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. 

Lie back and relax...

Okay, so this may surprise you but I don’t believe in January detoxing. I don’t believe in harsh resolutions.  I don’t believe in punishing regimes.  Sheesh, guys, this is January.  JANUARY!  Some of you are lucky enough to live in lovely warm places but for those of us who don’t, the last thing our bodies need is being brutalised right now.

I worry that by focusing on this idea of ‘detoxing’ as a short sharp process, we’re missing out on longterm health and wellbeing.  Far better, surely, to shift your mindset so you simply don’t want to tox your body, your mind, your spirit anymore?

And, anyhow, when it’s cold outside and lonely inside, the last thing you need is more stricture. Which is why I buck the trend and make January pampering month.  I don’t eat crap but I do tend to eat slightly more than usual; warm nourishing food. Alright, so that’s mainly dhal – because, dear God, I do love dhal.  Yes, I work out and I am beyond grateful that Zumba and Kettlercise have started up again.  But you wouldn’t catch me pounding the pavements at dawn (but, hey, if you enjoy it, go for it).

Those of you who know me will know I’m not remotely high maintenance.  Even if I weren’t broke I wouldn’t spend a fortune on clothes or stuff generally.  If I lost all my worldly goods tomorrow it wouldn’t really bother me – in fact, I’d likely feel quite liberated.  But the one thing I would lament would be my bath. 

I figure the world is divided between those who shower and those who bath.  Don’t get me wrong: if you’re hot and sweaty after a morning workout, the shower’s the place. But, come evening, my before bedtime ritual always involves a hot deep bath.  Immersion in water.  Total immersion in water – yeah, sometimes I go under and make like a mermaid…it’s a habit started in childhood and hard to break. J  But mainly I just float.

Y’know how I was talking about being solutions the other day? Well, water is the universal solvent.  A glass of water is charged particles dancing – a fandango of minerals and elements.  We are composed of 85 percent water and water makes up nine tenths of our blood, plasma, lymph, urine, saliva…even our cerebrospinal fluid, even our synovial fluid.

Check out any creation story and water will be there…  Check out pretty well any ancient culture and there will be rituals for bathing. Check out any form of spirituality and water flows through.  Look at the work of Japanese photographer Masuro Emoto who photographed the effects of loving words and prayers versus harsh and harming words and thoughts on frozen water crystals.  The thoughts that harmed produced forbidding whirls while the prayer created lacelike formations. Check out old Leonard Orr who discovered rebirthing in his tub.  Look all over the world – from the Mayan cenotes to the banias of Russia; from the Turkish hammam to the Jewish mikvah; from Hindu temple bathing to the Japanese cult of the bath.

Ah, I could go on and on.   There are a million and one ways you can bathe. A gazillion rituals and routines for physical health and psychological wellbeing.  Me?  I tend just to soak and muse; to relax into the breath and to let my mind wander in pleasant places.

Yes, I add unguents.  Of course I do. But never nasty synthetic stuff – I don’t get why anyone would want to bath in chemicals.  I’m supremely lucky in that I get sent a fair amount of bath products for testing.  Some I quietly lose to the local raffle but some I just adore...

These are my keepers...  

Aromatherapy Associates – I still adore their Deep Relax bath oil but lately I’ve been quite turned onto their Support blend (lavender and peppermint) 

Ila-spa – Sheer, total decadence.  Their rose Bath Oil for Glowing Radiance is an all-time favourite. One of these days I must also test out their salts. 

Weleda – Seriously good prices for lovely pure scents.  Their lavender is a world away from sickly synthetics – deeply calming. 

REN – It’s the Morrocan Rose otto bath oil here – divine. Complete the experience by using their scrub beforehand for silky skin. 

Connock London – Their soothing bath oil is heaven – a more exotic scent than the others with oils of kukui, macadamia and tamanu. I massage this one into my skin first and then soak in the bath – it leaves the whole body decadently soft. 

Taer – This Icelandic company has a range that looks as beautiful as it smells and feels.  I’m in thrall to the Glacier Bath Oil that somehow makes your body feel hot and cold at the same time! Not to be used during pregnancy or if you’re breastfeeding.  

Think those are the main ones. Having road-tested Pukka Herb’s (www.pukkaherbs.com) new ayurvedic skincare range (it’s excellent) I’m really hoping they will come up with some bath goodies soon.

However, if you can’t run to purpose-bought potions, never fear.  If I run out, there’s no way I reach for the synthetic stuff. I’d rather use a couple of drops of essential oil mixed with a little milk.  Or pop a few drops of essential oil (lavender or citrus scents work well) on a handful of salts (a mix of sea salt and Epsom salts works well).

Then just lie back….and dream…   Happy January.