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French Green Clay is my mothers favorite clay, in fact, it’s the favorite among many of my close friends.  French Green Clay is most commonly an illite clay or a blend of montmorillonite, kaolin and illite clay.  It can vary depending on the region of origin.

Also considered a healing clay, it has many uses, from clay masks to healing poultices.  The smooth application of the clay mask is my favorite.

French Green Clay as a mask, is pore refining.  It uses its unique formation from nature to remove chemicals and heavy metals from your skin.  It also adsorbs dirt, dead skin cells, and impurities from your pores.  This leaves your skin feeling super cleansed and smooth.

Where to Buy?  Get your french green clay in our NamaClay face mask assortment along with 3 other types of clay.

Just some of the benefits of French Green Clay:

• cleansing
• natural detox
• oil absorption
• tightening skin
• improving natural collagen production over time

The best part about these masks?  They are 100% natural!

Because you are starting with a powdered french green clay, without liquid, no preservatives or chemicals are required.  You can add in all the fun, vitamin rich, antioxidant packed ingredients you want to find the mask that works for your skin.

Add any of these 8 french green clay mask recipes once to twice a week into your skin care routine:

Ensure that you are purchasing cosmetic grade clay. Cosmetic grade is tested for quality and to ensure no unwanted minerals or elements are present in the clay.

Our Kaolin clay is a cosmetic clay sourced from France.  The clay will vary depending on where it’s sourced from.  Another differentiating factor is the texture. Our clay is milled to 275 mesh, so it’s very fine.  This ensures little to no clumping when mixing.

Click here to get it on amazon. 

Here are the 9 BEST French Green Clay Mask Recipes:

1. Classic French Green Clay Mask

We have to begin at the basics.  In this recipe we cover how to mix a basic french green clay mask.

It’s the basic portions of clay to water ratios.

We also put together a list of ingredients that you can choose to add to your clay mask.  If you aren’t that adventurous, keep reading for my favorite french green clay mask recipes.

Click here for the classic french green clay mask recipe.

2. Uplifting Green Tea Face Mask

Touted as one of the world’s healthiest drinks, green tea is also a major star in this face mask recipe. If you like green tea, you will also love our matcha face mask.

Packed with antioxidants, green tea is an essential ingredient for improving the appearance of aging skin.  It’s also incredibly soothing and a great combo with french green clay for fighting acne.

Get the green tea mask recipe here.

3. French Green Clay + Yogurt Face Mask

Yogurt is not just the star of your breakfast. The lactic acid contained in yogurt gives this mask AHA benefits. AHA = Alpha Hydroxy Acid. The lactic acid will exfoliate your skin by removing dead skin cells from your skin. This improves the appearance of your skin, fights acne and tightens your skin.

By adding yogurt to green clay we are adding a hydrating ingredient to a naturally drying clay mask. I especially like this so you can relax with the mask on for longer than normal.

Get the yogurt face mask recipe here.

4. Calendula Face Mask

Your classic marigold, but packed with flower power.  Calendula has natural astringent properties and often used as a natural first aid remedy.  It can calm and reduce swelling from inflammed skin, bites, and reduce pain.  Thanks to it’s antimicrobial properties. 

Calendula adds a natural cleanse and acne fighting property to this clay mask.

Get the calming calendula mask recipe.

5. Spirulina Face Mask

Often mistaken as seaweed, spirulina is a green-blue algae that has earned itself the righteous place as a superfood. And it’s also a common ingredient as a skin super ingredient.

The antioxidants in spirulina help to repair and protect your skin from UV damage, which improves the appearance of your skin. The chlorophyll also adds a natural cleansing addition to an already pore refining face mask.

Get the spirulina face mask recipe.

6. Restoring Herbal Face Mask

Combine these ayurvedic herbs with kaolin clay to boost collagen, tighten skin and heal breakouts.  The aroma smells like a natural healing solution.  If you like kaolin, try one of these 9 kaolin clay masks.  

Did you know that your skin absorbs 60% of what you apply.  Make sure you are putting natural ingredients such as these in your face masks. 

Get the herbal face mask here.

7. Silky Lavender Oatmeal Face Mask

This mask makes a lovely gift idea! Simply mix all the dry ingredients and the lucky recipient can add the water when they are ready. 

Add the fragrance of lavender with the soothing and cleansing properties of oatmeal.  The oatmeal is ground so it’s not chunky and awkward to apply.

Get the lavender oatmeal clay face mask recipe here.

8. a’Peeling Banana Face Mask

Bananas actually have a bunch of benefits for your skin. Let’s be serious, that mashed up banana melting down your face is not something I’m willing to do. When mixed with clay, you can add banana to make a luxurious and smooth face mask.

Great mask for fighting acne and breakouts! It’s also packed with a handful of vitamins and magnesium to nourish your skin.

Get the banana face mask recipe here.

Here’s the most common French Green Clay questions that we get:

• Why is my skin red after a French Green Clay mask?
• What is the difference between french green clay and bentonite clay?
• How do you use French Green Clay?
• Is French Green Clay good for acne?

Why is my skin red after a French Green Clay mask?

Some redness after a clay mask can be normal.  The first time I tried a clay mask I was mortified.  Don’t worry, the redness does go away and returns to normal after 30 minutes. 

As an experienced “clay masker” I have now learned how to avoid this.  I stress the importance in our how to use a clay mask instructions of removing the clay mask BEFORE it dries.  More is not better in this case. 

Once the clay starts to become dry and cracking, the clay is absorbing your natural oils.  This is what causes the redness.  

ALWAYS remove the mask BEFORE it dries. I never get redness after a clay mask by following these instructions. 

What is the the Difference between French Green Clay and Bentonite Clay?

Different types of clay are classified by their structure.  We could never tell the difference by looking at the clay with our naked eye.  Using a magnifying glass, the structure of the clay is determined, determining the type of clay.  You can find the different types of clay structures in our how clay works article.

Bentonite is a swelling clay, whereas french green clay is a non-swelling clay.  Bentonite can swell up to 18 times it’s size, whereas french green clay does not. 

Related: Definitive Guide to Bentonite Clay 

Bentonite also has a much stronger cation exchange ability than french green clay.  Which is its ability to “swap” similar charged ions from your skin with ions from the clay. 

From your mask experience, bentonite masks have a much stronger detox and adsorption ability to remove impurities from your skin.  French Green Clay also has these benefits, but not as strong.  So it’s still effective, but some prefer the gentler cleansing effect of french green clay.    

How do you use French Green Clay?

French green clay is a healing clay with many more uses that extend beyond clay masks.  Here are just a couple uses that you can use french green clay for:

• deodorant
• poultice for rashes, burns and bites
• acne spot treatment
• cream based cleansers
• soaps
• body mask
• facial powders 

It’s a very multi purpose clay! 

Is French Green Clay good for acne?

Ooooooh yeah!  French Green Clay and Bentonite are my acne-busting go to’s. 

The natural cleansing ability of clay gets deep into your pores to adsorb those impurities.  Getting dirt and impurities unclogged from your pores reduces the potential of future breakouts.  

It also works to adsorb excess oil from the skin that can cause acne as well. 

I LOVE french green clay as a spot treatment for acne.  Do not leave on overnight.  Apply as a spot treatment for approx 10-15 minutes. 

Looking for another type of clay? Try out these featured recipes: