How to Deal with Mask Acne- Yes, it’s a thing!
Hello Beautiful People,
With Covid-19 not slowing down anytime soon, its likely that face masks will remain a part of our daily routines for the foreseeable future. Feel like your facemask is causing acne? Well your probably not imagining it.
Not only is the weather extremely hot and humid this summer, it is also crucial to wear a facemask for both the public health and keeping yourself safe, the dang things are leading to acne breakouts and other skin issues… not cool!
Mask acne has become so common that it has a name of its on known as; ‘maskne’ on the Internet. While it’s not recommend to ditch the mask, there are a few simple steps that you can take to prevent and treat mask related breakouts.
But Why Does it Happen?
First of all, I am not a professional here, just sharing things that helped me treat and prevent it.
Before diving into the fix, let’s first talk about whyfacemasks are causing us to breakout?
Acne usually develops when oil, dirt, dead skin cells, or bacteria clog pores. This can lead to blackheads, whiteheads, or pimples that can vary in size and type, depending on how infected they get.
Anyone can develop acne, irritations and inflammation from wearing masks especially now that it’s extremely hot and humid and particularly those with extremely sensitive skin (like me), thin skin and acne-prone skin. The two main reasons are as follows:
- Direct friction between skin and mask promotes inflammation thus leading to breakouts or irritation.
- Masks trap humidity, sweat and oil on the skin thus clogging your pores leading to breakouts
SO, How to Prevent Maskne?
- Skip the Makeup:
Avoid wearing makeup underneath your mask, wearing makeup will only clog your pores and lead to breakouts.
- Choose Natural Fabrics:
Go for natural fabrics like cotton or silk as they are more breathable and will reduce the amount of humidity and bacteria being trapped in there.
- Don’t Reuse Surgical Masks:
A defiant NO NO, surgical masks are not meant to be reused because there is no way to clean them.
- Wash Out your Fabric Masks Regularly:
Wash your mask daily and when washing make sure you use fragrance free laundry detergent and lay it flat to dry. Fragrance can cause irritation, and you defiantly don’t want that.
- Be Gentle and Moisturize:
When your skin is acting out, just take it easy on any active ingredients your using in your routine; instead opt for soothing, claiming and hydrating products. Make sure you keep your skin hydrated as well to help act as a barrier to friction from your mask. Obviously opt for fragrance and oil free moisturizer and avoid heavy products that can clog your skin.
- Apply Soothing Cream:
If your dealing with super sensitive or acne-prone skin, I would recommend if you invested in a soothing cream to add to your daily routine.
- Apply a Zinc Based Sunscreen:
Switch your normal sunscreen to a zinc-based one (if its not already), zinc helps protect your skin from the sun and to sooth it.
Because of the pandemic, we might be wearing masks for a long time; the right skin care routine can help reduce mask-related breakouts. Share in the comments down below if you have been dealing with maskne and how are you treating it?