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What’s amazing for your health, doesn’t always taste good.  What’s amazing for your skin, doesn’t always look chic.  That is definitely true of the star ingredient in this spirulina face mask recipe.

If your not a complete health nut, you might not know about this ingredient.  Even if you are just health conscience, it could be a new ingredient.

I bet you have had it in your supplements before.  Spirulina is one of the top ingredients in many of the greens powder drinks.  I love athletic greens but when I’m travelling I opt for the straight spirulina shots.  And it’s cheaper.

What is spirulina?

It’s actually an algae! Not to be confused with a seaweed.

I’ve used spirulina as a supplement for years now. It’s funny how we make something a part of our diet for the health benefits, without actually knowing what it is.

That explains the beautiful dark green color of spirulina.

Spirulina may even have anti-cancer, antiviral and anti allergic effects. (source)   

With a whopping serving of vitamin A and antioxidants, spirulina is a perfect addition to this green goodness mask.

I kept this mask recipe pretty simple with only 2 ingredients and included some substitute suggestions to try.

This green goodness spirulina face mask is great for:

• Inflamed skin
• Acne and blemishes
• Aging skin or UV damaged skin
• Shrinking the appearance of pores

Or as my nephew says, this face mask made me look like a ninja turtle.  Ha!  Let this ninja turtle mask attack that breakout with vigor and poise.

French Green Clay is the perfect candidate for this face mask, not just because of its color.  The green clay has a deep cleansing ability that leaves your skin tightening and shrinking the appearance of your pores.  With continued use.

The French Green Clay is one of 4 clays in our facial clay assortment pack.  Our clay is mined in France and milled to a very fine 275 mesh.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of french green clays that are not mined in france, but it’s the marketing name.

What is Spirulina?

A type of green-blue algae.  It can be harvested anywhere that the culture can grow in water with access to sunlight.

Naturally, it grows in freshwater rivers, lakes and ponds that have lots of sunlight in moderate climates.

Today, its grown all over the world. You can even grow and harvest your own spirulina at home with these kits from amazon.

When the culture is grown, it looks like this:

After it’s harvested, the algae is dried and milled into a fine powder that you would recognize like this:

As a superfood, it contains a healthy dose of protein, iron, antioxidants, and vitamin B 1, 2 and 3.  The protein found in spirulina is even comparable to eggs.

In addition, Spirulina has contains chlorophyll, high in Vitamins A, C, E and K.

How to Buy Spirulina for your Skincare:

Powdered is the most common form of Spirulina.

If you prefer to skip mixing spirulina in a glass of water and drinking, capsules are definitely a more pleasant way to go.  You can also use these for your face mask, simply pull apart the vegetable capsule.  

There is a difference between capsules and tablets.  The tablets need to be dissolved into water to use in this recipe.

If spirulina is not a staple of your kitchen pantry, and your not enticed by the health benefits, there are some clay and spirulina products that are quick and easy.  Spirulina and french green clay, blue algae detox mask or a spirulina scrub.

Is Spirulina good for your Skin?

Spirulina has earned itself as one of the best (but worst tasting) superfoods available.

If you are looking for this ingredient in your skincare, it’s often called arthrospira platensis and spirulina (a.) maxima.

The antioxidant and anti inflammatory effects of spirulina make it a great addition to your skincare products.  It’s already established in the skincare market as a popular ingredient.

There are some studies on spirulina, but there is definitely more research required for the efficacy on skincare treatments.

Here are the benefits of Spirulina for your skin:

1. Cleansing

Another rockstar “green” ingredient that is naturally forming in spirulina is chlorophyll.  It’s also a micro algae.

Chlorophyll is super cleansing and creates an environment that’s difficult for germs to grow in.

This mask is super cleansing with the powerful cleansing ability of french green clay combined with the chlorophyll found naturally in spirulina.

2. Acne

Ingredients that have anti inflammatory properties are great acne busters.  Why?

Breakouts have long been known to be caused by clogged pores and an infection by the p. acnes bacteria. However there is current research underway that acne is actually a result of an inflammatory disease.  It’s thought that you can treat all the stages of acne with anti inflammatory treatments.

Spirulina has been proven to have anti inflammatory properties by inhibiting the release of histamine by mast cells.

