Want to try a clay mask that uses the same ingredients as used by the finest spas around the world? If so, Refine Clay Renewal Treatment, by Blissoma, is something that I highly recommend you try! Blissoma is a green, organic, and healthy beauty company, that was founded by Julie Longyear.

Blissoma has been recognized by the Leaping Bunny Program for Cruelty Free Cosmetics, and the Natural Perfumers Guild.

Blissoma has this terrific logo: 

The product that I was sent to review is Refine, Clay Renewal Treatment. It is 100% Natural, 100% Vegan, and can be safely used on all skin types as part of a weekly skincare treatment plan.

What does Refine promise to do for your skin?

Refine’s super creamy clay formula will “perfect, smooth, detoxify, and even skin tone.”

What I love about Refine:

The clay mask is easy to use, and it’s already premixed. There is an expiration date on the bottom of the glass jar, and like every Blissoma product, each jar is made by hand, in small batches, at the company headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, US.

No need to worry about what ingredients are in Refine. Not only are they listed on one side of the box, but also, on the bottom of the box, there is this statement, “all ingredients declared.”

Refine has the internationally recognized Leaping Bunny Logo.

Seeing the logo above, consumers know they can trust that what they are purchasing is cruelty free!

Easy Directions:

Wash your skin before using. Apply an even layer of Refine to face and neck, or to troubled spots. Wait 15 minutes, or until dry. Remove with warm water and pat your skin dry.

Ingredients:

Infusion of Foeniculum vulgare* (fennel), Stellaria media* (chickweed), Lavandula angustifolia* (lavender), Rosa damascena* (roses), Porphyra umbilicalis* (nori seaweed), Ruscus aculeatus* (butcher’s broom), Rhassoul Clay, Apium graveolens (celery) Juice*, Cocos nucifera (coconut) Oil*, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Zinc Oxide*, Cannabis sativa* (hemp) Oil*, Vaccinium macropacrpon (cranberry) Seed Oil*, Rubus ideaus (red raspberry) Seed Oil*, Extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra* (licorice), Symphytum officinale* (comfrey), and Salix alba* (willowbark), Populus Tremuloides (Aspen) Bark Extract, Gluconolactone, Cetearyl Alcohol and Cetearyl Glucoside, Extracts of Olea europaea* (olive leaf), Echinacea purpurea*, and Caldendula officinalis*, Essential Oils of Litsea cubeba, Commiphora myrrha, Pelargonium roseum (rose geranium), Citrus reticulata (mandarin), Lavandula angustifolia, Pogostemon cablin (patchouli), Coriandrum sativum (coriander), Cedrus atlantica (cedarwood), Grain Alcohol*, Rosemary Oleoresin Extract citral**, xanthan gum, limonene**, citronellol**, geraniol**, linalool***
*from Certified Organic Agriculture
**natural components of essential oils

I asked Julie if she would please respond to a few questions about Blissoma and Refine.

Julie, you started your company with a soy candle range. How did you decide to add masks?

I started my company based on essential oils and aromatherapy but my interest quickly evolved to encompass herbs and botanicals that, although they had no essential oil, could still be used for healing purposes. I have a few chronic health concerns that I have been able to help greatly by consuming medicinal plants and I love what they can do for skin as well. I was struck by the fact that there didn’t seem to be a skincare line in the market that provided a super clean recipe at an achievable price point. I wanted to try and fill that niche. Masks are a part of most skincare regimens, as they provide the opportunity to use ingredients that you can’t necessarily use in a moisturizer, serum, or toner. Clay is one of those ingredients. You wouldn’t use it in a moisturizer or other product as it would be visible, so a mask is the best choice as you can apply and wash off.

Want to venture a guess as to how many formulas you tested before Refine was produced?

On average I test around 20 versions of any product recipe before settling on a formula, and even then I may still make minor tweaks to the levels of herbs, the thickness, etc. I continue to nitpick recipes as we make them so I can make alterations as needed when we reprint packaging. That would be how our latest switch to our new preservation system happened. I tested more than 12 different altered recipe versions before coming to the updated version.

The mask base is Rhassoul clay, mined from lava clay beds in Morocco. I now know that Rhassoul clay is used by the finest of spas around the world, but what makes it so special?

Rhassoul has a particularly high rate of ion exchange, meaning that it carries minerals and toxin compounds easily in and out of the skin. It is exceptionally mineral rich so it is almost like using a clay and a mineral salt soak at the same time. It has been shown to have benefits for skin elasticity, clogged pores, and a reduction in flakiness of the skin among other benefits.

I have already done two treatments of Refine, and I absolutely love the way my skin felt after just 15 minutes!

Your website states that Refine is “excellent for acne, hyperpigmentation, dry, and lackluster skin.” How is it able to be beneficial for so many skin types?

Rhassoul clay is balancing towards skin instead of just drying as some clays can be. So the clay makes a nice base, but it is also the way we have blended the clay with liquid herb extracts and oils that makes it truly suitable for all skin types. Most clay masks sold by natural companies are simply powdered clays and perhaps some dried herbs or powdered extracts. You mix with water and possibly honey and apply. Because there is no oil content it sucks all the oil out of your skin, which is OK for oily skin that needs to be cleansed, but not ideal for mature and dry skin types. Dried herbs blended instantly with water just can’t have the same potency as our liquid extracts that we brew for a month as well. You get more of the immune stimulant polysaccharides, mucilages, and other medicinal compounds. Even if you were to let a powdered mask sit for 5 minutes that is a tiny fraction of the time that we allow our botanicals to steep. Our liquid extracts are soothing as well as offering regenerative benefits.

Refine‘s 2 oz. glass jar is expected to be plenty for 4 treatments. I can attest to that, as it definitely looks like I have plenty for 2 more treatments.

Why don’t you sell Refine in a larger jar?

We prefer to sell people the freshest possible product and have them use it up long before it degrades due to oxidation or microbes. It is much better to have a small container, use it up, and get more than to have a large jar sit for months just getting older, less potent, and growing more bacteria and fungi. We use an effective preservative but it isn’t industrial strength, and our product isn’t meant to sit unused for more than 4 months optimally. Once opened it should be used regularly.

Julie, you indicate that for most skin types, use once weekly. When might Refine be used more often? 

For acneic skin types or individuals whose skin cells don’t turn over well they might wish to use it more often. If your skin is inefficient at sloughing dead cells it might result in clogged pores or a built up, dry, flaky look. As a remedy for that Refine could be a twice a week treatment or even three times a week as necessary to keep fresh healthy skin cells freely at the surface.  I also recommend it twice a week for individuals working in particularly polluted environments. I sold several jars to a municipal trash worker one night at a store in Chicago. Being surrounded by toxins, bacteria, dust, and all kinds of grime each day definitely meant his face needed a little extra help! Anyone working in particularly dirty or greasy environments would find this a big help.

What else would you like readers to know about your wonderful product, Refine? 

Refine makes a great spot treatment for breakouts. You don’t have to apply to the whole face if you don’t have time, but just to trouble spots, and this can be done more often throughout the week.  I frequently just dot some on a blemish as soon as I find one developing and just leave it on until totally dried. It makes a positive difference in redness and swelling and can help keep blemishes from getting larger.

Disclosure: Product provided for review. All links are for your convenience only!

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