As fall transitions us to cooler months, we’re partnering with our favorite bloggers to show us how they style this season’s hottest trends. From fashion tips and makeup trends to hairstyles and home décor, we’re excited to see how these stylistas gear up for autumn weather. This week, we’re welcoming Meghan of Lincoln Park Minute to share her favorite hair and skincare products for fall using this season’s trendiest ingredient: clay!
In the beauty industry, there’s always a new ‘it’ ingredient of the moment. From vitamin C to hyaluronic acid to charcoal and, most recently, clay. It seems clay is here to stay as a powerhouse material, however, as it’s been a trend throughout summer and now into fall.
Clay is a useful ingredient in beauty products for a plethora of reasons. Used for skincare, clay decongests pores and rids your face of excess oil, dirt and sweat. Similarly, clay haircare products are ideal for those with oily roots or over-processed strands. It holds hydrating properties as well, which are beneficial for both your skin and hair.
Now that you have the lowdown on clay as a beauty must-have, I’m sure you want to take advantage of all that it has to offer. Well, Meijer has you covered! L’Oreal Paris has embraced clay by incorporating it into their skincare and haircare product lines. I picked up some of these products after a recent trip to one of their stores and was surprisingly pleased with clay’s abilities!
One of the first clay products I tried was the Purify & Mattify version of L’Oreal’s Pure-Clay Cleanser. It also comes in two other versions (called Detox & Brighten and Exfoliate & Refine) so you can target specific concerns as needed.
Each clay-to-mousse cleanser is powered by three different clays in their pure form, which remove everyday impurities like dirt, oil and pollution. Living in a busy city like Chicago with lots of pollution, I was happy to hear this. The Purify & Mattify Cleanser is refreshing with its eucalyptus scent and did a great job of removing excess oil from my skin.
Clay face masks are another fantastic way to incorporate the trendy ingredient into your fall skincare routine. I love the Exfoliate & Refining mask made with red algae. It exfoliates dead skin cells, then unclogs and tightens pores. It’s especially great after summer’s dead skin cells have built up from factors like sun exposure, heat and chlorine.
There are two other versions of this clay mask: Purify & Mattify and Detox & Brighten. If you use one of these face masks once or twice a week in addition to the clay cleanser, your skin will look and feel incredible!
This material isn’t only useful for your skin, it can work wonders on your hair too! Thanks to clay, L’Oreal’s Extraordinary Clay Shampoo and Conditioner purify roots and hydrate ends without weighing strands down at all. With everyday use, my hair felt instantly purified and I could go longer without showering.
If you have a particularly oily scalp, adding the Extraordinary Clay Pre-Shampoo Mask into your routine could help absorb oil at the roots. Simply apply to your strands before you shampoo, then say bye-bye to oily hair!
Finally, the Extraordinary Clay Dry Shampoo really gave life to my second day hairstyles, especially when applied before my strands got too oily.
What do you think of clay as a beauty ingredient? How would you incorporate it into your own routine for fall?
Meghan is the fashionista behind Lincoln Park Minute, a life, style and beauty blog based on her musings as a 20-something PR gal living in Chicago. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.