REVIEW: MIMI Green Goddess Fresh Face Mask

So, as I was saying a while back, I used to love making up my own skincare creams and unguents.  But nowadays I just don't seem to have the time, energy or, let's be very honest, the inclination to faff around sourcing stuff, mixing and murgling. 

Then Juls of The Body Retreat said (on Twitter, as you do), 'I reckon you'd really like MIMI kits.'  And one thing led to another (the way it does on Twitter) and Jess, the founder of MIMI, offered to pop a kit in the post for me to try.

The weather was gorgeous this Bank Holiday weekend here on Exmoor so, having powered through house cleaning and a mega dose of clutter clearing, I figured I'd relax in the garden with the mask.

MIMI kits are all 100 percent natural - absolutely no parabens or petrochemicals.  I like that.  I also like that absolutely everything you need is provided in the kit.  It is deeply irksome to start out doing something and then realise that, really, you needed to go shopping for essential bits and bobs first.  All you need to add to this is water.

The packaging is neat - all wrapped up like a letter, clasped in green (of course) tissue paper.  Everything is neatly named, so you can't go wrong.

Open it up and there's enough here for four treatments.  Here's what you do:

1. First up you pop a green jasmine pearl (detoxifying and skin-protecting) in a mug and add hot water.  The pearl (which looks like a gnarly old seed) unfurls in the heat and you sip the fragrant tea, remembering to leave just a bit for the next stage.

2. Next up is the Green Goddess Powder, a mix of Fine Green French clay (that absorbs excess oil and impurities from the skin, then tones and revitalises); Rhassoul mud (a mineral clay from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco) that helps to cleanse and soften the skin; and Spirulina that gives a mega boost of vitamins, minerals and amino acids to the skin.  You shake one measure out into the mixing pot and add enough jasmine water to make a smooth paste.  

3. Add a few drops of oat oil (soothing and calming to the skin) and mix with the spatula provided.

4. Cleanse your skin thoroughly (I used Celgenics Deep Cleansing Lotion - a new discovery of mine) and then use the hairband provided to keep hair off your face.  

5. Apply mask (I started off with the spatula and then used my fingers) and relax for up to ten minutes.

It dries out quite quickly, which is why this pic has a rather unpleasant two-tone effect - as if I've got slugs wandering over my face.  It tightens swiftly and, really, you wouldn't want it on for more than the ten minutes (I left it a bit longer and then rather enjoyed gurning so it cracked and bits dropped off.) btw, ignore the odd bits on my neck - I had this idea that it might look graphically interesting.  I was wrong.

Then you simply remove the mask (warm water and cotton pads do the trick) and gently rinse  your face.  If you've remembered to keep some cooled Green Jasmine infusion, you can tone with that (I drank it all, so didn't).  Then you pop on some moisturiser (I stuck with Celgenics - this time using their Moisturiser Plus) and - ta-da! - you're done.

I looked a bit 'glowing'  (aka pretty pink with slightly red splodges) but my skin felt really good - toned yet soft.  

I had pondered getting some pals over for a pamper-session with the remaining ingredients (there's enough for four masks) but I might just be incredibly selfish and keep it all for myself.  I confess that, when I opened the pack, I thought it might be all too much of a faddle but, actually, it's simplicity itself and it does feel good to know it's completely fresh.


The Green Goddess mask kit I tried costs £22.  MIMI also do a night face oil kit (£35) and a body rub (£25).  They would make really nice presents and I could also imagine they'd be great for teenage daughters having friends over for sleepovers.

Good call, Juls, good call.
Check out MIMI here. 

Detox Diary Day Three

Day three of my juice fast at Moinhos Velhos.  'It's perfectly normal to feel totally pants today,' says Janni, one of the owners and, comfortingly, an ex-nurse.
I don't feel too grim although a vague headache floats around for most of the day.
So, as I've said (if I recall - one's brain goes a bit mushy doing this stuff), we get three juices a day, plus a clear vegetable broth in the evening.  As far as I'm concerned, this is riches indeed - my early fasts were water-only.

In between juices we take a selection of pills - four times a day.  For those who are interested in these things, they are:

Co-ton - a mix of herbs (fennel; barberry; cascara; ginger; turkey rhubarb; cayenne; goldenseal; lobelia; raspberry) which dissolves and breaks up mucoid matter and expels it from the body; reduces gas in the stomach and intestines, purifies the blood and stimulates and strengthens all the organs (in particular the heart, liver and eliminatitve organs).  Anything else?  Oh yup, it strengthens, heals and re-builds peristaltic action.  Not bad for one pill.

Pancreatin - a mix of enzymes amylase, protease and lipase  - helping to break up old deposits of undigested proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Niacin (vitamin B3) - used to dilate the blood vessels to increase blood flow and so speed up the elimination of toxins from the bloodstream.  It also pushes blood deep into underactive tissue so vital nutrients can get through.  Only downside?  It can produce a hot red flush.  I was stunned to look down and see big red patches on my legs and arms.  My face also turned bright red and I thought, at first, that I'd overdone the sun.  It doesn't last long though and apparently some men actually take it to find out what a menopausal hot flush feels like.  Why on earth would you do that???

Finally Spirulina which provides essential trace minerals and elements, plus a good dose of iodine, helping the body maintain its energy during the fast.

Daily yoga is grounding and balancing - today it's Dru yoga with Richard Brook.
I also had a pretty amazing session with Janni - but that needs a post all of its own.

A daily sauna is part of the healing - once again helping eliminate garbage, this time via the skin (our largest organ, remember).

Evenings end with a meditation session.  By now I'm not feeling so great.  The evening broth seems to have done peculiar things to my innards which are conducting their own form of noisy meditation. My head decides it needs some of the action too and joins in with a bass thud, thud, thud.  It's hard to focus so I just limp through and stagger down the hill.  I'm in bed and fast asleep by 9.30pm.

For reviews of other detoxes see Queen of Retreats