Masquerade: Dressing Up For At-Home Beauty

A few weeks ago I turned 26 (hee, hee). And the only thing I really wanted to celebrate and commemorate this momentous age is a wide-armed silk kimono from Chinatown.

Begrudgingly, I'll admit that the request was born out of my SATC marathon. But my real desire for the pretty robe was to be an impetus for performing at-home masks with more regularity. I figured that having a special outfit (a beauty costume if you will) would graduate me from the once-in-a-while-clay-masker kind of gal to a once a weeker that the skin-smart-girl inside knows I can actually be.

The minute after I opened my piece of blue silk perfection, I donned it and dropped some essential oils into a boiling pot of water, before steaming my faché. Then it was five looong minutes of pore opening via the above-mentioned method. A swipe of toner that has been sitting in my broom cabinet since I moved into this apt was immediately followed by the new (ish) Juice Beauty Organic Facial Rejuvenation Mask ($32), a USDA-organic formulation filled with fruit acids and other goodness. The mask is a veritable apple juice for skin mixed with honey (a yummy humectant), carrot seed (a powerful antioxidant) and olive oil (a vitamin E packer). There is also a bunch of botanical extracts like geranium and chamomile that sooth skin and increase circulation. And of course there are fruits like lemon, grape and apple, which slough away dead skin, eliminate oil build-up.

The texture of the mask is so lightweight and easily absorbed that upon first application it feels more like a face wash. But the instructions tell you to spread the juicy goodness all over and keep it there for ten minutes. So, still dressed in my piece of blue silk perfection, I sat and waited and waited. This is the time to tell you, there is a bit of a caveat: The scent is a bit strong. And over time, the mask dries so talking on the phone can be a bit of a bore, not to mention un petit difficile.

Tick, tock, tick and it was time to rinse. I removed my mask in a circular motion and what to my wandering eyes did appear? But a glowy, scrubbed face that was equally clear.

But what is the real moral of this long-winded story? The outfit often makes the girl.

—Jenna Mahoney