For years, my skin care routine has consisted of cleansing and moisturizing with drugstore products, applyingthe occasional facial mask when I’min the mood, and always forgetting to put on sunscreen. I’ve never been a big skin care person—I spenta few years working at a luxury magazine,and testing overpriced products left me a bit jaded.But when the pandemic hit, I waded into the self-care waters, adding “temporarily researching skin care routines”to 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—toning and exfoliating—would do the trick.
I wasn’t in the market for a face mask. I’ve been slowly making my way through a collection of algae, lava, and silica mud masks that generously came with a resort staya few years ago. But then I came across in Amazon’s best-reviewed beauty product list. The one-pound tub consists of just one ingredient,, a pale-greenpowdered 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 “magic” and “lifesaver.” And in place of the typical wellness musings, the label read, in all caps:“FEEL YOUR FACE PULSATE” and “DEEP PORE CLEANSING!”
The mask’s listing boasts that it helpssolve a strange mix of ailments and canbe utilized in a variety of ways: “Facials, acne, bodywraps, clay baths, foot soaks, chilled clay for knee packsand insect bites!” Ifthat wasn’t intriguing enough, it only cost $12.75. I wasn’t completely sold after testingit the first two times(as a face mask—I’ve yet to use it for its other functions), butafter giving it a few more tries, this humble mask won me over.
For the past five months, I’ve consistently used it at least once a week, which is more than I can say of other products I bought during that time—a charcoal toothpaste that promised to brighten my teeth just left themfeeling less cleanthan 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 pastethat looks like something you could have extracted straight from the earth. It’s cooling and not overly drying upon application, and unlike more expensive products, you don’t have to think twice about slathering it on. After multiple uses, I started seeing results. My skin feels better than itever 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’t dehydratingmeans that my skin doesn’t revolt if I’m 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:when it comes to my skin, less is more.