5 Tips On How To Deal With Maskne

An important daily gesture of safety and solidarity during the pandemic is to wear a mask. Unfortunately for some people, myself included, wearing a mask has resulted in irritated skin and pimples along the jawline, chin and cheeks. The pimples and irritation are referred to as maskne and here 5 helpful tips to prevent and treat it. 

South Asian beauty is based in part on the fact that we come in varying shades of brown which glow in the summer and minimize sallowness in the winter. The melanin is a great beauty advantage, except when it comes to pimples and irritation. When our skin experiences acne caused by wearing of masks aka maskne we are often left with lasting souvenirs in the form of scars, i.e., excess melanin, that fade at a lackadaisical pace. The scars tend to be deep shades of dark chocolate that require layers of makeup to create the illusion that they are only a deep shade of milky tea.

Mask Care Tips 

The scarring is sometimes accompanied by the redness caused by an irresistible urge to scratch one’s face after wearing a mask for a few hours. I proudly wear my mask but the moment I enter my car, I need to rigorously scratch my jawline and lips. Which leaves me with an odd mixture of pink and brown skin on the lower part of my face. Aside from the immediate effects of irritation, I know that I have introduced the bacteria on my fingertips, the dirtiest part of the body, to my delicate facial skin. I try to control the urge to scratch but it is for naught because my skin always reacts to the mask, regardless of the material.

After several months of wearing a mask on a daily basis, I have developed several practises to help minimize the incidence of scarring and redness:

Make sure that the fabric of your mask is not the source of irritation. For example, if a fabric such as acrylic makes your arms scratch, it is reasonable to surmise that the same will happen on your face, so always check the material used in the mask.

Clean or replace your masks on a regular basis. For example, I use disposal masks (they irritate my skin less than fabric ones) and I replace them every two days because the transfer of makeup, sweat and spit from my body to the mask creates serious stains which harbour bacteria that are ill-suited to the skin. If you wash your mask with your other laundry remember that detergents that clean and scent materials such as jeans and wool, may be too aggressive for fabric that is destined for the face. Also, if you machine dry the laundry using sheets or another product, that too may irritate the face’s delicate skin. I suggest that you hand wash your masks using delicate, fragrance-free cleanser and then hang them to dry.

How To Scratch Your Face The Right Way 

If you have an urge to scratch your face, take a fresh tissue, cover your fingers and then softly massage the irritated area. The clean tissue prevents the transfer of bacteria from the fingertips and its texture is gentler than that of nails.

Exfoliation Is More Important Than Ever 

If you are prone to clogged pores, you should exfoliate your skin gently a few times a week to encourage dead skin cell turnover and removal. Exfoliation is a delicate issue for darker skin tones because if the product is too aggressive it causes microtears which leads to further scars.  If you prefer a manual exfoliator make sure to first wash your face and then massage the product in gentle circles on the affected area.  I am a big fan of the Vasanti Brighten Up! Exfoliator because it contains soft granules and papaya, whose enzymes are renowned for dissolving dead skin.

If you prefer a gentler approach, I recommend Tata Harper Resurfacing Serum which is effective because it contains AHA and BHA which lightly slough off dead cells.  I have used it for years and have seen a steady improvement in my overall facial texture.

Treating Irritation & Pimples

Unfortunately, even the best laid skin plans run awry when faced with a daily onslaught of stress and bacteria. If pimples and/or redness are an ongoing battle, then you need to tweak your skin care routine to include a treatment that is applied daily.

I suggest that a pandemic-modified skin routine should include treatments to soften the skin; treat pimples; and brighten the complexion.

My redness takes a few hours to calm down and what helps enormously is gently tapping a treatment essence such as Estée Lauder Micro Essence Skin Activating Treatment Lotion with Sakura Ferment after washing and toning my face. Introduced by K-beauty, an essence is designed to soften and prepare the skin to receive subsequent treatments. Prior to touching my face, I wash my hands with soap, and when I arrive at the essence step, I pour a few drops into the palm of one hand, rub the palm with its counterpart and then gingerly tap my face and neck. The massage encourages circulation within the face and neck, and the essence leaves my skin feeling silky and calm.

If a pimple rears its head in the mask area, I know that it is due to maskne, which means that I focus on a nightly targeted approach. And that definitely does not include squeezing the pimples. After you clean your face, to apply a treatment that contains an ingredient such as benzoyl peroxide directly onto the pimples, avoiding the surrounding unblemished area. An example of an effective treatment that is also mellow is Rodan + Fields Unblemish Dual Intensive Acne Treatment.  It’s recommended to let the treatment sit on the skin, so I use it at night when there’s no makeup or mask in sight.

