Origins Clear Improvement Mask

It's no surprise that I'm obsessive of UK beauty bloggers and youtube gurus... at the top of my favourites are Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup and Lily from WhatIHeartToday.  Aside from their never-ending shopping  carts, I also love their affection to face masks.

Both have raved on and on about the Origins Clear Improvement Mask, so when Origins.com had their "pick any three deluxe samples" promotion earlier this month, I jumped right onto the bandwagon.  Screw you, Sephora.
See Anna's review:  here!
See Lily's review:  here!

I got a 7 mL sample:

It may seem like very little, but you barely make a dent in the tube for a single use.  I'm still trying to use it up!

Smell:
A bit like herbally plastic? lol...

Texture:
Like a gel.

Colour:
Super black.

Application:
This is supposed to be a clarifying mask to clear pores, so I only apply this to my T-zone (forehead, nose and cheek area around nose, chin).
I had to individually apply to each area because the mask dries super fast!  It goes from very wet gel to a semi-matte mask.  The mask dries and hardens, and what's super cool and gross is that you can see your larger pores through the dried mask.

Removal:
Even though it dries hard, there's no tugging or scrubbing; slides right off with warm water.

Verdict:
I like that it's gentle enough that it doesn't irritate my sensitive skin.
I like that I can tell it had cleaned my pores and leaves my skin feeling super clean.
I don't like that it kinda dries out my skin right after washing it off.
I like it but I won't be running with $30 CAD to get a new one when this sample runs out.
Edit December 14, 2012:
Clearly, I was wrong... the deal-seeker in me had to buy it at the duty free shop when I saw it priced at $24 CAD (see my post here).  Thankfully I did, because it saved my skin when I was in China.

- M