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Mango is indisputably packed with a boat load of Vitamins and Antioxidants.  That’s a major requirement for any ingredient that we choose to add to our clay mask recipes.

Mango is known as the “king of the fruits”, easily dominating as the most popular fruit in tropical regions.  I can say this is definitely true.  I lived in Thailand and Cambodia for a year and a half.  There I experienced some of the best mango fruits.  They were so prevalent, we ate them every single day.

So with a little nostalgia, I created this mango face mask recipe.  At the last minute of gathering my ingredients together out of the corner of my eye, was a bag of maca powder.  I love adding maca powder to my chia pudding.  It’s a super food that is amazing for your energy levels and also your love life.  More on that below.

Hastily I grabbed the bag of maca powder and did a quick google search to find that the benefits for your skin are abundant.  I’m obviously no stranger to mixing food and clay but this felt like the perfect duo.

Enter mango face mask with maca powder and kaolin clay!

With the skin benefits these two super food provides along with the cleansing and mineralizing kaolin clay, this is quite the mask!  This mask is great for:

• Sensitive skin types
• Anti aging
• Sun damage and prevention
• Uneven skin tone or redness
• Improving skin texture
• Aiding collagen synthesis

If you have leftover mango puree, I freeze them in ice cube trays.  Use a little of the leftovers in our mango sugar scrub mask recipe.

Mango’s are available year round through your local grocery store.  This mask is especially wonderful in march mango season, when the mangos are fresh.

Maca powder on the other hand, it’s not the most prevalent kitchen staple, but it should be.  There’s many other everyday health reasons to add it to your smoothies or your face masks!

I chose Kaolin clay, my favorite clay to pair with anti aging face mask recipes.   One of the 4 clay’s found in our facial clay assortment pack.

Is Mango Good for your Skin?

Absolutely! The nutritional value of mango’s are stacked.  The vitamins, antioxidants and phyto chemicals all contribute to protecting your skin from sun damage and anti aging.

Skin sun damage is real. About 90% of nonmelanoma skin cancers are linked to UV radiation from the sun.

What is a mango?

It’s not your typical apple and oranges, so there’s a real possibility you might not have tried a raw mango fruit.  Do it now!  Mango flavoured drinks and food is delicious, but the raw fruit is better.

Native to mexico, south america, india, asia, mango is also commonly called Mangifera indica.

Oval shaped with a pit in the middle, mangos can come in an array of colors from yellow to red.

What is the Nutrition of Mangos?

Mangos are packed with nutrition, but here’s the details.

Per 100 grams of mango nutrition values, per 2.5 tbps (14 grams),

• Vitamin C: 44% of DV (daily values)
• Folate (B₉): 9% DV
• Vitamin B: 9% of DV
• Beta Carotene: 7% of DV
• Vitamin E: 6% of DV
• Vitamin K: 4% of DV
• Potassium: 4% of DV

Vitamins are so important for our bodies, but also the health of our skin!

What are the Mango Benefits for your skin?

There is not a lot of research into using mango in skincare. However it is a main ingredient in a lot of skincare products that have amazing reviews for it’s results.  Like this mango shea sugar scrub, or eminence night cream.

Mango taken orally has shown in this study significant increase in skin thickness and collagen.  This showed an effective treatment to skin photo aging from UV damage.

Mango is a popular choice for skincare because of the vitamins and antioxidants. So what do those vitamins do for your skin?

Vitamin C

It might be 3rd in the alphabet but this vitamin is one of the most important for your skin.  Two reasons.

It is an antioxidant protecting and repairing your skin cells from damage by free radicals.  And it’s also plays an important role in collagen synthesis.

Collagen holds the connective tissues of your cells and skin together, wrinkles are a side effect of a breakdown in collagen production.

