Indie Lee Clearing Mask for combination skin
Salicylic Acid
Glycolic Acid
Bentonite Clay
Colloidal Sulfur
Zinc OxideAverage
- SuperiorCombination Skin Fit
- HighEffectiveness
- HighSafety
Works for combination skin; other cleansing masks fit it better.
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with combination skin: an oily T-zone, enlarged pores, and dry cheeks. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Offers moderate exfoliation and pore cleansing for your combination skin, as salicylic acid and colloidal sulfur work to regulate sebum and break down dead skin cells, while bentonite and zinc oxide absorb excess oil. Sodium hyaluronate provides essential hydration, balancing the formula's drying potential.
- The inclusion of Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract offers soothing benefits, which is advantageous for combination skin prone to occasional oiliness.
- The product is safe for your skin, with no harsh ingredients and a formulation designed to minimize irritation.
How to apply
- Use this cleansing mask during your PM routine once a week to control oil. Start slowly 3 times a week and increase if your skin feels comfortable.
- Apply the cleansing mask after the cleansing step and before using your hydrating toner. This ensures it works effectively on your skin.
- Spread an even layer over your face using gentle motions. Avoid any harsh rubbing to keep your skin calm.
- Apply the mask to clean and slightly damp skin for the best results. This helps the product target oily shine efficiently.
- Avoid the sensitive eye area during application. Do a simple patch test before your very first use.
People Say
★4.6Overall rating based on 200+ reviewsUsers with oily, acne-prone, and congested skin frequently praise this mask for its ability to rapidly calm breakouts and unclog pores without stripping the skin of moisture. While most find it effectively smooths texture and reduces redness, a minority of users find the medicinal scent overpowering or the price point too high for the small jar size.
Highlights
Clears acne Mostly Mentioned
- “zaps zits overnight”
- “great for hormonal breakouts”
- “cleared my skin fast”
- “stops pimples coming”
Decongests pores Often Mentioned
- “de-clogs pores”
- “draws out impurities”
- “pores look smaller”
- “skin feels detoxed”
Non-drying formula Often Mentioned
- “doesn't dry me out”
- “creamy texture”
- “hydrating for clay”
- “no cracking feeling”
Smooths texture Sometimes Noted
- “skin feels baby soft”
- “smooths texture”
- “face feels polished”
- “reduces roughness”
Expensive for size Sometimes Noted
- “tiny jar for price”
- “expensive”
- “wish it was bigger”
- “pricey per ounce”
Medicinal scent Sometimes Noted
- “smells like sulfur”
- “strong camphor scent”
- “medicinal smell”
- “scent is overpowering”
Can be drying Rarely Noted
- “left skin tight”
- “too drying”
- “caused dry patches”
- “irritated my skin”
Ineffective for some Rarely Noted
- “did nothing”
- “no difference seen”
- “just average”
- “didn't help acne”
Sources: lovi.care, sephora.sg, dermstore.com, cultbeauty.co.uk, bluemercury.com, aillea.com, and more
Questions and answers
How well does Indie Lee Clearing Mask work for combination skin?
This cleansing mask works well enough for combination skin, helping clear pores and balance oil with salicylic acid, sulfur, and bentonite clay. However, combination skin needs a product that offers a better balance of oil control and deep hydration without any drying potential.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
Which ingredients make this mask a good fit for combination skin?
Salicylic acid and colloidal sulfur help clear pores and control oil, while bentonite clay and zinc oxide absorb excess shine for your combination skin. Sodium hyaluronate adds essential moisture, and Anthemis Nobilis flower extract calms the skin. This mask works well, but a top-rated product for combination skin needs to provide even more balanced oil control and hydration without overwhelming dry areas.
Journal of Controlled Release, 2025Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025
What does Salicylic Acid do for combination skin?
Salicylic acid helps clear clogged pores and balance oily areas while remaining gentle enough for dry spots on combination skin. It reduces breakouts and oiliness effectively with a low likelihood of irritation.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2023
What does Glycolic Acid do for combination skin?
Glycolic acid helps smooth and brighten combination skin by gently loosening dead surface cells to speed up skin renewal. This ingredient is unlikely to cause irritation when used properly, but it needs a reliable sunscreen during the day since it makes skin more sensitive to the sun.
Acta Dermato-venereologica, 1995Archives of Dermatological Research, 1997
Where does it go in a skincare routine for combination skin?
Can I use this mask with retinol, and in what order?
You can use this mask in your weekly routine, but avoid applying it on the same nights you use retinol to prevent excessive dryness and irritation. A combination skin type needs a mask that offers gentle exfoliation and oil absorption alongside soothing ingredients and hydration to balance the formula.
How often should I use it?
Use this cleansing mask once a week in your weekly routine. To better fit combination skin, a product of this type needs balanced ingredients that clear pores while keeping skin hydrated and comfortable.
Can this mask clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for combination skin?
