A Less Than Glowing Review For GlamGlow

One of the things I enjoy most about my Sunday pampering routine is clearing out my skin with a good face mask. I noticed yesterday that Cult Beauty had 25% off everything (& will do until midnight tonight!). Considering GlamGlow is one of the many products they sell I figured this would be an ideal time to purchase the full size 50ml pot after hearing so many wonderful things about it. But I first needed to try out my sample tube I received at the Leeds Blogger Meetup. I've wanted to try this mud mask ever since I read Ruth's review. In fact I actually squeed out loud when I saw the display boards being put up at the meetup. I was overjoyed I was finally going to get to try this wonder mask without splashing out 50 quid beforehand. Fast forward to today and I'm really rather glad I decided to save my pennies.

GlamGlow is marketed as an instant facial in a tub. It contains volcanic rock, French sea clay and green tea leaf extracts that supposedly brighten, clear and tighten your skin after just 15 minutes. It is also supposed to leave your skin glowing for up to three days after application. Theres quite a few celebrities that have proclaimed their love for this mask which only added to my high expectations of this product. I eagerly applied this dark green mask in a thin layer all over my face. As I smoothed it over my face I could already feel some exfoliation occurring due to the bits of green tea leaves it contains. The green tea smell is really nice. It feels extremely tingly, almost uncomfortably so. I think it might be too much for someone with sensitive skin. It dries to a hard finish like most traditional clay masks so its quite fun trying to talk with it on.

After 15 minutes I removed the mask with a muslin cloth. Combined with the green tea leaves it gave my skin a good exfoliation and the congested areas on my nose & chin looked clear & felt smooth. Sadly thats where the benefits ended. My skin did not look particularly radiant or glowing. Certainly no more than when I simply wash my face in the morning with my REN cleanser and a flannel. And to my horror a small crop of spots had appeared on my forehead! I'm not saying that the spots are purely down to GlamGlow but it definitely brought them to the surface. That might not be a bad thing in the long run but this mask is supposed to make your skin look instantly better, not put all the crappy bits of your skin on display for the world to see. I'd be very disappointed if I were using this before a night out and I suddenly looked spottier than ever.

I really wanted to love GlamGlow but this product is just ridiculously overpriced and overhyped. I feel like if it were sold for about £20 as a regular clay mask then it wouldn't be such a bad skincare product. But considering the £50 price tag (thats £1 per ml!) and its claims of instant skin improvement & a three day glow, it just isn't worth it. It might have worked for others but even if it did work on my skin, it'd have to be pretty miraculous in order for the price to be justifiable to me. Try Liquid Gold instead.