According to the “role of vitamin C in skin health research“, here’s some of the skin benefits:

• Reduction in wrinkles and/or prevention of wrinkles
• Improved wound healing
• May influence skin dryness and hydration
• Limit the skin damage from UV exposure

*Tip: add Vitamin C to your diet for overall skin health. Your Vitamin C levels also contribute to absorption of topical vitamin C applications. Reach for foods rich in Vitamin C like mangos, papaya’s, red peppers, cauliflower, broccoli.

This study of vitamin C internal VS topical indicates that topical applications fail to reach the epidermis layer of your skin.  Vitamin C is also best combined with Vitamin E, also found in Mangos.

Vitamin A (containing Beta Carotene)

Remember when your mom always told you to eat your carrots?   The beta carotene in the carrots is the main reason for that.

Your body naturally converts beta carotene into Vitamin A.  This study confirmed that your skin will convert topical applications of Beta Carotene into Vitamin A.  Vitamin A is fundamental for overall skin health and cell turnover. This is turn can improve the appearance of your skin and slow the signs of aging.

When you see reference to retinoids, this is an artificially produced Vitamin A.

Many studies cited in Retinoids in the treatment of Skin Aging research showed significant improvement in the appearance of aging skin.  Retinol with glycolic acid serum resulted in significant improvement vs retinol or glycolic acid by itself.  Like this anti-aging night cream.  Both retinol and glycolic acid can make your skin sensitive to UV exposure.  Start with 1-2 times a week application and wear sunscreen or avoid the sun.

Vitamin B & Folate (B₉)

This study of 207 participants that applied vitamin B cream topically found significant improvement.  The vitamin B cream improved skin tone evenness, significantly reduced appearance of hyperpigmentation, appearance of lightening of skin, and overall skin texture.

Results were seen in as early as 6 weeks.  Remember, new skincare treatments take time and consistency to see results.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E and Vitamin A used together, in a study of 98 participants, are effective at reducing acne.  It was found that the treatment deprives the propionibacterium acnes, the bacteria responsible for some acne growth.

50% of participants in another study, found that Vitamin K, E, A, and C removed dark circles from under their eyes.  Some participants saw wrinkle reduction as well.

Vitamin E is most well known for it’s wound healing capability.  But there are conflicting studies about the efficacy of vitamin E for wound healing and scar reductions.

How to buy mango for your skincare?

The simplest way to get mango for your skincare is from the grocery store.  At most grocery stores Mango’s are a year round fruit.  Add mango to your diet is also great for your skin!

But you can buy mango in a couple different forms:

• Mango Seed Oil
• Mango Butter
• Mango Extract Powder

What is Mango Seed Oil?

What is Mango Butter?

What is Mango Extract Powder?

Disclaimer: it’s not delicious.

You can try mix the pulp of the mango with the skin to mask the taste but it’s just not good.  This product says their mango seed extract powder is 10x time more nutritionally powerful than the fruit itself.  So if you love this mango face mask, getting some mango seed extract powder would be quicker to mix up.

Mango Seed Extract Powder is also touted as a weight loss and nutrition supplement.  It can easily be used in this recipe instead of the real pulp.  

Is Maca Powder good for your skin?

I try to choose one ingredient “focus” in each face mask recipe I do.  This one, obv was mango.  But at the last minute, out of the corner of my eye popped up some maca powder.  And boy am I excited about this ingredient in my face masks!

There’s wayyyy too much information to share about maca powder for this recipe.  I will definitely be doing a maca powder focused face mask.  Will update soon!

The quick maca powder low down?

It’s a peruvian superfood that has amazing benefits for your skin.  Like reducing break outs, reduce the effects of aging, give new strength to the skin and fast tracking collagen production.  

Why Kaolin is great for your skin!

You might have noticed that I love to pair Kaolin clay with fruity, antioxidant goodness.  As we age, acne becomes less of a thing (thank goodness!).  But then anti-aging becomes part of your vocabulary.  Even when your in your 20’s, you should care about this.

