Trying out a couple new beauty products

My amazing husband gave me the "night off" from mom duties, so I could have a little me time.  I definitely needed it.  I decided to pamper myself a bit with a few of the trial sized products that have been building up in my "to try" drawer.  I save all of the little trial size things that come in the mail or are given to me in one place until I finally get around to trying them....is that weird?  Am I the only one that does this?!  Probably.  ANYWAY, I tried out a couple new products and wanted to tell you what I thought about each one.

Lately I have been hearing people talk nonstop about different masks that they've tried so I wanted to give one a shot.  I've seen Mud Masks advertised all over the place, from commercials, to blogs, to magazines.  They seem to be everywhere!  I have never actually tried a mud mask before, so I was pretty excited to give this one a shot.  Here is the one I ended up trying:

Pure & Essential Minerals Dead Sea Mud Mask

Benefits: (taken from their Amazon site)

Renowned anti-aging properties tighten pores, reduce wrinkles and lines and promote youthful, healthy, natural skin. A weekly mud-mask will diminish and heal the most common skin issues including Blemishes, Acne, Breakouts, Pimples, Blackheads, Eczema and Psoriasis. Use as a facial mask, spot treatment or full body mask

 My opinion:  I had never used any sort of mud mask before so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Since it is a MUD mask I think I was expecting a sort of musty gross smell, but I was very pleasantly surprised when it had more of a eucalyptus scent to it.  I also expected it to be very gritty and rough, but it has a smoother texture to it.  It was nice and thick and went on very easily.  Because it has eucalyptus oil in it, it has a tingling feeling at times.  When I first put it on it actually felt like it was stinging my face (which made me pretty nervous) but then after a minute or two it lessened to just a cool tingle.  After I washed it off, my face felt very refreshed, but it did dry out my skin a bit.  After about 10 minutes I felt my face again and it was REALLY soft.  I didn't notice any "glow" right away which I was a little bummed about.  I also didn't notice any change in my wrinkles/lines or pores, but I've only used it once so far.  Maybe after a couple more times I will notice more of a difference.

Beyond The Zone Smooth Criminal Masque (for hair)

Benefits:

Hydrates dry, frizz-prone hair.  Smooths the cuticle and improves manageability 

My opinion:

This conditioning hair mask smelled SO GOOD (kind of like cocoa butter, I think). That being said, it didn't really do much for my hair at all.  It actually made my hair feel dry; which doesn't make any sense.  I wanted to love this one but I didn't.

Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion

Benefits:

Moisturizes instantly no sticky feel, with 24 hour plus moisture

My opinion:

I was really skeptical about this one.  I just didn't really understand it, I guess.  But it surprised me and I ended up really liking this a lot.  My skin felt so soft after my shower and still did the next morning when I woke up.  I will definitely purchase this in a full size.

( I received a free full sized product of the Pure & Essential Minerals Dead Sea Mud Mask  from Brandbacker for review, but as always all opinions expressed on this blog are my own.)

Have you ever tried any of these products?