Disclaimer: I was gifted the AveSeena Honeyactive Mask.
Back in March I received a sample of May Lindstrom’s Honey Mud Cleansing Silk (that I exclusively use as a mask). I used it and immediately fell in love. The only problem was the price. I struggled with whether I could and should spend $90 on a mask. However, what the mask provided was a lot more than just a skin treatment. I put it on in the mornings while I drank my tea and scrolled through Instagram and it relaxed me and was such a peaceful part of my day. Then I would step in the shower and washing off the mask served as my cleanser for the morning. My skin is always left looking smooth (it seems to work well on tightening my pores) and feeling super soft. For awhile I tried a ton of other honey masks in an effort to find something comparable. However, no other mask captured the decadent and amazing scent that the Honey Mud has. It smells like cocoa, honey, orange goodness, and nothing compared or even came close. Since the smell was critical to my relaxing, spa-like experience, I caved and purchased the full size and I have been enjoying it ever since.
Recently, AveSeena reached out and asked to send me some products. And one product was their Honeyactive Beauty Mask, which I had heard some whispering from others that it was quite similar to the Honey Mud, so I definitely wanted to give it a try.
So this is my comparison of the two masks. AveSeena also sent over two other products that I am currently trying out and I will post a review of those once I am done using them for awhile.
Cost
May Lindstrom Honey Mud: $90 for 100 mL
- Free shipping on all US orders + 2 deluxe size samples of your choice
- $30 flat rate shipping for international orders (ships via DHL Global Express)
AveSeena Honeyactive: $67 for 100 mL
- Free shipping on all continental US orders + 2 samples with each order
- Ships to Canada for a flat rate of $25 (via USPS) with free shipping for orders over $170. (Canadians would have to pay 19% tax upon arrival).
- $30 flat rate shipping worldwide (except they can’t ship to China, Spain, Italy and Russia).
- Australian orders up to 1000 AUD ship duty free and tax free.
Ingredients
First, let’s tackle the ingredients. The main thing these two have in common is Honey as the first ingredient and Clay as the second (the Honey Mud uses White Halloysite, which I have read is very similar to Kaolin except it has better penetrability). They also both include Cocoa Absolute essential oil.
- Ingredient comparison
Breaking down the first six ingredients…
Honey (found in both): Honey is naturally antibacterial, so it’s great for acne treatment and prevention. Full of antioxidants to help slow down aging, it is moisturizing, and clarifying (it can open up pores and help them unclog).
Kaolin Clay/ White Halloysite Clay (found in both): Can be used on the most sensitive skin types, it will also stimulate circulation while gently exfoliating but it has less liquid absorbing abilities than some other clay masks so it isn’t as strong in terms of drawing out impurities from the skin. I view this as a good thing because (1) I can leave this mask on for a long time and not worry about it drying out my skin, and (2) people with dry skin can still use this.
Cocoa Absolute (found in both): Cocoa oil has emollient and occlusive properties. Emollients help keep the skin moist by reducing water loss and occlusive agents increase moisture levels by providing a physical barrier to water loss. Also, chocolate is known to function as an antioxidant, helping to protect the skin again sun damage.
In terms of the other first six ingredients, there are some key differences that stood out to me. May Lindstrom uses Macademia nut oil, witch hazel, and colloidal silver. AveSeena uses coconut oil, castor oil, and sunflower seed oil. For my skin, I prefer the ingredients in the Honey Mud mask because they are ingredients that I know my skin responds well to (especially the colloidal silver and witch hazel).
In the AveSeena mask, I love sunflower seed oil and castor oil. Castor oil is a fabulous, and often overlooked, oil and sunflower seed oil is really high in linoleic acid (72%), which is great for oily skin and it has other great properties (see the image below). However, coconut oil is something I tend to avoid (unless it is fractionated coconut oil) since I have found that it has caused some congestion for my acne-prone skin in the past. But that usually happens with leave-on products and not masks or cleansers.
*Note: AveSeena noted the following “Coconut oil in the formula is used at a very low level due to the hydrating properties. The low concentration makes acne related issues negligible.”
