posted by Just Nice Things on Montagne Jeunesse, Pampering, Personal grooming

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Many, many years ago I had a bad experience with a face pack (you can read the full story here.) Little did I know at the time, but tea tree oil and I do not really get along. Unfortunately, I found this out the hard way, when the morning after using a Boots own brand face pack, I could barely open my eyes. My skin was burned raw and was so painful that I couldn’t speak or do anything that involved causing the skin to move. I vividly recall sitting up in bed with one of those freezer packs you use to keep wine cool clamped to my poor face.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, that was the day I had to go back to university after the Christmas holidays. Given that it was a facepack I’d used, I had massive white circles around where my eyes were, so at least I managed to convince my gullible co-students that I’d been skiing. As if. Anyway, a month later, after several cortisone treatments and a lot of peeling, my skin was amazing. OK, so a DIY chemical peel isn’t something I’d recommend, but I swear I didn’t get a zit for about four years after that.

However, it may not surprise you to know that I haven’t been near a face pack since. So when these arrived in the post recently (£5.10 for up to 10 applications), I gulped a bit, and decided to give it a go. Montagne Jeunesse isn’t a new brand – they’ve been around for as long as I can remember, as I peered curiously at the strange pictures on the packs of the ladies with no eyes.

I bravely undertook a patch test with both of these products (known as “tottles”, a cross between a tube and a bottle)  before going the whole hog. Montagne Jeunesse products don’t contain nasties, and aren’t tested on animals, which I found incredibly reassuring. I tried out the Tropical peel-off mask first. Its a funny shade of yellow, giving me something of a Simpson-esque hue (no, no photos). I left it on for 15 minutes, experiencing the strange sensation of it forming a second skin over my face. The best bit was when I came to peel it off. Oh, what fun! The Tropical mask adheres tightly to the skin, meaning it manages to lift off all dead skin cells when you peel it away. After a good rinse with warm water, my skin felt softer, happier, and better still, not irritated.

The Chocolate Orange is more of a traditional mud mask. Its a deep dark brown and smells utterly amazing. It was no hardship slapping this on my face. It felt as though this was doing a much deeper cleanse than the Tropical mask and was more about treating your skin than exfoliating it. Gorgeous. I might suggest wiping as much as you can off before washing your face if you don’t want a brown sink though.

I was also sent a couple of the new Montagne Jeunesse lipbalms (£3.05 each). These are awesome. Unlike some lipbalms I have tried that only resulted in making my lips drier, Montagne Jeunesse balms contain no petroleum, and are based from olive oil and beeswax. Scrummy. The chocolate one is especially amazing, not least because it reminds me of  a long-discontinued Boots chocolate-fudge lipbalm that I had many years ago.

Check out the Montagne Jeunesse website here. I’m definitely going to be a regular customer – I’ve got my eye on their range of hair masques next!

Helen

*PR samples*

Tags: Facepacks, Lip Balms, Montagne Jeunesse