Another favorite healing ingredient of mine that is anti inflammatory is manuka honey.

3. Protect your skin from UV Damage

Everyday we expose our skin to harmful UV rays that increase the aging process of our skin.  Even under the clouds, the UV rays from the sun affect our skin.

Do you spend most of your days working by a window?  Even inside, your skin is prone to damage through windows.

But antioxidants are powerful free radical fighters.  Spirulina contains a handful of antioxidants benefits, mainly from the phycobiliprotein.

In this study on mice, a cream treatment with 1.125% spirulina extract was effective at delaying tumor growth by 7 weeks vs the mice without the cream after ultraviolet radiation exposure.     

4. Anti Aging

Those antioxidants are on our side in the fight against aging.  I love incorporating anti oxidant rich ingredients into my masks for this reason.

No matter what age these are amazing for your overall skin health. 

But as we do age, our collagen production slows.  This slowing of collagen increases the formation of wrinkles.   This research found Spirulina has been established in the skin care market to increase collagen production.

5. Wound Healing

The anti inflammatory and anti oxidant properties of spirulina are actually being studied for anti-cancer growth.  The first human study of spirulina found that after a year of ingestion, 45% of participants found complete regression of lesions from those with oral leukemia.

This study found the closure rates of open wounds increased significantly within a 24 hour period with spirulina.

Since acne lesions are essentially wounds, spirulina can make an impact on your breakout healing process.

Benefits French Green Clay!

I’m so excited about this face mask recipe because it’s the first recipe for french green clay!  I hope you like it.

Updated: I have now finished our 8 french green clay mask recipes!

I have used french green clay as a mix with other clays in my lavender clay mask and herbal restoring mask.

French green clay is my mother’s favorite choice of clay.  After a mask, you can feel the tightening effects on your skin.  With continued use, it will shrink the appearance of your pores.

I love the way that my make up “wears” after I started incorporating clay into my weekly beauty routine.

The benefits of french green clay are:

– cleansing and absorbing impurities from your pores

– shrinking the appearance of your pores

– tightening your skin

– balancing skin complexion

Our french green clay is from France and a super fine mesh so I find it makes a lovely smooth face mask.  Our facial clay assortment pack has French Green Clay along with Kaolin, Bentonite and Rhassoul clay.

Make sure you are using a cosmetic clay, not all clay is cosmetic grade.

Green Spirulina Mask Ingredients:

Recipe Yield: 1 face masks

You will need:  

• 1 tsp French Green Clay
• ¼ tsp spirulina powder
• 1 tsp of purified water or aloe vera gel

To add more healing properties to this mask, add in a 1/4 tsp of manuka honey

Equipment required:

• 1 glass, wooden or plastic bowl (glass is preferred)
• 1 plastic, or wooden spoon

Mix How to Mix Spirulina Clay Mask

This recipe yields 1 face mask recipe.

If you make too much, cover in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Step 1:  Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. 1 tsp French Green Clay, and ¼ tsp spirulina.

Step 2: Add 1 tsp of water or 1 tsp of aloe vera gel. I used aloe vera gel.

You can also choose to use half and half of each.  I find this aloe vera gel to be super hydrating and love it as a substitute in my masks.

That’s it! This is a pretty simple 2 step face mask recipe.

How to apply Spirulina Mask:

A nice surprise of this mask was it’s exfoliation.  So while applying, ditch the mask application brush and get those fingers messy.

For application follow these instructions:

1. Cleanse your skin prior to applying a mask.

2. Using a face mask brush, apply the mask evenly to your face and neck.

3. **Most important** Remove the clay mask BEFORE it dries.  To remove, gently splash water to rehydrate the clay.  Then remove with water or face towel.

4. Follow up with a toner like witch hazel or diluted apple cider vinegar for acne prone skin.

5. Apply a moisturizer.  I love to multi-mask, so I followed up with an aloe vera overnight treatment.  Mix some aloe vera gel with vitamin e and apply overnight.

Some redness is perfectly normal after a clay mask.  I go over in much more detail any questions about how to use a dry clay mask.

If this is your first introduction to spirulina, read up on some of the everyday health benefits.  So while you are masking it up, add this as a daily supplement.  Our skin is a reflection of our health both inside and outside.  

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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