This is a US$ 70 face mask. It’s Made in the USA, but it would appear that the product raw materials are entirely sourced from the Founder’s family farm/estate in India. I can’t help but visualise this as Tata Harper’s 1,200-acre Vermont farm but just in India. It was interesting (for me) to listen to the Founder’s motivation for starting the brand. She said while in LA she noticed the “bastardization” of Ayurveda. There was a disconnect between what was being peddled and what Ayurveda actually is. Her words, not mine.
I get it.
I spent the summer in the affluent town of La Mesa just outside San Francisco about three years ago. The closest drugstore was incredible. It had every type of health food/dietary supplement etc you can imagine. I was astonished by the supplement section. I have never seen so many variants of turmeric – tablets, protein shakes, capsules, liquid supplements, milkshakes. Its almost as if Americanisation of turmeric had put so much distance between the spice and its origin. In the words of UMA’s founder, the bastardization of turmeric.
What are my expectations?
The brand has set a high bar to meet. It’s not just the price, its the Founder stating quite categorically I am going to show what real Ayurveda products look like because I live this life of Ayurveda and yoga. It’s almost as if she is saying this is in my blood and this is what I was born to do.
Fine. This is a brightening mask and it has some key ingredients that will achieve brightening, namely sandalwood, and saffron. It should not be a mask that is drying, which is difficult for clay masks to achieve but not impossible.
Before and after
There is definitely skin brightening or lightening as I prefer to call it. I am a spade is a spade kind of girl. I hope you can see that the slight oiliness on my forehead has disappeared as well as my pores have become smaller.
This mask delivers what it says on the product.
Would I buy this mask again?
No.
The product on UMA’s website as at the date of this blog (21 May 2020), is meant to look like this:
When I opened the product this is what it looked like:
This is a natural product, but this level of difference between what is advertised as a orange coloured paste to a lump of brown stodge is unacceptable.
I took a small amount and tried to rub it on my face. It just kept slipping off. After trial and error I figured that 1.5 teaspoons to half a teaspoon of brown stodge gave the mask a spreadable consistency. Only a miracle would change its colour from brown to a more appealing saffron colour.
I left the mask on for 7 minutes (per the instructions). Throughout the duration there was a stinging sensation, which was not pleasant. I didn’t let the mask dry out because that would be an absolute nightmare to get rid of. On removing the mask, my face was completely parched and tight. This indicates water loss. I had to quickly slap a rich hydrating night cream.
Closing
This is not ideal. I really really wanted to like this mask. But there evidently is still work to do on the product development side.
Finally, I am going to leave you with a final thought: why is this brand importing raw material from India to the US to make Ayurveda products that have been made in India for more than a millennium? When are we going to start having serious discussions about the carbon footprint of brands?
POSTSCRIPT
I wrote to UMA’s customer service and this was there response. If you are confused about the instructions to add water its because its on a Youtube video on the product page. If I have to add water to a product to make it look like the image represented on the product page, then I am reluctant to pay US$ 70. It boils down to a lack of transparency at the point of purchase.
Here is the most relevant correspondence.
Other masks I enjoyed using and would purchase again include:
Sarah Chapman’s Instant Miracle Mask (GBP 48 for 5 masks)
fresh Black Tea Firming Overnight mask
VERSED Hydrating Plump Mask (GBP 10 for 45ml)
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