I woke up Friday morning and was greeted by a most unwelcome visitor: there was a brand new pimple, sore and red, gleaming like a beacon on my chin.

Awesome.

I spent most of the day trying to figure out ways to look at and talk to people without them seeing it. Not possible. By Friday afternoon, my self esteem was at an all-time low. By Saturday morning, I needed the Queen. 

If you’ve ever read a fashion or beauty magazine that lists secret weapon beauty products or gives recommendations from pros in the beauty industry, you’ve probably heard of the Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. Probably the best drugstore beauty find of all time, if you haven’t tried it, go buy one, and if you haven’t heard of it, listen up.

It comes in a pleasantly plain white and green package and costs around three dollars a tube. Even when used regularly, one tube will last you a long time; I’ve been using Queen Helene devotedly for five years and am only on my second one. The pea-green masque is to be applied to freshly washed skin, and is pretty simple to use: smear it all over your face, walk around looking like a swamp creature for about 15 minutes, and wash it off once it dries. Easy. And talk about getting your money’s worth.

Queen Helene clears up black heads, dries up heinous pimples (like my aforementioned atrocity), tightens pores and makes your skin ridiculously soft. (I always follow it up with a nice moisturizer. Right now I’m liking Bliss Best of Skintentions, a daily moisturizer with SPF 15 that smells like oranges.)It can also be used to spot treat really bad zits; a dab left on overnight is often just the thing to rid yourself of a stubborn blemish.

So I spent Saturday afternoon treating myself to a spa day. I tweezed my brows, trimmed my nails, and gave myself a lovely pedicure using my new favorite summer nail color, Essie’s Cute As A Button, a peachy pink shade. And I covered my face with a generous coat of Queen Helene.

By Sunday morning all that remained of the chin volcano was a teeny red dot.

I’ll take it.