French Green Clay Mask [Simple Recipe] for Perfect Skin (2024)

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by Nadine Shemilt, Miss Facial Clay Masks | Last updated Sep 23, 2020 | Published on Aug 2, 2019 | Recipes

Here’s how to make a simple french green clay mask. I live a minimalist life (or try too) and often the simplest thing is the best. I definitely think that is true of this french green clay mask.

We have a ton of recipes that add so many beneficial ingredients to make some delightful (and effective) clay masks. I love experimenting and adding ingredients to the clay masks to make those masks even better.

But simple is often better. The classic french green clay mask recipe is so simple to mix up.

A french green clay mask is refreshing, tightening and cleansing.

I use clay as a foundation to every mask we create. Clay is a 100% natural product, direct from mother nature. That means there are no preservatives, no fillers, or additives. The way clay works by it’s creation process of geography and science makes it effective naturally.

Benefits of a french green clay mask are:

Acne and blemishes
Deep cleansing your skin
Removing chemicals, heavy metals and impurities from your pores
Shrinking the appearance of pores
Adsorbing excess oil from skin
Balancing overall skin complexion

What skin types a french green clay mask is good for:

Acne prone skin
Aging skin
Oily skin
Normal/Combination skin types

Skin types french green clay is not good for:

Sensitive skin (try our kaolin clay masks) or leave on for half the suggested time.
Dry skin. Follow the directions to remove the mask before fully drying to avoid over drying. Leave on for no longer than 4-5 minutes. Or keep reading below for suggestions of oils to add for hydration.

Some French Green Clay is also referred to as healing clay, for it’s healing properties. Its healing ability stretches beyond skincare, but it’s my favorite application.

French Green Clay is one of 4 clays in ourfacial clay assortment pack. After trying out this mask, you will understand why we chose this as one of our 4 clays.

Let’s get to it!

What are the benefits of a French Green Clay Mask?
What to mix with French Green Clay
Jump to: French Green Clay Mask Recipe
How to mix and apply a French Green Clay Face Mask

What are the benefits of a French Green Clay Mask?

Fair warning, this will probably be your favorite clay after trying it.

The smooth application of this clay is so soothing and spa-like. Along with a smooth application, this mask comes with a handful of benefits for your skin.

1. Cleansing

The ability of clay to cleanse and clean your skin stems from how clay works. The cation exchange that takes place swaps the minerals from the clay with impurities on your skin like chemicals or heavy metals.

French green clay works to adsorb impurities and excess oil from your pores.

Some types of french green clay have been found to be anti bacterial. This comparison found that one french green clay was effective in treating buruli ulcers. The second french green clay was not effective against inhibiting the bacteria because of differences in the chemistry (mineral makeup) of the clay.

2. Acne

The most common cause of acne is from blockage of pores by dead skin cells, dirt or oils. That blockage then lends a hand to the p. acnes bacteria creating what we refer to asacne.

By applying a french green clay mask, the mask is adsorbing the impurities in your pores. This helps speed up the healing process of existing acne and prevents further outbreaks.

3. Shrink the Appearance of Pores

After applying this mask, you will feel the tightening effects on your skin. This is because french green clay is highly adsorptive.

As the clay is drying on your skin, it causes the pores to constrict, producing a firmer feeling skin.

Through the drying and by removing impurities from your pores, this may cause the appearance of your pores to shrink. I found that after integrating clays into my normal weekly routine, my makeup “wears” a lot better.

4. Tighten Skin

That drying of the clay causes your pores to constrict. This leaves your skin feeling tightened for a while after you remove the mask.

A 7-day study on rats found that clay increases the amount of collagen production in the skin. This could reduce wrinkles and improve the skin firmness. This short term study found that one clay mask application was not enough to increase skin firmness.

5. Remove excess oils from your skin

All types of clay have different swelling capacity. While clay can swell when liquid is added, it also shrinks while it’s drying.

Through the drying process it absorbs excess oils from your skin. For those with oily skin, this is amazing. Your skin is over producing oil, so absorbing the excess oil can also help your skin control ongoing oil production.

More French Green Clay Mask Recipes:

– Green Goodness Spirulina Mask. Spirulina is a superfood, or in this case, a superskin ingredient mixed that adds an anti-aging ingredient to a french green clay mask.

– Calming Calendula Mask.This flower from the simple marigold family, has natural antiseptic properties increasing the cleansing ability of a french green clay mask that soothes your skin.

– Restoring Herbal Mask. Mixed with french green clay and kaolin clay, this mask pulls from a couple ayurvedicherbs to for a herbal solution.

What to mix with French Green Clay

Below we have the recipe for a super simple french green clay face mask. This is the classic, and often one of my go-to’s.

But as you start playing in the world of clay masks, you will find that you can mix a variety of ingredients with clay.

For french green clay, here are a couple ingredients you can try adding:

Oils: To add a hydration ingredient to your clay mask for dry skin, try adding a small amount of oils.

Some of my favorite popular oils to add are:

sweet almond oil
jojoba oil
fractionated coconut oil
avocado oil
grapeseed oil

Specialty oils: The oils already mentioned are really common in natural skincare, so you can use them for multiples different purposes. Here are some specialty oils to try:

baobab oil
apricot seed oil
rosehip oil
argan oil

Essential oils: If you choose to add an oil to your clay mask, feel free to also add 2-3 drops of an essential oil. Do not add essential oils without a carrier oil.

Essential oils for acne treatments are:

tea tree essential oil
lavender essential oil
lemongrass essential oil
rosemary essential oil

Liquid: for a basic clay mask, you would mix the clay with just water. Which by the way, is great. Try subbing with these liquids instead:

aloe vera gel
rose water
witch hazel
green tea
hydrosols

Other ingredients: there are lots of natural ingredients that you can add to your masks like:

oatmeal
yogurt
honey (even better is manuka honey)

French Green Clay Mask Ingredients:

Recipe Yield: 1 face masks

You will need:

1½ tsp French Green Clay
1 tsp of purified water

French Green Clay is also called healing clay because of it’s ability to heal your skin.

Equipment required:

1 glass, wooden or plastic bowl (glass is preferred)
1 plastic, or wooden spoon

Mix How to Mix French Green Clay Mask

This recipe yields 1 face mask recipe.

If you make too much, cover in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Step 1: Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. 1 tsp French Green Clay, and 1 tsp of water. As some brands of clay vary, add a bit more clay or water as required.

What I love about a french green clay mask, is it’s simplicity. Only 1 step instructions are required! Or try out one of our 8 french green clay mask recipes.

How to apply French Green Clay Mask:

This mask is so smooth, I love the way it feels brushing it on your face.

For application follow these how to use a clay mask instructions:

1. Cleanse your skin prior to applying a mask.

2. Using a face mask brush, apply the mask evenly to your face and neck.

3. **Most important** Remove the clay mask BEFORE it dries. To remove, gently splash water to rehydrate the clay. Then remove with water or face towel.

4. Tone and moisturize.

Some redness is perfectly normal after a clay mask. If you let the mask fully dry, you will notice more redness.