Are Boob Masks the Secret to a Glowing, Acne-Free Chest?

Keeping up with a thorough skin-care regimen requires about as much time, energy, and dedication as maintaining a serious relationship. You drop entire paychecks on skin serums, scrubs, and spot treatments to achieve a flawless complexion. You begrudgingly watch a whole episode of Love Is Blind without snacks so you can use a face mask that de-gunks your pores. You stockpile enough moisturizer to keep your skin flake-free for the next decade.

Below the chin, though, your routine might be pretty lackluster. At best, you slather lotion on your legs after you step out of the shower. At worst, you swipe a bar of Dial soap up and down your body and call it a day. But if you deny your body the same day-to-day care you give your face, all that hard work to achieve your personal #skingoals might not matter. A prime example: Anti-aging.

"A lot of people focus on anti-aging mostly for their face," says Marisa Garshick, M.D., F.A.A.D., a leading board-certified dermatologist in New York City. "But you see their neck and their chest, and that area can really disclose their age more because they haven't been doing the same kind of upkeep with it."

Why Boob Masks Are Kinda Genius

That's where Anese's Calm Your Tits mask comes in. The "nourishing" boob mask is formulated to make your girls perkier, firmer, and more radiant, while also telling "sun damage and signs of aging to chill the F out." The beauty brand recommends applying a thin layer of the matcha-green mask to your boobs, nipples, underboob, and chest for 20 to 30 minutes two to three times per week, for best results. But can this luxury item really give you the glowing, soft-as-a-baby's-bottom chest you're after?

First, a quick bio lesson on the chest and breast skin itself. In general, the skin in these areas tends to have fewer little hair follicles and oil glands than the skin on your face, which can make it more sensitive to active ingredients and take longer to heal, says Dr. Garshick. As a result, "when it comes to skin-care products, you want to note that the same thing you use for your face may not necessarily be appropriate for your chest and breast area," she explains.

Still, the chest can experience breakouts just like the skin on your cheeks and forehead. Like your face, acne in this area can be triggered by bacteria, inflammation, or hormones, but it may also be related to increased sweat build-up from wearing sports bras, says Dr. Garshick.

What's In It

One of the main ingredients in Calm Your Tits—kaolin clay—attempts to combat this problem. The clay is often included in face masks and can help soak up excess oil and potentially reduce breakouts, notes Dr. Garshick. The natural ingredient is partnered with green tea, which has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties that can help minimize breakouts, too. Another bonus: The antioxidant power of green tea can help neutralize free radicals and repair DNA damage from the sun, which is why users may experience a brightening effect or improvement in skin tone, says Dr. Garshick. To encourage a gentle refreshed glow, the boob mask contains skin-soothing and hydrating honey.

Cool, But Does It Work?

The boob mask may sound like an elixir for all of your bust's skin issues, but it comes with a few limitations. For those with sensitive skin, the kaolin clay may be too drying, and the fresh and floral fragrance can cause irritation, notes Dr. Garshick. Though the mask does contain collagen, it might not provide much of a firming and tightening effect. Collagen's effectiveness depends on the size of the molecule, and this mask contains the protein in a large-molecule form, so it may be too large to really penetrate and have a meaningful effect, says Dr. Garshick.

Though Calm Your Tits won't have the same firming results as a surgical intervention or banish all zits in a single use, Dr. Garshick gives it props for bringing attention to this oft-forgotten area. With most skin-care products, the more consistent you are with use, the better the results because it gives your body time to respond to the product, she says. Just consider capping your boob mask use to three times a week in order to prevent over-drying and irritation. "I think if you incorporate it into your routine once or twice a week over several months, that's when you would actually start to see some more noticeable differences, in addition to what you're seeing on the day-to-day level," she says.

So, yes, a specialty product like this boob mask could help you achieve brighter and breakout-free breasts, but that doesn't mean you can't get the benefits using other, simpler methods. "Even paying attention to your chest in that area by good old moisturizing; [using] sunscreen; and if you do experience breakouts, speaking with a board-certified dermatologist about how to clear them up can help," says Dr. Garshick. "So it's not to say this is the only way to achieve a clear area."