It’s rather unnatural for our face to be covered and consequently it’s no wonder that our skin is having a hard time.
Depending on your skin type and how long you cover your face for daily, you may be prone to an array of skin conditions.
Sensitive, combination and oily skin types will most likely experience the adverse reactions to face coverings the most.
Wearing a mask may impact skin in the following ways:
mechanically - by causing pressure, micro-abrasion and heat - a mask may restrict blood and lymph flow, produce skin irritation, redness and inflammation
biologically - by creating a hot damp environment a mask will - increase oil production, intensify microbial activity on the skin and have an impact on the function of blood vessels and will interfere with normal blood supply
chemically - by the type of mask (surgical, cloth… ) you choose to wear. A non surgical mask - is made of Polypropylene (PP) which is a thermoplastic “addition polymer” made from the combination of propylene monomers. It is used in a variety of applications to include packaging for consumer products, plastic parts for various industries including the automotive industry, special devices like living hinges, and textiles. Cloth masks - from the holistic skin care perspective, we see organic non dyed silk fabric as the most complementary to human skin and non toxic.
Pressure, micro-abrasion, warm and damp environment underneath the face covering and possible plastic toxic off-gasses may aggravate sensitive and combination skin conditions causing irritation and inflammation (even more so now during hot summer days), eczema like flareups and red bumps/ changes to skin texture. If you are already prone to acne, you may also see an increase in the activity and an increase in oiliness in the T-zone.
Oily skin may become more oily while wearing a mask and microbial activity may increase possibly causing acne and breakouts and more of the oily sheen to the face in general.
I also hear from clients who have to wear a mask at work, and are exposed to chemical disinfectants all day long. As a result, they’re experiencing serious dermatitis and eczema flareups and allergic reactions on their faces around their mouth and eyes. This is very challenging and difficult to address without actually removing the toxic irritant (disinfectant) from the equation:(
How to help your skin during this time?
If you must wear a mask at work, don’t wear makeup! Makeup which sits on the surface of your skin will create a problem under a mask even for the healthiest and most balanced skin. Foundation, ‘coverups’, blush, lipstick… these are a self explanatory no-no.
In general opt for gentler products. Now is definitely not the time to experiment with acids, peels and harsh scrubs on your skin. Not that it ever is, if you ask me:)
Adjust your skin care routine to include products which will actually offer the function which is needed at this time (calming, balancing, softening…)
Regardless your skin type, your evening cleansing routine is very important and you don’t ever want to skip it now.
I personally love gentle oil cleansing and this is what we recommend to our clients at Woman Divine. If you’ve never tried oil cleansing, you may want to start with simple organic jojoba oil. If you like it, you can upgrade to our Oil Cleanser which is lovely and filled with skin healing ingredients. Learn how to cleanse with oil HERE
If you are experiencing a lot of skin redness, irritation, skin bumps, eczema, dermatitis, please don’t exfoliate until your skin calms down.
If you choose to exfoliate, you are more likely to make the existing condition worse. Any product which creates lots of friction and micro-abrasion, is alcohol based or offers the function of peeling of the skin will make it worse.
Instead, for sensitized, red, inflamed skin, you may want to add skin calming practices like: compressing your face with calming herbal infusion of calendula + German chamomile + marshmallow or rose.
You can add the below compressing practice to your evening routine:
Equal parts of above herbs can be infused in hot water for 60min+ , then strained, then used for saturating a face cloth, then this face cloth is placed on the face for a few minutes.
I also recommend upping on your Rosewater Mist and again making sure that your Face Oil, Serum or Balm is created to actually calm the redness, inflammation, irritation. If not, you will need to make a switch until your skin is back to it’s calm happy self.
A soothing white clay mask may be applied weekly.
A simple Manuka honey mask will also offer lovely support to irritated, dry, blemished or acne skin.
Which products from Woman Divine Collection can you use for redness, irritation, changes in texture or breakouts?
When there is redness combined with dryness, your skin needs to be soothed and softened. It also needs a very gentle touch:)
From Woman Divine Skin Care Collections, I would recommend Rosewater Mist and Face Balm | shea +seabuckthorne or Divine Face Balm to help this type of skin.
If your skin is feeling irritated, red but at the same time oily, your skin needs to be soothed and the oil production needs to be invited to slow down a whee bit. This kind of skin condition will benefit from Woman Divine Rosewater Mist and Face Oil |calendula + chamomile.
If you are experiencing acne due to wearing a mask or acne is worse because of it, keeping on top of your cleansing routine is very important.
A combination of calendula, plantain and rosemary can be infused in hot water and prepared as a facial compress or a face wash.
A green clay mask can prove helpful and as I have already mentioned, Manuka honey is always great. These can be applied once a week.
From Woman Divine Collection, I would recommend our Radiant Exfoliant Powder, Rosewater Mist and Face Oil | calendula + chamomile
If you have attended one of our GuaSha classes or one on one tutorials, we have showed you how to work with the lymphatics of your face and neck. These feather like lymphatic sweeps will be very helpful now so put them into practice. Any vigorous Guasha practice over very irritated and inflames skin is not recommended.
Whenever possible, let your skin breath. I am not an expert on masks but I suggest that you do your research regarding how long they can sit on your face before they need to be replaced or washed. This is very important. A mask can become a breeding ground for undesirable microbes on your skin.
I hope that you will find this information helpful. Please post any questions you may have in comments below.
Love and light,
Magdalena
