Saturday Skincare: The Body Shop Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask

If you're not following me on Instagram, you may have missed just how excited I was for the release of this new Body Shop Expert Facial Mask: The Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask.
As soon as I saw the preview pictures, I knew I had to have it; I've never been this excited for a skincare product launch, but I was for this one because anyone who knows me knows I'm pretty matcha obsessed and have been for years ever since discovering it.
I feel quite proud when followers tag me in matcha related posts on social media as I I feel like everyone should know about it and at least try this superfood once in their life! You can read about it's health benefits in my matcha chiller/frappe blog post.. considering it's the only food related post I've written on the blog, you know the love is real lol.
I was super thrilled to have received the mask from The Body Shop before it's release date and even held a first impressions demo on Instagram Live, also using one of the two new facial toners (Chinese Ginseng & Rice) which was pretty fun to do with my followers.
Read on to see my thoughts on the mask and your chance to win a mask for yourself!

My Skin As mentioned in the Himalayan Charcoal mask review, my skin is currently combination;  I get pretty oily around my nose and am slightly dry on the cheeks at times but not flakey anywhere really. My skin feels slightly tingly/stinging/sensitive when wearing masks. You can read further about my skin/skintone in my FAQs.
Bearing this in mind, I'm writing my review based on my combination skin/oily nose with slightly sensitive tendencies.
The Mask This Matcha Tea mask is described as a pollution clearing mask due to the matcha green tea and dandelion extract which apparently help remove pollutants and impurities. From my Nutrition degree days I generally have been a green tea/matcha drinker due to the fact that it contains a lot of powerful antioxidants in it, that help mop up free radicals, so this claim may be true, although I do think that matcha is best consumed in the body rather than on it.
Pollution is said to cause cellular damage, dryness, inflammation, pigmentation and premature skin ageing. Having being born in London and lived here all my life I do worry about the levels of pollution I'm continuously exposed to, so this mask not only caught my eye due to my matcha obsession but its claims of removing and protecting agains pollution adhesion. I've also been using the Drops of Youth Fresh Emulsion which is also an "anti-pollution" product and love how lightweight and moisturising it is too, so I'm hoping that they do help in some way with my exposure to pollution in the long term!

Review Ingredients

As you can see in the picture above, this mask contains: Kaolin (white clay),  Olive Oil,  Luffa,  Shea Butter,  Apricot Seed Powder,  Aloe Leaf Juice Powder,  Dandelion Root Extract and of course  Camellia Sinensis Leaf extract (green tea leaves extract)  amongst some other chemical names.
I was quite surprised to see Kaolin clay in this mask as it doesn't set on the face as a clay mask usually does, but this is most probably because of the addition of Olive Oil and Shea Butter which makes this mask pretty creamy.
I noticed how Camellia Sinensis Leaf extract came a lot further down the ingredients list on this mask compared to the Himalayan Mask, where it was higher up (and more visible in the actual mask with the leaves).
I was hoping this mask would smell like matcha powder does but it smells more earthy/grassy.. the fact that Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract is further down the ingredients list probably explains why as it usually means there's less of the ingredient in a product compared to those ingredients higher up the list.
Consistency/Application

screenshots from my IG live first impressions demo.. join me next time ;)

This mask is far more creamy and easier to apply than the Himalayan mask; you can use fingers if you don't have a brush as it needs to be massaged in anyway. Using a brush is purely just for precision and possibly a more even application than fingers.
There's no tedious green tea leaves to worry about falling off your face with this one; there's only exfoliating loofah particles which don't feel sharp or harsh in any way when massaged in. 
The mask does have a "tingling" effect, but is more of a cooling and numbing effect for me.. possibly due to the menthol ingredient. I've asked a friend if she felt the same numbing sensation (which was particularly intense around my nose and mouth/lips area) both times I've worn the mask, but she said she hadn't felt numb, just tingling, so maybe I'm sensitive to one of the ingredients, I'm unsure! Both times I have used the mask I haven't had any reactions other than this numb feeling but it's nothing worrying for me so I've continued to massage it into my skin as instructed, then waited 10-15 minutes. The mask turns from green to fairly transparent once massaged in and washes off a lot easier (and less messier) than the charcoal masks! When washing off, I used circular motions again to massage off and exfoliate the drier areas.
Overall Effect
The first thing I noticed both times I was washing my mask off was how plump my cheeks felt. I can't explain it but it feels like how I imagine fillers feel like.. a slightly swollen effect even, but super super soft. There's no doubt my skin feels really clean and plump after it's dried and I guess cleared of pollution! I don't get as much redness when washing off this mask compared to the Himalayan mask as the loofah particles don't stick to the face like the green tea leaves do.
Both times I used this Matcha mask, my skin looked visibly brighter in complexion, so the claim about "younger-looking radiant skin" bit is definitely true in my experience!
The mask felt slightly on the drier side once washed off and in the first IG Live demo the Ginseng & Rice toner was requested to be used after, which genuinely made my skin look and feel ah-mazing (will do a separate short post on the two new toners). In short, I didn't feel like I needed moisturiser after using the Ginseng toner and my skin looked and felt more radiant as well as bright.
I would definitely recommend this mask for anyone with combination skin like myself; I wasn't uncomfortably dry after using the mask but definitely felt much better after using the Ginseng Toner and when I used the mask the second time at night I even added the Oils of Life facial oil I purchased after the toner and I couldn't get over how silky soft and clean my face felt. If you have dry skin you may want to use the British Rose toner instead, but I think this Rose toner would work better with a more drying mask like the Himalayan one for myself personally. I do feel like this mask deep cleans the skin, but the impurities aren't visibly drawn out of the skin like with the Himalayan Charcoal mask; this is more of a deep cleaning, nourishing mask.
It's recommended to use the mask 2-3 times a week and I feel like I can add this to my weekly mask routine with the Himalayan mask, especially as I live in London and like the idea of pollution fighting ingredients. The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing mask is £16 for 75ml/86g) and available from The Body Shop directly.
The toners are £9.50 each for 250ml, available here. 
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GIVEAWAY!

Safiyah's TBS Matcha Tea Mask giveaway!