Susan Brickell (she/her) is the associate editorial director of commerce for travel, overseeing news and deals coverage on Travel + Leisure and leading the content direction of a team of commerce writers. Prior to this, she held the position of senior editor at Shape and Health, heading commerce coverage for both brands for nearly 2 years. With more than 10 years of experience in the editorial world as a market editor and writer, her work spans a variety of topics including beauty, lifestyle, home, health, and travel. She holds an M.F.A. degree in nonfiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College and a B.A. degree in creative writing from Florida State University. When she's not putting a pair of comfy shoes, workout leggings, or new eye cream to the test, you can find her hiking U.S. national parks, planning her next surf trip, or spending time with her dog, Ollie.
We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.
If blackheads are the bane of your existence (same 🙋), and if you never seem to be able to rid your skin of those pesky, stubborn dark dots, the good news is that there are a ton of skin-care tools on the market that can help — from nose pore strips to pore vacuums. The problem? The adhesive on nose pore strips can remove your skin's natural hydrating oils, while pore vacuums are not ideal for sensitive skin, since overuse can lead to irritation and trauma.
Luckily, Amazon shoppers have found an alternative blackhead-removing product that will suck the gunk out of your pores without fear of damaging your skin. The New York Biology Dead Sea Mud Mask (Buy It, $17, amazon.com) is a mineral mud mask that gently and effectively purifies and unclogs pores by absorbing oil and soothing inflammation. It features a combination of potent ingredients, including jojoba oil, magnesium, vitamin E, and aloe vera to hydrate, exfoliate, smooth and soften skin, and to remove dead cells, dirt, and toxins.
Buy It: New York Biology Dead Sea Mud Mask, $17, amazon.com
What makes this mask so good? For starters, mud from the Dead Sea in Israel is loaded with minerals including magnesium, which has anti-inflammatory properties, says Joshua Zeichner, M.D., director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. "In fact, patients travel from all over the world to bathe in the Dead Sea and apply the mud to the skin to dry a variety of skin conditions, including eczema and psoriasis," says Dr. Zeichner. Plus, the mask's oil-absorbing capabilities are beneficial for those with excessively oily or acne-prone skin, and can also help minimize the appearance of pores, he adds. And while this mask can certainly help reign in oil and calm acne, it shouldn't take the place of traditional acne products for treating blackheads, whiteheads, and angry pimples, he warns.
The New York Biology Dead Sea Mud Mask is Amazon's best-selling "body mud," and has raked in more than 9,500 five-star ratings from shoppers. It's been applauded for being gentle enough for sensitive skin, calming cystic acne due to wearing PPE masks, and for being the "real deal" when it comes to blasting away blackheads.
One reviewer wrote: "I love this mask! At first, I was skeptical of its quality and effects on my skin, since I had a mask like this before and it didn't do much. But this one is absolutely great. The reviews are right — within one use, you can already see improvements in your skin! I had bumps on my forehead and a little redness on my cheeks. This mask made my bumps disappear in a night, and the redness is not as severe. No excessive blackheads, just as I wanted, and my pores looked nonexistent!"
"Amazing value for the price," said another. "You only need very little but this gets rid of my blackheads as nothing has ever been able to before. I love this and would highly recommend it to anyone with problem blackheads that have been proving stubborn. I hope that it will completely clear my skin with a few more uses. Even though it didn't immediately clear my skin completely, it did more in a few minutes than anything in years,"
Whether you're trying to banish blackheads, zap cystic acne, or get your skin to be "softer than a baby's bottom" (a few reviewers said this), scoop up this mud mask on Amazon and be on your way to a more radiant complexion ASAP.