocopheral (sadly, the last ingredient in the entire IL!).
All things considered, this is a really great Sunday morning gel mask for soothing hydration. Goes well with a warm cup of rooibos and 6LACK PRBLMS.
🖤 SKINCARMA
