What Is "Maskne" And How Can You Reduce It?
Happy Thursday!
I hope you are enjoying this wonderfully warm weather this week. It’s a perfect time to get outside, get a little Vitamin D, and keep that body moving. All of it is good for the mind, body, and soul.
RFE Product Update
There are lots of things brewing for RFE right now and I am getting so excited to share them with you....soon!
One thing I can share is that I will have, in my hands, the re-release of the very popular Refine Mask, very soon. Pre-order yours now!
“Maskne” is a REAL Thing
Let me preface this by saying that the safety and the health of yourself and others, to me, is way more important than preventing a pimple (or two.) I am just addressing a concern a lot of clients have reached out to me for help with.
Just like other major life events where a new word or term surfaces from it, there is now a term people in our industry are calling “Maskne” (think Mask and Acne together.) This, of course, has become a skin care issue with all of us wearing our masks daily- especially for those of you that are back to work and wearing one all day long.
The misconception is that the mask is not allowing your skin to breath. However, this is most likely not the case. The mask would literally need to be stuck to your skin to cause this to happen.
The breakout that people are seeing is actually from the fabric irritating the skin from rubbing which is called “acne mechanica”. You will be able to tell if this is true Maskne if you are seeing little whiteheads, rather than larger pimples, in the areas where your mask is touching your skin. If you are seeing larger, more painful breakout, this is most likely due to poor diet, stress, or hormones rather than the mask.
Since wearing a mask is becoming a daily part of our routine, here a few tips to help lessen or prevent this from happening.
Wash Your Mask Daily
If you are using a cloth one that is not disposable, wash it after every use. This will not only help to prevent possible irritation and wash off any dirt or oil that may have been absorbed into the fabric, but it is also a great way to make sure any germs that may have collected on it are not sitting on there overnight.
Find a Better Material
If the one you are using now is consistently causing breakout, perhaps trying one that is made of a softer, less stiff material would make all the difference.
Protecting Your Barrier
To help lessen the friction, apply a topical product to create a barrier between your skin and the mask, in the areas where the mask touches your skin or rubs. The perfect product for this from RFE would be Joy Lip and Beauty Balm. Just dab it on, with clean fingers, to those areas being affected. You can even touch up throughout the day since this is a product you can carry with you in your pocket or purse!
Another possible cause of this breakout could be that your skin’s barrier is compromised- possibly from over using products or tools at home. This is often the reason you see irritation or breakout- even when not wearing a mask.
A fantastic product from RFE that is perfect to heal, hydrate and repair your skin daily is Adore. This is a product that can be used on its own (for combo/oily skin) to hydrate the skin without feeling “heavy.” It can also be layered under a moisturizer for dry/normal/dehydrated skin types.
Clearing Up Your Breakout
Gently clearing your breakout with products that won’t dry out your skin is key. If you use something too strong, you will only exacerbate the issue.
RFE Purify Facial Bar has activated charcoal to help cleanse and detox the skin. It also has lavender which soothes and calms irritated skin, as well as having anti-bacterial properties.
RFE Clear is a fan favorite for spot treating pimples and breakout. This product also has activated charcoal, as well as tea tree and white willow bark to quickly take care of any issue that pops up!
Wrapping things up, I wanted to share something I read from a fellow esthetician recently. She was discussing how love it or hate it, quarantine time is something we will (hopefully) never see again. Some of us have struggled emotionally, financially, and physically and it may be something you look back on with great sadness.
Others may have enjoyed this pause- offering time to check off the list of things you may have been waiting years to do or focus on themselves.
I hope that my children think back to this moment as a positive experience where they were able to have endless amounts of time at home-together as a family-without much interruption.
It is a time of reflection, no matter how you slice it. We will all be forever changed from this.
As always, thank you for reading.
With so much gratitude,
Rachel