For years, my skin care routine has consisted of cleansing and moisturizing with drugstore products, applying听the occasional facial mask when I鈥檓听in the mood, and always forgetting to put on sunscreen. I鈥檝e never been a big skin care person鈥擨 spent听a few years working at a luxury magazine,听and testing overpriced products left me a bit jaded.听But when the pandemic hit, I waded into the self-care waters, adding 鈥渢emporarily researching skin care routines鈥澨齮o my list of coping mechanisms. I wanted to come up with a simple regimen that would be easy to stick to, and I figured adding two more basic steps鈥攖oning and exfoliating鈥攚ould do the trick.
I wasn鈥檛 in the market for a face mask. I鈥檝e been slowly making my way through a collection of algae, lava, and silica mud masks that generously came with a resort stay听a few years ago. But then I came across in Amazon鈥檚 best-reviewed beauty product list. The one-pound tub consists of just one ingredient,听, a pale-green听powdered substance derived from volcanic ash. The packaging, which features a clipart-style image of an Aztec temple, reminded me of those hilarious, old-school hair gel tubs. While reading through some of the 14,000-plus Amazon reviews, most of which gave five-star ratings, I kept seeing words like 鈥渕agic鈥 and 鈥渓ifesaver.鈥 And in place of the typical wellness musings, the label read, in all caps:听鈥淔EEL YOUR FACE PULSATE鈥 and 鈥淒EEP PORE CLEANSING!鈥
The mask鈥檚 listing boasts that it helps听solve a strange mix of ailments and can听be utilized in a variety of ways: 鈥淔acials, acne, bodywraps, clay baths, foot soaks, chilled clay for knee packs听and insect bites!鈥 If听that wasn鈥檛 intriguing enough, it only cost $12.75. I wasn鈥檛 completely sold after testing听it the first two times听(as a face mask鈥擨鈥檝e yet to use it for its other functions), but听after giving it a few more tries, this humble mask won me over.
For the past five months, I鈥檝e consistently used it at least once a week, which is more than I can say of other products I bought during that time鈥攁 charcoal toothpaste that promised to brighten my teeth just left them听feeling less clean听than when I started. I think part of my commitment to Aztec Secret has to do with just how satisfying the prep is: you mix the powder with equal parts apple cider vinegar until you get a creamy, mint-colored paste听that looks like something you could have extracted straight from the earth. It鈥檚 cooling and not overly drying upon application, and unlike more expensive products, you don鈥檛 have to think twice about slathering it on. After multiple uses, I started seeing results. My skin feels better than it听ever has: softer, clearer, and firmer.
In the end, I realized I could embrace my lazy-person routine and get away with ditching a few daily steps, like toning, because the after-effects of the mask seemed to last. And the fact that I live in a dry climate and the mask isn鈥檛 dehydrating听means that my skin doesn鈥檛 revolt if I鈥檓 not super on point with moisturizing. After growing disillusioned with $100 serums and the next-best ingredients, the unassuming Aztec Secret made me realize that I was right all along:听when it comes to my skin, less is more.