Scars are by far the most frustrating aspect of maskne, in particular if you paid your teen dues. I had pimples courtesy of maskne, and I am embarrassed to admit that I was so incensed that bacteria decided to squat in my poor pores that I squeezed one. I quickly realized after a few minutes that my spot looked bigger and redder, and I made a silly mistake that would take months to fade. A few weeks after the pimple disappeared, I still had a nicely sized dark chocolate brown spot on the jawline. It was such an intense shade that it was a struggle to cover it up with concealer. I sighed as I looked at that damned spot and had my doubts whether vitamin C, which is infamous for its instability and famous for its brightening ability, could fade it.

Goopglow 20% Vitamin C + Hyaluronic Acid Glow Serum is a kit composed of 20% vitamin C powder, hyaluronic acid and a medicine dropper.  When you open the kit, your high school chemistry skills come in handy, as you need to create the concoction by carefully adding the serum the powder, and then sealing the bottle with the medicine dropper. The bottle is a dark brown colour so that it preserves the effectiveness of vitamin C and since the amount is designed to last about 3 months you will likely finish it when it is in peak condition.

Each morning, after softening my skin with an essence, I pat a few droplets of this serum all over my face, making sure to dedicate one droplet on my dark scar. The first week, I did not see any difference and rued my foolish squeeze. Then at some point during week 2, I noticed that my dark chocolate chip faded to a milky one. By week 3, my milk chocolate chip spot faded to a butterscotch one. I am now close to fully fading the scar. It was exciting to observe the progress and this serum has made me into a believer in the power of vitamin C.  I will always reserve a space on my vanity for this product (which I store in a closed drawer in my room, so that it is not exposed to sunshine or humidity).

Covering The Recovery

As the Taj Mahal was not built in a week, the road to a complexion healed from the effects of maskne takes time. During the healing period, smartly applied coverage is essential to keep us motivated to keep wearing masks and to be patient with the treatment products. I believe that when dealing with irritated skin, the keys are to apply two products, foundation or concealer, and powder, and to apply them with a light hand.

If your skin has many little bumps or is red, I suggest using a lightweight foundation such as Wander Beauty Nude Illusion Liquid Foundation.  I love its doe foot applicator which permits you to apply droplets on the affected area. The droplet system is important because you do not want to draw attention to the area by piling on excessive layers of makeup. Once you apply the droplets, use your clean fingers to blend the liquid into the skin. The heat from your fingers will meld the product to the skin.

If your skin has a few dark scars then spot apply concealer. I found two options that work phenomenally well at covering dark scars and set to a natural finish.  The texture of your concealer should be determined by your skin type.  For example, if your skin is oily, opt for a stick one, and if your skin is dry opt for a creamy one.

Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Stick (15 shades available) is easy to use.  I like to dab the stick on my clean ring finger and then tap my finger on my scar.  Depending on the one intensity of the scar’s colour, I require either one or two taps. What I like about the stick is that it is easy to build coverage, stays put and sets to a soft finish that blends seamlessly with the surrounding skin.

Make Up For Ever Matte Velvet Skin High Coverage Multi-use Concealer (22 shades available) is a thick liquid concealer that you can tap on to the skin using its doe tipped applicator. I appreciate how its tackiness permits me to precisely place the coverage and it stays put for the whole workday.  It is opaque which means that even a dark scar must bend the knee to the intensity of coverage offered by this product. The best part is that the coverage seamlessly blends in with the surrounding skin.

The second step in perfecting the complexion is to apply a light dusting of finely milled powder so that the product stays put and does not disintegrate under the effects of the skin’s sebum. I am delighted to have discovered Charlotte’s Genius Magic Powder (3 shades available).  The powder is lighter than fairy dust and it settles imperceptibly on the skin, managing to stay above the crevices created by irritations and setting the makeup in place. I dip a small powder brush into the container, tap it on the edge of same and then gingerly apply it on the areas that I cover up with makeup.

When you are on the go and running errands, a great touch-up option which is particularly handbag friendly as it stands at 8.2 cm in height and the 1.5 cm in width is the Shiseido Synchro Skin Correcting Gelstick Concealer (15 shades available). What I love about this product is that the concealer itself is packaged in a cylindrical shape and the circumference measures 8 mm. You can twist up 1 mm of product, dab it on a pimple that has been exposed due to contact with a mask, and then set it in place few taps of the with a sanitized finger. The gel formula quickly sets in place and your complexion will continue to look flawless.

Maskne Musings

As we enter the winter of winters, the importance of wearing a mask in public areas has taken on increased urgency and importance. The effects of wearing a mask may cause maskne in some but this issue is treatable and easily covered.  We can maintain our lovely complexions with a few tweaks such as evaluating how we select and clean masks; adding one or two products to treat the skin; and selecting and lightly applying coverage products.