Tips to fighting new congestion from facial masks. (maskne)
PPE like facial coverings and masks are a new part of life! Masks have shown to be essential for our health and to slow the spread of coronavirus so we want to make them a habit now that we are starting to slowly resume social activities and work. For many of us, our skin is being affected by wearing facial masks for long hours every day. With many clients, and even myself I am seeing more impacted congestion and breakouts around the mouth, chin, and nose area. But don’t ditch the facial protection just to save your skin! I have both home skincare tips and facial treatment suggestions that will help clear breakouts and fight future congestion.
scrub me secret: if you’re applying products like bronzer, tinted moisturizer, foundation, or other facial makeup make sure you’re choosing non-comedogenic (non-pore clogging) products. Pore clogging makeup products sitting on your skin underneath a facial covering is a recipe for congestion.
Tips for combating new breakouts:
New breakouts and congestion is a real thing for so many of us! New life and world stresses can cause inflamed, tender pimples. Facial masks/coverings are starting to cause some smaller breakouts and blackheads in the mouth, nose, cheek, and chin area for those who are wearing PPE more often. It’s important to keep consistent with our skincare routines and slightly adjust as needed. Don’t switch to a full line of acne care or oil clearing products, this is most likely not what your skin needs.
Here are my best tips for fighting this congestion and preventing breakouts from happening. These are things you can implement into your daily routine; later I’ll list a few really helpful facial treatments that target and treat this new congestion.
Make sure your mask is clean. If you have a reusable cloth or foam mask make sure to hand wash or machine wash daily. Disposable masks should be used once and thrown away. We don’t want facial oils, makeup/product residue, or environmental debris sitting on a mask that touches our faces.
When exercising with a mask make sure your skin is freshly cleaned with a toner or cleanser before you workout. Post-workout gently cleanse skin again and dispose of your mask or toss it in the dirty laundry. Do not wear a mask you worked out with, all day long.
Spot treatments are great to have in your home skincare arsenal! A clay mask like scrub me’s oil clearing mask or Ology essentials CBD clay mask is great for spot treating pimples or areas with blackheads. Spot treatment products containing benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid are also great for treating breakouts. spot treatments can be done nightly.
scrub me secret: benzoyl peroxide spot treatments are best for treating bacteria in whiteheads and cystic pimples. Salicylic spot treatments clear excess oils and soften debris that is stuck in the skin.
An all-over calming mask is great for areas that are irritated or inflamed feeling. Clusters of red irritated bumps and cystic pimples respond really well to an anti-inflammatory mask. First Aid Beauty’s Fab Pharma Relief mask is one that I really like for calming the skin.
Get a travel-sized spritz bottle and fill it with a combo of witch hazel & rose water. Carry this with you to work or your social outings. You can spritz your skin and refresh it when you get the chance to safely remove your mask. Your skin will be a bit cleaner and balanced underneath your facial mask. Spritz as much as you want throughout the day.
Add a lactic acid, glycolic acid, or enzyme exfoliation to your at-home skincare routine. A serum, fluid, mask, or facial wash containing these exfoliating ingredients can be used 1-2 times a week to soften congestion in the skin, speed up cell renewal, and clean pores. I like Kalos skin alpha/lyra cleanser and Herbivore Blue Tansy mask.
scrub me secret: not feeling fully confident in with your skincare routine? my blog post “tips for optimizing your at-home skincare routine.” has helpful advice about how to tailor your skincare routine to exactly what your skin needs.
Facial services that best treat congested skin:
A typical facial that has cleansing, steam, exfoliation, extractions, and a mask is helpful for decongesting skin, evening tone, and improving skin’s overall health. However, if you’re struggling with a lot of congestion, new breakouts, or clusters of pimples there are a few specific treatments that can help give you the skin clearing results you are looking for. These treatments can be added onto a facial or received on their own.
Blue LED light treatment.
A LED blue light treatment kills 99% of bacteria in your skin. This helps clear up and heal stubborn breakouts, cystic acne, and clusters of pimples.
For this treatment, you will lay and meditate underneath the LED blue light for 25-40 minutes. Best results are seen about a week post-treatment. You can get a blue light treatment to treat acne every week if you’d like.
scrub me secret: most of my clients that receive the LED light treatments come every 3-4 weeks and pair the LED treatment with a facial. for treating very cystic, painful acne I suggest a blue light treatment on its own every 1-2 weeks.
Salicylic treatment.
A salicylic treatment is very similar to a chemical peel. A concentrated mask with a high amount of salicylic acid is applied to the skin for a certain amount of time. This treatment mask retexturizes skin, clears pores, and balances oils.
Salicylic treatments stay on the skin for as little as 3 minutes or up to 10 minutes. Salicylic treatments are typically a tad more uncomfortable than a lactic or glycolic peel, you will feel some burning and warmth during this mask. Skin will be a bit sensitive the day of treatment and needs to be cared for like you would skin that had a chemical peel. Best results are seen about 10 days post-treatment.
scrub me secret: when the skin heals and restores itself after a salicylic treatment or sensi peel it should function so much better than it was before. Your normal products in your home care routine will work their best and breakouts will be noticeably diminished.
Sensi peel.
A sensi peel is one of my favorite peels from PCA. This lactic/TCA blended peel does a great job of turning over skin cells, improving tone, and brightening overall. After this treatment, there is some downtime where your skin will feel slightly dry or crusty and may flake a little bit.
A sensi peel can be paired with a facial but also provides great results on its own. This treatment takes about half an hour. Your skin will be fabulous 24-48 hours after the peel and then go through a purging process for about a week. Best results are seen 10-14 days post peel.
scrub me secret: Operating a skincare studio has always meant a super clean, sanitized workspace & instruments. I learned in detail about all COVID safety, cleaning, and sanitizing procedures needed to keep my clients safe with a couple of online courses; I am COVID-19 barbicide certified and dermalogica clean touch certified. Holding a very high standard for cleanliness in the skincare studio is essential right now.
Do you have more questions about treating breakouts or your home skincare routine? Contact me via email and I will give you a personal skincare consultation. scrubandsudsme@gmail.com.