I Tried Kate Middleton's $4 Chocolate Face Mask—This Is What Happened

Nutella will be flying off the shelves

In the great Nutella vs. Peanut Butter debate, one advocate may have forever tipped the scales.

This champion of chocolate-hazelnut spread is none other than Kate Middleton.

Deborah Mitchell, Kate's go-to beautician and the founder of Heaven Skincare, appeared on British daytime show This Morning to show how anyone can get the royal's glow using an ingredient probably in your pantry: chocolate smear.

"I have used this at home and on some of my clients," Deborah said on the show. "It works well as an exfoliator. The skin after seven days goes moist because of the palm oil. It helps dry skin."

Sugar? Palm oil? Gooey goodness? Sounds like Nutella to me.

The Internet assumed so, too. And the thought of the Duchess of Cambridge (or Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue, Gwyneth Paltrow or any of Deborah's high-profile clients) chillin' with Nutella on their face gave me enough reason to try it. But before you go all chocolate face, here's what you need to know.

If you watch the segment, it looks simple enough: Using the back of a spoon, spread the product across your face. Once slightly dry, gently roll off the product. Easy, right? In theory.

Trepidation ensued before I even unscrewed the jar cover. The thought of a thick consistency—and the palm oil within—clogging my pores, causing a breakout, had me nervous. I had to remind myself that Kate is also a fan of Deborah's famous Bee Venom Mask ($620), and some of the best skin-care ingredients sound the most bizarre. Why shouldn't I take her advice? Plus, cocoa bean has anti-inflammatory properties. At the very least, I could just eat my anxious feelings (and the Nutella on my face) away.

Smearing the product across your face is actually pretty easy. It was like covering one big bread loaf in chocolate. I applied a thin layer, avoiding the area around my eyes and hairline. It took about 10 minutes for the product to begin drying. I may or may not have eaten a heaping spoonful while waiting.

This is where it got messy. Make sure there's a towel wrapped around your neck, because this stuff gets everywhere. As I began to remove the product off my face, starting from my neck up to my forehead, some of it started flaking and falling in every direction. Clean-up is a hassle, to say the least. I used a wet cloth to remove the residue, which I threw away for fear a cycle in the washing machine wouldn't do it. Trust me: Use a paper towel instead. I washed the rest off with warm water but couldn't help feeling like something was filling up my pores. I still worried that a big breakout was about to ensue, and the anxiety remained in my head throughout the entire process. My skin just didn't feel clean, and I ended up washing my face again—this time with a cleanser. I followed up with my typical nighttime routine of serum and moisturizer. Still, I felt oilier than usual.

Now, Deborah claims that the moisturizing ingredients and fatty acids in chocolate spread can help smooth skin to up to seven or eight days. At first, I did notice that my skin was extra plump, and any redness seemed to appear a bit duller. However, a few pimples also reared their ugly blackheads around my right temple and chin. I don't normally wear a lot of makeup or products on my face. And I don't think the added palm oil—in addition to my routine skin-care products—helped my combination skin type. 

I love the idea of getting a royal glow using a pantry product—it just isn't for me. If it does truly work for the Duchess of Cambridge, it's probably because she has a drier complexion—and an arsenal of prestige skin-care products to complement a Nutella facial.

I'll just stick to eating mine, thanks.