This Makeup Trick Helps Prevent Maskne

By now, we’ve all accepted that masks have become a part of everyday life. What we don’t accept? The maskne that comes with it.

Over the past year, your skin has probably suffered from more breakouts than usual. While some of them were likely due to the stress of living through this pandemic, chances are your mask has been the culprit of the redness, irritation, and pimples you’ve noticed around the mouth, cheeks, bridge of the nose, and jawline. This type of acne, known as acne mechanica, is different from the other pimples and breakouts we experience, because it’s specifically caused by pressure, friction, rubbing, squeezing, or stretching. It’s especially common in athletes, whose skin is constantly exposed to the sweat, moisture, and friction from equipment. Breathing into a mask causes similar irritation, as pores become blocked by sweat, oil, and makeup, creating humidity that causes acne – while friction and rubbing can damage the barrier that protects your skin.

Preventing these breakouts is always easier than healing them, so even if you’ve been lucky when it comes to maskne, we think everyone can benefit from these tips. Wash your cloth mask daily or change out your disposable masks as often as you can. When it comes to skincare, less is more. Overdoing it with scrubs, exfoliants, toners, and more can compromise your skin’s protective barrier, which is key to preventing maskne. Look for products with ingredients like hyaluronic acid to hydrate and emollients to calm irritation. Make sure your makeup products are non-comedogenic so your skin can still breathe.

Both Come Closer Skin-Perfecting Foundation and Setting Powder are proven to be non-comedogenic, so they won’t clog pores. Even better, they both contain a clinical level of hyaluronic acid to hydrate skin and strengthen its protective barrier. And while we always recommend pairing your foundation with a setting powder, it’s even more important when it comes to mask-wearing for a few reasons. On one hand, setting your makeup will minimize the annoying transfer of foundation to your mask. But more importantly, our setting powder absorbs excess oils and moisture, which will majorly reduce the humidity inside the mask and avoid clogged pores and irritated skin – two of the biggest causes of maskne.

Bottom line: as long as masks are in the picture, we need to be extra conscious of what we’re putting on our skin. Ingredients, quality, and formulation matter. Be kind to your skin and choose wisely.