Another distinction is that the AveSeena mask only contains one essential oil (cocoa absolute), whereas the May Lindstrom Honey Mud contains seven (including the cocoa absolute).
If your skin is very sensitive to essential oils, then this may be a place where the AveSeena mask offers a distinct advantage. There are a lot of great properties to the various extracts that are included in the AveSeena mask–but I am going to skip providing detailed descriptions of those so that this post doesn’t get ridiculously long. 🙂
Split face comparison
I compared each mask in terms of texture, application, amount used, and smell. Watch the videos below for more information.
- Something that I didn’t capture on film was washing them off. They both wash off exactly the same. When you add water to your face, they both turn into a milky liquid and wash off very easily.
[In the video above I apply the AveSeena Honeyactive mask]
[In the video above I talk about the texture. After mixing it with beauty water, I realized I much prefer that way to apply the mask because the texture is a lot better]
[In the video above, I apply the Honey Mud. Note: When I said “stringy texture” I meant to say “taffy-like texture”]
[*A 1/4 rounded tsp will do my entire face when I use the Honey Mud]
Ways to Apply:
The company says that you can use the mask three ways:
- “For deep detoxing, after warming between your fingers, slather a thick layer on your dry face and let it sit for 10 minutes. Wash off with lukewarm water with gentle movements.”
- This is what I tried in the videos above as well as the other two times I used the mask. I don’t particularly like this option and it also requires that you use a lot more product to cover your face. So I felt like I would go through this product a lot faster than ML Honey Mud (which means the cost savings goes away). But once it is on my face, I still like using the mask because of the smell and how my skin feels after I wash it off.
- “For a lighter application, you can mix the mask in your hand with couple drops of water and then apply to dry face.”
- This is what I tried next. Actually… I tried this twice, but the first time I used a little less than 1 tsp of beauty water, because the AveSeena website says to use 1-2 tsps. But that was WAY too much. So I started over and only put in a small squirt of beauty water. I liked the texture once water is mixed. I still had to use more than 1/4 tsp to achieve the texture I liked. I find this approach very frustrating TBH. I didn’t like that I ran the risk of actually wasting product if I mixed it with the wrong ratio of water to mask.
- “For powerhouse application, add a drop or two (a pump full of) Essential Radiance Serum to the mask and mix it well. Apply to dry face and let it do its magic for 10-15 minutes. Wash with lukewarm water.”
- I haven’t tried this method yet.
Preferred way to apply mask:
I like the texture when mixed with water (I chose Son + Park Beauty Water) a lot more than when I just warmed it in my fingers and applied it. The major downside is that this still required more than 1/4 tsp to cover my whole face and it added an extra step. If I didn’t own the Honey Mud, I might be okay with taking that extra step because the end result is still a relaxing sensory experience, and you are left with soft skin when you wash off the mask. But I just didn’t like how finicky this was to apply.
Bottom line:
I think it is great that there is another mask out there that offers a sensory experience similar to the Honey Mud mask because the scent alone makes me adore the Honeyactive mask. And I like the overlap in many of the ingredients. However, I would definitely purchase the Honey Mud instead of the Honeyactive mask because I MUCH prefer the texture in the Honey Mud and I love that it has witch hazel and colloidal silver. The texture of the Honeyactive just isn’t for me. I found it annoying and often frustrating to apply. PLUS, the cost savings of $23 goes out the window since I ended up having to use a lot more of the Honeyactive than I did Honey Mud to cover my face. I noticed that I have already gone through a lot of the Honeyactive, so I think there really isn’t a cost savings after all.
I know that others that have tried both (like the amazing and sweet @hiddenharmonyworld who reviewed both here) have said they would opt for the Honeyactive mask instead of the Honey Mud.
There are also a number of other amazing honey masks on the market–but these two are the only ones I have found that combine honey, clay and cocoa for an all around amazing, nutrient-dense mask. I’ll definitely keep exploring other options, but for now Honey Mud still has my heart.