If you forget to take these, try a vitamin mask!

It’s generally accepted knowledge that vitamins are beneficial for our skin, and every now and then we’ll even remember to pop open a neglected bottle of multivitamin pills with the best of intentions… but (in my case, at least) it’s just so hard to stay faithful to any kind of health care regimen without the extra push of encouragement that comes from immediate and noticeable results. Now that I’ve tried the Beauty Sprinkles Vitamin Cocktail Mask, though, I really have no excuse.

Alexandra Howard, the creator of Beauty Sprinkles, previously worked as a medical assistant to a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon for over 17 years. There she became well versed in Mesotherapy, the lunch-break treatment in which vitamins and minerals are injected directly into the skin to promote improvement in texture and tone. Though the Mesotherapy procedure is only “minimally invasive” (think Botox), it’s also only appealing to the elite few who have enough time, money and courage to spend on it…and so, she gives us “real life” ladies an easy DIY all-natural alternative.

One packet of Beauty Sprinkles goes a long way

The pamphlet that accompanies this product will make you feel like you’ve got a real skin care expert by your side the whole way; Alexandra Howard’s personal anecdote is on one side, and her easy-to-follow directions are on the other. The instructions include not only what you should do to get the most out of this product, but, in many instances, her informed explanation (in words we can all understand) of why you should do them, too! The package comes complete with a shell compact, an application brush and individual-use packets of the “sprinkles.” The sprinkles are a blend of vitamins and antioxidants. To prepare, you simply mix the contents of one packet with yogurt. She even tells you what kind of yogurt you should use depending on your skin type.

Once mixed, the mask has got a much thicker consistency than the ones that come out of a bottle. The volume of product you’ll get for one tablespoon of yogurt, the directed amount, is surprisingly more than enough to cover your entire face and neck – even after I put some left-over mask on the back of my hands, I still had enough to do my elbows.

The first time I tried it, I was amazed by how soft, clean and nourished my skin felt immediately after I took the mask off. The effect was especially noticeable in my major problem area: The pesky pores on my nose appeared to be significantly smaller than when I had last spitefully stared them down (usually every time I look in the mirror). My face felt awake, refreshed and raring to go.

The directions recommend you leave the mask on “for a minimum of 10 minutes or (best) until dry,” but be warned that the longer you leave it on, the harder it will be to get it off. Tugging and scrubbing your skin should always be avoided when possible, so, to stay safely within the bounds of both interests, I think about 15 minutes of masking worked best. The instructions say to mix the yogurt and sprinkles in the tiny shell compact, but several messes later, I resigned to using a bowl from my kitchen and found it was much easier to work with than the small circle that the compact provides.

All in all, I’d say it’s a whole lot easier to remember to take your vitamins when they make your skin look and feel good.

Get your own! You can buy them online from eBubbles – eight packets are $48.

Photos: Centrum, Beauty Sprinkles

Disclaimer: Products were furnished complimentary for review.