How2: Win The War Against Maskne
As if this whole mask wearing escapade isn’t hard enough, we now have to worry about a new villain on our hands… maskne. Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the term then count yourself lucky. Maskne is basically a breakout that has occurred due to excessive mask wearing & believe me, it ain’t pretty. I was sadly a victim of maskne and it got so bad that it took me a couple of months to calm it down - I’m still working on the scars now! I’m no stranger to spots, I used to have acne, but wow, a 25 (now 26) year old with a crazy teenage breakout, it definitely made me feel self conscious.
Why are masks giving us spots you ask? Well, it’s pretty simple really. When we put on a mask, we’re already restricting the skin underneath and not allowing it to breath and blocking our pores. Then you’ve got moisture from your breath creating sweat droplets as well as any other bacteria or oil that was trapped on your face. All of these combined is a breeding ground for disaster and most importantly, for maskne.
My maskne started around September/October times, basically when life was slightly more towards the normal side. I was wearing makeup, going out, taking public transport, so I pretty much always had a mask on. My biggest mistake was obviously wearing makeup and a mask, but what’s a girl to do when she wants to look cute and follow the rules?? It also didn’t help that I was using a reusable cloth mask, which would absorb and harbour any sweat/oils as opposed to leave it on the surface. The first thing I did was order a box of black disposable masks - this was step 1 to getting rid of my maskne.
So at this point, the right side of my face is being attacked by maskne. It was mainly on my jawline and slightly above, so at least it was grouped into one area. I noticed that when the spots would go down, they would literally just reappear time and time again. So, here’s what I used to minimise this breakout as quickly as possible.
After ordering some disposable masks, I revisited my favourite topical solution: Salicylic Acid. I mention Salicylic Acid quite a lot in our How2: Get That Glow! Our Skincare Routines post because it’s my absolute favourite ingredient for my skin. Keyword here is my skin. Let’s not forget that everyone’s skin is different, so what works for me might not be as effective for you. Sadly I’ve run out of The Ordinary Salicylic Acid solution and they no longer sell it, so a great alternative is the Nip&Fab Salicylic Fix Concentrate Extreme 2%. I have to say, I love this product just as much as I love The Ordinary’s version. It’s more expensive, but it does also have other ingredients such as Niacinamide in it. I can’t lie, a dab of this at night and by the morning my spots already started drying up! I also have the toner and face mask from this same range which I used sometimes, but I wouldn’t say they played the biggest role in clearing my maskne.
Another game changer for me was spot stickers! I have a really bad habit of picking & popping my spots, I actually can’t help it. If I feel something that shouldn’t be there, my goal is to remove it as soon as possible. So as you can imagine, I end up with recurring spots & scarring, not to mention transferring bacteria from my hands to my breakout area constantly. Spot stickers changed that for me. They meant that I didn’t touch my spots half as much as I usually would and I definitely noticed the difference. As well as that, the stickers reduce inflammation and can bring fluid right to the surface of the spot for easy extraction. I tried 2 brands: Dots For Spots and AUSLKA Acne Pimple Patch - both I got from Amazon. I felt both worked well and I would definitely invest, I opted for AUSLKA when I restocked because you get more stickers for your money (I actually have some on my face as I’m writing this blog!).
On top of this, just to note, I was still washing my face twice a day even when I didn’t leave the house. CeraVe Salicylic Acid Cleanser is my all time favourite. I’ve been using it for a year now and have 0 complaints - Chlo on the other hand doesn’t like it, so this is what I meant by my recommendations won’t work for everyone. As well as that, I was exfoliating with The Body Shop Drops Of Youth Peel, another one of my fav products that I mention in our How2: Get That Glow blog post.
When the spots began to go down and clear, along came the tricky part, getting rid of the scarring. Thankfully at the time a good friend of mine recommended a product to me - The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA. After hearing her testimonial on how it was clearing her scarring and doing some research myself, I bought it! I simplified my skincare routine and started incorporating it in the daytime and the nighttime because I wanted these scars gone. On top of this, I also used one of my favourites - Bio Oil - after my moisturiser. Guess what started happening?? My scars were fading. I was literally thanking the heavens because I thought it was going to be a never ending road of maskne issues, but it wasn’t. I actually managed to stop it & now my skin is on the road to being back on track.
So there we have it, the story of how I cleared my maskne. Hopefully you guys can learn from this and incorporate some of what I’ve mentioned into your routines to better your skin. I’d definitely recommend against a reusable mask especially if you tend to wear makeup often. I’m going to insert some pictures below so you guys can see before and after! My skin still isn’t back to its best yet, but I think that’s also got something to do with it being winter. But believe me, this is nothing compared to the maskne I was facing!