So Kaolin is the perfect clay to pair with vitamin rich ingredients.  It doesn’t have the same swelling capability as bentonite clay.  So it’s much gentler on your skin, you won’t get any of the normal redness effect following the mask.

Some of my other favorite Kaolin clay recipes are:

• It’s all about the Cocao clay mask
• Healing Manuka Honey Kaolin mask
• Hibiscus clay mask — I love the color of this mask!!  + DIY gift idea
• Anti aging Matcha clay mask

It’s super easy to spot a Kaolin clay.  It’s a fluffy clay that is pure white.  For that reason it was nicknamed China clay, but it’s actually mined in many countries around the world.

Kaolin is very effective for absorbing excess oil, but still gentle enough to use on all skin types.  It also contains minerals that are not absorbed my water so it provides a gentle exfoliation and remineralizes your skin.

Suggested: Definitive Guide to Kaolin Clay (Benefits and Uses)  

For these reasons it’s one of the 4 clays we chose to include in ourfacial clay assortment pack.  

And the most basic part of any clay mask, is that all clay masks are very cleansing.  They get into your pores to absorb impurities giving you a deep clean.  It’s one of the biggest feedback we get after using our clay mask.  That skin is SO SMOOTH and feels very clean.

Recommended: Check out our list of Kaolin Clay Mask Recipes.

Mango Maca Face Mask Ingredients

Recipe Yield: 1 face masks

You will need:  

• ½ tsp of maca powder
• 1 tsp of fresh mango puree or ½ tsp of mango extract powder
• 1 tsp Kaolin Clay
• 1 tsp of purified water or rose water

Option: add ¼ mango seed oil for extract antioxidants! Reduce water accordingly.  

Equipment required:

• 1 wet/dry spice grinder
• 1 glass, wooden or plastic bowl (glass is preferred)
• 1 plastic, or wooden spoon
• 1 face mask brush (included in our facial clay assortment pack)

Mix How to Mix Mango Mask

This recipe yields 1 face mask recipe. Any leftovers can be stored in your refrigerator for up to 3 days.  Keep reading for tips on what to do with extract mango puree.

Step 1:  Mix ½ tsp of maca powder with 1 tsp of kaolin clay.

Step 2: Add a couple pieces of mango to a spice grinder, I love my wet spice grinder for these.  For this recipe, you only need 1 tsp of puree.  At the end I have some ideas for how to use the leftover puree.

Step 3: Mix the mango puree and water into the kaolin clay and maca powder dry mix.  Mix thoroughly until there are no clumps with a mini plastic spatula till smooth.

That’s it!  This mask should be super quick to mix up.  To save dishes, you can also add all the ingredients to your spice grinder and mix in the grinder till smooth.  To do this, you would need to make a double or triple batch. 

How to apply Mango Mask to your Face:

This mask spelled lovely to me! The maca powder made is smell earthy with a fruity mango smell.

For application follow these instructions:

1. Always wash your face before a mask application.  This is so important, you don’t want to start with a dirty palette. 

2. Apply the mask to your face and upper neck with a face mask brush.

3. Remove the clay mask BEFORE it dries.  I love to warm a face towel and just let it sit on my face.  This rehydrates the clay so it will easily wash off.   

4. Follow up with a toner like witch hazel.

5. Apply a moisturizer.  I use a overnight cream with retinol (remember those Vitamin A’s).

How to use a dry clay mask has lots more info if this is your first time using a clay mask.

Do you have leftover puree?  

Save the puree in the fridge for tomorrow night (I love masks in the morning with coffee).  Or pop it in an ice cube tray for later.  Defrost the puree and mix 1 tbps with 1 tsp of raw honey or manuka honey for a hydrating face mask.  Leave on for about 20 minutes since it takes longer for the honey to dry.  

Disclaimer: Our content does not constitute a dermatologist or medical advice.

Did you try this mask? I would love to hear how it worked for you! Leave a comment below.

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