Blogmas Day 10 How To Deal With Maskne

 Welcome to Blogmas Day 10!  One side effect of wearing masks is, yes, you guessed it, Maskne.  Who knew that years after I left breakouts behind, I would be dealing with congested pores again.  You would think that all that humidity swirling around my face would be beneficial, rather like an enforced face sauna.  But instead, what I end up with are itchy rashes and breakouts.  Admittedly, there is a health and hygiene safety reason why we must wear masks.  I am not making light of the issue at all.  But if you, like me, are doing your best to follow health guidelines and wear masks whenever you go out, perhaps you have noticed your skin playing up as well.  So here is what I have learned in dealing with Maskne.

First, I have ramped back on my makeup routine.  I gave up lipstick, blush and highlighter.  No one ever saw any of that and it all rubbed off on my mask anyway.  At most, I put a bit of concealer under my eyes, some CC cream on my forehead and neutral eyeshadow.

I try my best to cleanse my face once I get home and take off my mask.  I really don't use any fancy facial cleansers.  In fact, my go-to for years has been baby wash and a cotton flannel!  I figured that if it is gentle enough for a baby then it should do the trick for my face.  Whatever you use, make sure it is free of fragrance, is hypoallergenic, and is free of other irritants like SLS' and parabens.  Basically, when your skin is in an agitated state, you don't want to put anything on it that is going to aggravate it further.  The cotton washcloth provides a gentle exfoliating action and gets tossed into the laundry regularly.

Speaking of laundry, you may also want to look at the type of detergent that you are using.  I am not pushing any particular brand.  The above is just what I am using at the moment.  I have used fragrance free hypoallergenic detergent for years as I had a family member with severe ezcema.  If you are using fabric, reusable masks, they should be washed regularly, preferably with hypoallergenic detergent.  That mask is pressed against your skin for a sustained period of time so any detergent residue embedded in the fabric will also be rubbing onto your skin and possibly causing skin sensitivities.

We have so many stressors to deal with right now and Maskne shouldn't be one of them.  If you have any further suggestions, please share in the comments!  

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