MASKNE

 whatsup guys,

Now be honest, any of you having a serious breakout recently? the worst ever and you never experience it before, but lately you did and it is troublesome.That's  Maskne. A term to describe acne that is caused by the mask and to make it different from any other type of acne condition ( hormonal etc). You are not alone and the condition is actually common, everyone is having it. I've watched few videos about it (mind you all these videos are legit from real dermatologist) and these are the key points about maskne and how you want to tackle it.

What is Maskne?

A very straight forward term used to describe the skin condition as a whole. Acne that was caused by wearing mask for a longer time. Whether you realize it or not, when you wear a mask, you can feel droplets of water trapped on the skin surface resulted from your breathing. I dont know how to describe it scientifically. To put it simple, the bacteria that was trapped inside the droplets is actually the main caused of Maskne. We all wear the mask for at least more than 4 hours ( if you are working like me) so just imagine how long all those dirt and sweat sit on your face. The other factor is the irritation cause by the mask itself. The friction from wearing a mask can actually encourage the growth of active acne around your cheek and jawline. 

This is my personal experience dealing with maskne. First few months of wearing mask in my workplace, i noticed there were few small bump around my chin and my stupid ass thought it was normal. Maybe due to hormonal imbalance or stress ( seriously working during this pandemic time is stressful). So i just ignore it and continue to wear like normal. Imagine, i wear the mask early of the day, even in my car and only take it off during lunch break, continue to wear the SAME mask and only completely take it off at home. How long is that? it is more than freaking 8 hours!! These new routine lasted for almost 2 months ( if i can turn back the time, definitely i'm going to punch myself). Now started two months ago, my face threw a tantrum and breaking out like crazy. Those small bump which i thought was normal whitehead turned red and swollen. And yes, it happened around my chin and jawline, area where the mask reside. I was freak out. I did'nt know about maskne stuff at first. I thought the breaking out was due to stress or my hormone goes crazy, something like that. I never expect that wearing mask can be this troublesome until I google about it and yeah, maskne is a real pain. It is actually exist and its happening to everyone across the globe! At least i'm not alone , that is assuring (lol). So since it a global trend, there must be a way to tackle it. I have read few articles and watched some videos about it, lets just summarize it here;

1) Mask

Back to the root cause, the mask. If you are wearing surgical mask, change it for every few hours. If your skin cannot tolerate with the disposable surgical mask, you can opt for washable mask. Try to find fabric that is smooth to your skin like cotton or silk. Make sure you wash it everyday. Try to avoid detergent to wash it. Your skin might be sensitive to the ingredients inside the detergent. And please find mask that is effective to protect you from the virus as well. 2 in 1. It can protects you and also pleased your skin at the same time. I'm using one from InnerSejuk. I bought it here https://www.innersejuk.com/   .

2) No Make Up

DITCH YOUR FOUNDATION, LIPSTICK, CONCEALER BLA BLA AT ONCE! This is very hard to do. It is understandable but please for the sake of your bare face, just ditch it for little bit. All these foundation or things you put on your face can clog the pores which can lead to disastrous event; break-out. Come on, it is time to embrace yourself as it is. You are beautiful, no need for all these to enhance your beauty. And just wanna let you know, you are going to wear a mask by the way, half of your face will be covered so there's no point of wearing make up. Mask is a good villain. It gives you trouble but at the same time it gives you protection, from the virus and from being seen by other people. hahaha. So just wear the damn mask and forget all the unnecessary make up.

3) Cleanser, Moisturizer and SPF

DITCH YOUR DAMN MAKEUP BUT NEVER YOUR BASIC SKINCARE ROUTINE. Cleanser, Moisturizer and Sunblock, dont you dare to skip these three basic skincare regime. Right now, all you need are these three. Forget about serum, essence and etc. Those are just additional to enhance your skin condition. But to repair the damage, you dont need any serum or essence. Just focus on those 3 basics. Plus, when you are wearing mask, the only thing that you need to keep in mind is to make sure your skin is hydrated. Find something that is suitable for your skin. I cant recommend any because i'm still in the midst of trying anything that suits my skin. What i found through my reading, find something with salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, niacinamide or any active ingredients that is effective to fight acne. 

I'm using cleanser and moisturizer that contain salicylic acid, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. And it helps a lot to control the production of sebum which cause the acne. I cant see any major difference right now but i can see a slight improvement in term of acne appearance. Some of people recommend to put pure salicylic acid, which im not into it at this moment. I went to dermatologist few years back and she only recommend the most is 2% of salicylic acid to be put on your face, and that is in cleanser which you let it stay for few minutes and you rinse it off. Salicylic acid can be really dry so you have to moisturize your skin afterwards. Hyaluronic acid is really good for skin hydration. If you are in doubt or new into this thing (newbies huh, that makes me your senior, so on your knee and listen to me)  , you may consider to consult with your dermatologist before you want to include active ingredients inside your skincare regime. Dont forget about sunblock or sunscreen. Whether you have problematic face or not, you have to wear it. If you dont want, just tie up your body on your bed and dont go out! make sure your room is dark with no sunlight. Especially when you have included active ingredients inside your skincare routine, without fail you have to wear the sunblock or else your skin wont get any better, it might get worse. 

4) Topical Treatment

If you have severe acne problem, you might consider to go for topical treatment or antibiotic. Im  using clindamycin phosphate 1%. You may read about it further in any medical article. Previously i used Duac gel (clindamycin and benzoyl peroxide) but it is so damn expensive , i changed to Tidact (clindamycin). However i recommend you to seek medical advise from your doctor before you want to use it as all topical treatments is on prescriptions except for benzoyl peroxide or benzac. Previously i used benzac but i think my skin already immune to it so its not working. I have no issue to apply topical gel on my face because like i mentioned before i used to go dermatologist few years back. i was prescribed with the same topical treatment. Since my skin got better so i stop using it. Now my skin started to have problem again so i just repeat whatever medicine the doctor gave to me last time. My skin does not show any irritation so i guess it works. I apply Tidact twice daily, early in the morning and night before bed. Just a thin layer only. Some doctor may recommend adapalene. Clindamycin and adapalene work wonder on your face if you use it together. However, adapalene may cause skin purge. Means for the first few weeks your skin might be worsen and after that it will slowly recover. I try to focus on clindamycin first, lets see after four weeks, if things does not change, i might include adapalene also. Nope, i will go to dermatologist first.

Finally we reach the end. All these tips are actually pretty basic, and common sense. We are all fighting with maskne. This pandemic is new to us and we are living with the new norm (mask, sanitizer etc). No choice but we need to bear with it. Maskne is a real pain but please keep on wearing mask when you are outside for you own sake and others. I will include together videos that i watched for your reference. If you want to know more about Maskne, you can always find it on google or youtube. They are plenty of it. Stay safe!

Ciao!