Katie Holmes and Gwyneth Paltrow Love This Brand — and Its Pore-Clearing Mask Stops Zits Before They Appear

My quarantine coping strategy currently consists of chocolate, books, binge-watching TV shows, and ordering dessert from any restaurant that has something sweet and carb-y on the menu. I live alone in a small New York apartment (please no killers be reading InStyle.com), so it’s impossible to overstate how central sugar is to getting through my day alone (save for my three cats). Despite how “yikes” that paragraph sounds, I’m doing okay — but after 10-ish months of a sugar-heavy diet, my skin has definitely seen better years.

We can’t all be J.Lo, and that’s absolutely fine. But we can all take some cues from people who glow for a living, celebrities like Kelly Ripa and Katie Holmes, who face paparazzi in Birkenstocks and still manage to look effervescent. Their trick? Good genes, probably not a lot of pizza (no comment), and a skincare routine full of products that work incredibly well.

Inspired by Holmes’ babe-at-41-years-old skin, I did some digging and discovered that she, Kate Hudson, Drew Barrymore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, and Jessica Biel are all big fans of Goldfaden MD, per a spokesperson for the skincare brand. With a roster like that, I immediately decided to order the brand’s Facial Detox mask — because while experience has proven I’ll only ever make it two and a half days into going sugar-free, I’ll try anything that promises to save my skin from my decisions. Consequences? This year has been hard enough.

And at least for the acne-diet connection, consequences are no longer something I have to worry about. After a couple weeks of smoothing on the minty-green Detox mask at the first sign of a pimple’s swollen lump, I have never known such peace. I’m used to playing whitehead whack-a-mole, but the mask’s blend of zinc oxide, sulfur, camphor, salicylic acid, and bentonite clears out my pores and causes the pimple to recede before it even breaks the skin — which means I don’t have to worry about acne scars (or what eating a bag of chocolate chips will do to my face).

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I’ll be honest: I’m not a huge fan of masks, especially when they don’t deliver concrete skin benefits. But I’ve taken to dotting this one onto my zits-in-waiting and settling into the bath with a book. While most other clay-centric masks will dry out your skin if you leave them on five minutes too long, Goldfaden MD’s Detox comes with the built-in guardrails of moisturizing glycerin and fruit extracts.

I’m no celebrity, so paparazzi aren’t lying in wait to see when I’ll next emerge from my apartment (every three days; I’m an Inside Woman?). But I know I, my cats, and the 22 people who watch my Instagram story appreciate the clear skin that Goldfaden’s Detox Mask all but guarantees.