This mask is unlikely to clog pores or cause breakouts because it uses clay and sulfur to clear dead cells and absorb excess oil, though it may occasionally feel a bit drying. Combination skin types looking for a better fit need formulas that deeply balance oil control with lasting hydration without relying heavily on strong drying clays.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
Is it fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
It has no drying alcohol and contains fragrance (limonene). Cetyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol, which soften the skin.
What the research says
Biomimetic hyaluronic acid-stabilized zinc oxide nanoparticles selectively inhibited C. acnes, outperformed erythromycin in preclinical acne models, and safely reduced acne lesions and redness in a clinical trial.
Journal of Controlled Release, 2025A bentonite-based facial mask with Alcea sulphurea extract combined with oral azithromycin significantly reduced total lesion count and acne severity index while enhancing patient satisfaction in patients with moderate acne compared to placebo plus azithromycin over 8 weeks.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025Quaternized carboxymethyl chitosan/organic montmorillonite nanocomposite demonstrated superior moisture-adsorption and retention compared to hyaluronic acid, good UV-protection ability, negligible dermal irritation, and prominent moisture-retention efficacy on human stratum corneum when formulated into a cosmetic cream.
Carbohydrate Polymers, 2017Twice daily application of a multitargeted dermocosmetic cream provided comparable efficacy to benzoyl peroxide 5% gel in reducing inflammatory, non-inflammatory, and total lesions in 150 Caucasian subjects with mild-to-moderate acne over 56 days, while demonstrating superior skin tolerability.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen achieved a higher cure rate (39%) than salicylic acid (24%) and a wait-and-see approach (16%) for cutaneous warts at 13 weeks in primary care patients.
CMAJ, 2010A moisturizer containing licochalcone A, 1,2-decanediol, L-carnitine, and salicylic acid significantly reduced noninflammatory, inflammatory, and total acne lesion counts compared to a vehicle control in Thai patients during a 12-week maintenance phase.
BioMed Research International, 2020Treatment with 2% supramolecular salicylic acid hydrogel resulted in a regression and markedly improvement rate of 51.01% compared to 43.10% for Adapaline gel in patients with mild to moderate facial acne vulgaris, showing no significant difference in efficacy.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Repeated short-contact 70% glycolic acid peels provided superior results in atrophic acne scars compared to daily low-strength glycolic acid cream or placebo in 58 women over 24 weeks.
International Journal of Dermatology, 2000Serial glycolic acid peels combined with a modified Kligman formula significantly reduced facial PIH severity in Indian patients compared to the modified Kligman formula alone.
Dermatologic Surgery, 2017Vectorization of high molecular weight hyaluronic acid with clay enabled its penetration into deeper skin layers and led to a significant clinical reduction in fine lines in the crow's feet area compared to placebo after 28 days.
Skin Research and Technology, 2024Twice-weekly use of a clay mask over 4 weeks in 75 adults with oily or combination skin improved acne-related outcomes, sebum content, skin evenness, hydration, and reduced dryness and irritation.
Skin Research and Technology, 2023Clay jojoba oil facial masks reduced total skin lesions by a mean of 54% after 6 weeks in 133 participants with acne-prone, lesioned skin and mild acne compared to baseline.
Forschende Komplementarmedizin, 2012Azelaic acid was probably less effective than benzoyl peroxide in acne treatment response, while showing little or no difference compared to tretinoin, and adverse events were mild and transient across evaluated topical treatments.
Journal of Evidence-based Medicine, 2020Topical application of precipitated sulphur 2-8% petrolatum achieved a 95% clinical and ectoparasitological cure rate in 40 ambulatory scabies patients without relevant adverse effects.
Revista de Investigacion Clinica; Organo Del Hospital de Enfermedades de la Nutricion, 2004Topical 10% benzoyl peroxide and 2%-5% sulfur cream achieved "good" to "excellent" results with no undesirable side effects in 113 consecutive patients with acne.
Canadian Medical Association Journal, 1966Topical 0.5% hyaluronic-ZnO nanogel applied twice daily reduced inflammatory-lesion counts by 58% at week four in human subjects compared to baseline without causing erythema.
Biomedicines, 2025Nels cream achieved a similar reduction in inflammatory and noninflammatory lesion counts compared to 5% benzoyl peroxide in acne vulgaris patients, but caused significantly fewer side-effects such as peeling and dryness.
Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 2000Topically applied coated and uncoated zinc oxide nanoparticles under flexing and massage are retained in the stratum corneum with no significant penetration into the viable epidermis and no cellular toxicity in human skin.
Nanomedicine, 2016
Ingredients
Water, Bentonite, Zinc Oxide, Colloidal Sulfur, Propanediol, Glycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Camphor, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Chondrus Crispus Extract, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Titanium Dioxide, Limonene, Ethylhexylglycerin, Potassium Sorbate
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
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Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
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Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
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Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
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Victoria Derkova, MS
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist
How does it fit your skin?
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