Miracle Masque

Local Trailblazer Harnesses Earth’s Healing Power in a Jar

by Allison Gorman

Michael Larkin’s

journey to creating Miracle Masque began with … a journey. In 2014, Larkin decided to reduce his carbon footprint by walking the three miles from his home in Milton to his work as a server in a local restaurant. To shave some time off the trip, he blazed a trail through a nearby marsh. That’s when he saw the clay pit—a vast painted desert surrounded by Florida swamp.

Since ancient times, indigenous cultures have used the clay formed by volcanic ash as a healing agent. The modern appreciation for all-natural health products has ignited fresh interest in the benefits of bentonite clay (named for the volcanic region of Fort Benton, Wyoming).

Even before Larkin began experimenting with the clay itself, he was convinced that the barren, two-mile-wide pit that produced it was a volcanic crater. Sure enough, he says, the clay exhibited the qualities of bentonite.

“I started bringing it back to the house, watering it down and letting it soften in big vats,” he says. “I’d get elbow deep in it, and as time went on I realized that it had a therapeutic value. It had an effect on my skin—everywhere I used it became baby soft—and I started putting it on my face. Literally, I’ve had a retraction of the aging process. I’m 40 years old, but most people think I’m pushing 30.”

The clay wasn’t red, the kind the South is

Michael Larkin known for. Instead, it was “the color of calamine lotion,” Larkin says. So he did what any trailblazer would do: he scooped some up and took it home.

Trail Blazing

So from 2014 to 2016, he trail blazed—literally.

“I cut down trees and built a dam and levy, just like the beavers do,” he says. “Now you can actually traverse the marshland into the clay pit.”

It took far less time to refine the clay into something marketable. As nothing grows in or on it, Larkin says, the only processing required is thorough sanitization and emulsification with boiling water, plus several rounds of filtering to remove natural impurities. The result—what Larkin calls Miracle Masque—is a fleshcolored, mousse-like product that dries completely white.

“You can feel it tightening your skin as it dries, and it truly has an esthetic quality,” he says. “It refines your pores, and it lessens the need for moisturizing, because your skin achieves a natural pH balance; you’re not getting dry patches and oily patches. I’ve been passing out samples, and people love it. From acne-prone teenage girls to 60-year-old women, the results are across the board.”

Now Larkin is making Miracle Masque available to the public. He’s selling eight- and four-ounce jars (six- and three-month supplies) by email at MiracleMasque2018@gmail.com and online at Facebook.com/MiracleMasque.

He says he’s not sure where this journey will end, but he hopes to make a lot of people happy along the way.

For more information, email Michael Larkin at MiracleMasque2018@gmail.com.