Mud and Clay Masks for Combination Skin

As I have previously mentioned, I have a combination skin type - an oily T-zone when all the other areas are normal to dry (slightly sensitive too). Blackheads or comedones are commonly spotted on and around my nose area, which is an unpleasant sight for people to look at (I can't even stand them myself even if they're not very obvious). I learnt they are not gonna disappear completely and the only thing I can do is to minimise the pores. I find applying masks extremely useful to get rid of these blackheads, but you need to regularly use them due to their temporary effect. I particularly fancy mud and clay masks as they work effectively for me and I often saw immediate result. They both have pore minimising, skin purifying and softening benefits - very good for acne-prone skin. The only difference I experience is that mud mask often draws out excess oil more effectively than clay mask, thereby making my skin relatively tighter. 

My findings (application time: 15-30 minutes for each):

1. When I tried applying the mud mask all over my face, the oil excess around my T-zone was drawn out, but all the other areas (especially my cheek) became slightly dry. 

2. When I did the same thing with the clay mask, all the other areas were not as dry, but the oil excess wasn't as effectively drawn out. Maybe it would work better if I had more time to experience with this.

3. I started using the combination of both - mud mask on T-zone area (and neck, if necessary) and clay mask on other facial areas. I did get better result and my skin felt less oily without irritation. I did this 2-3 times every week at home. 

When I was at home, I tried Nu Skin's masks (they're not very easy to find in the UK, but pretty big in Asia). I used the Epoch Glacial Marine Mud (picture above) and Clay Pack Deep Cleansing Masque (picture below). 

I also tried Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Cleaning Masque (picture on the right), which is essentially a clay mask. It's good (it actually works really well in minimising pores), but I often felt like something's piercing my skin for the first 5 minutes after application. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel that way - definitely need to research more. I bought another brand of mud mask last week - much more affordable one called Dead Sea Spa Magik Mud Mask (picture below). It has stronger smell than Nu Skin's and it doesn't work that effectively. I actually felt that my blackheads didn't disappear, while the skin around my nose became dry. I'm not a big fan of this one so far.

The purpose of this entry is to share my own results and findings. I'm not saying you have to follow my way since it works differently for everyone. Some people might have easily irritated skin types, mixing might not be such a good idea. Let me know if you have other ways to reduce the blackheads. Thanks!