Image by Matt Bango
As we are all adapting to the new (and hopefully temporary!) normal of wearing face masks, a very common query from my clients has been how to adjust their beauty and makeup routine. Another has been how to avoid or deal with ‘maskne’ as part of their beauty and makeup routine.
So, I have pulled together 11 beauty tips to help you navigate around this tricky new skincare & makeup terrain. To help give you flawless, long lasting makeup to wear under your mask whilst minimising/avoiding maskne as much as possible!
Begin with Your Skin
Your skin is the essential base to your makeup, mask or no mask. So, keeping your skin as healthy as possible is key, through your diet, water intake and exercise, along with a good skincare routine.
1 Cleansing:
When it comes to cleansing, it’s important keep washing your face in the morning and evening, and after wearing a mask or sweating.
For anyone suffering from maskne or breakouts, a gentle cleanser can help remove excess oil, sweat, and bacteria. Would avoid cleansers that contain potentially harsher ingredients such as alcohol or perfume. It’s also important to avoid rubbing or over-exfoliating, as the skin will already be inflamed.
2 Moisturisation:
For both the face (and undereye area), it’s important to keep your skin hydrated with good serums as well as day and night moisturisers. As wearing the mask for extended periods of time can irritate the skin due to friction. And between this, sweat and warm air circulating inside your mask, it’s the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, leading to breakouts and maskne potentially.
It’s important to always wear sunscreen also, which goes on top of your moisturiser.
3 Face Mask:
Ensure to wear a clean face mask to avoid breakouts or spreading infection, and wash reusable ones after each usage.
Using more skin-friendly materials such as cotton and silk can help also.
To avoid any bacteria or the Covid-19 virus reaching onto your skin, remember to bag it up after being used, rather than leaving it lying loose in your handbag or car.
If you are looking for a stylish, reusable face mask, then would check out the Edinburgh based company, Freja Designer.
Face Mask by Freja Designer
Then onto Your Makeup
4 Primer:
A facial primer is key for adding longevity to your makeup, both with and without a face mask. So, it’s worth investing in a good quality product.
A couple of primers that are suitable for most skin types would be Mac Prep+Prime Skin Base Visage and Illamasqua Hydra Veil.
Both are non-comedogenic, helping to minimise the risk of clogging pores, therefore, breakouts and maskne.
Mac Prep+Prime Skin Base Visage, £24.00
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Illamasqua Hydra Veil Primer, £34.00
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5 Foundation:
For anyone wishing to wear makeup under their mask, having a good quality, non-comedogenic foundation is important to help avoid clogging pores, thereby, minimising breakouts and maskne.
Personally, I really like the Bare Minerals Original Powder foundation. It’s light-medium in coverage, so is not too heavy for day wear or for wearing underneath a mask. It also has SPF 15, and is non-comedogenic. It’s also super quick and easy to apply with a face brush.
PRO TIP: Set your foundation with a little translucent powder down the t-zone if needed.
Bare Minerals Original Powder Foundation, £29.00
6 Concealer:
With the lower half of your face being covered by the face mask, the attention is now firmly focussed on the upper half of your face. So, more than ever, it’s important to conceal your undereye area.
PRO TIP: Place the concealer in upside-down triangles under your eyes to help disguise any undereye bags, and also give a more wide-eyed, awake appearance.
Cover any blemishes with concealer where needed.
PRO TIP: As the Bare Minerals Original is powder in formulation, place any liquid/stick concealers underneath the powder. This avoids any lifting of the foundation off the skin.
7 Blusher:
Although your blusher may not be visible, using a long-wearing, non-transferable formula is a good idea if you plan to take your mask off at any point. This way, you’ll have perfectly rosy cheeks that will stay put!
If you find your powder blusher isn’t bearing up underneath your mask, try placing a cream blusher underneath the powder blusher for extra staying power.
The exception to this is if you are wearing a powder formulation foundation, where placing a cream blusher on top will lift the foundation off the skin. Therefore, cream blushers work for cream/ liquid foundations, whilst powder blushers work for powder foundations.
8 Eye Makeup:
As we all know, since the pandemic, makeup has been all about the eyes with product sales booming in this area. So, the below tips are noteworthy for your makeup when wearing a mask.
To help give your makeup full impact, you can emphasise your eyes more than normal, and eyeshadow is key, since it’s the first thing people are drawn to beyond your mask.
I love a soft brown smokey eye, which you can wear just on the top lid for a more natural look or you can also add some shadow along the lower lash line for a bit more drama, depending on your mood and which supermarket you are off to!
This also helps make the eyes appear bigger.
You can have a wee play with eyeshadow textures and try out some more shimmery textures, bringing attention immediately to the eyes.
We are spoilt for choice when it comes to eyeshadow palettes, but some of my favs are Urban Decay, Mac, Huda Beauty and e.l.f. Cosmetics. They all provide a great range of textures as well as shades & tones.
PRO TIP: To open out the eyes even more and make them appear brighter and bigger, apply some highlighter to the inner corners of the eye.
To complete your eye makeup look, swipe on some winged eyeliner and a couple of layers of volumizing & lengthening mascara.
PRO TIP: Apply some extra mascara to the outer lashes to help those beautiful peepers to pop even more.
PRO TIP: Don’t forget your lash curler to enhance your lashes and open up your eyes as well.
9 Brows:
Boosting those beautiful brows is important, as they not only help frame your face but also your eyes. Ungroomed brows can stand out even more (for all the wrong reasons) when your face is half covered with a mask.
Plus, when you are playing up your eyes more, it’s important to remember your brows. It really does make a huge difference to your eye makeup when your brows are on point too!
PRO TIP: Try shaping one of your brows and stand back from the mirror to see the affect it has on your eye makeup versus the undone brow.
After grooming your brows, fill in any sparse areas with a brow products such as a brow powder, gel or pencil.
10 Lips:
So, when it comes to lips under your face mask, there seems to be two main camps…
The first one is to use a matte textured lip product for longevity & minimising transference, e.g. lipstick. However, it can be a little drying on the lips.
The other camp is more for a moisturising lip balm to keep the lips hydrated, due to the friction from the mask. However, they can transfer and don’t last as long.
And, I’m in the middle somewhere! I like to wear lip liner (for longevity) with a sheer lip balm (for hydration), that’s not too glossy or sticky. Then just dab it with some tissue & a little translucent powder once applied, to take the balminess down a notch and help minimise it from transferring.
At the moment, I’m loving Max Factor’s Colour Intensifying Lip Balms, which have a lovely buildable colour from sheer to vibrant. They’re not too glossy whilst still being moisturising. They are midway between a typical lip balm and a lipstick, which is perfect for a face mask!
Love the ‘Charming Coral’ and ‘Sumptuous Candy’ in particular, and as they are neutral shades, they work well under the mask.
Max Factor Colour Intensifying Lip Balms, £3.77 Amazon [Image by Ezebra]
11 Setting Your Makeup:
And the final big tip for increasing your makeup longevity under the face mask, is to use a setting spray. With or without a mask, it really does help to keep your makeup fresh all day, and stay in the same position it started in!
PRO TIP: Use a beauty blender to blend out any larger droplets.
Urban Decay All-Nighter and Mac Prep+Prime Fix are two of my favs - though Urban Decay All-Nighter is alcohol based, so may dry out more sensitive skin types or if you're suffering from maskne.
e.l.f. Cosmetics Makeup Mist & Set Spray packs a real punch for a more budget friendly product as well, and is alcohol free.
Mac Cosmetics Prep + Prime FIX+, £22.00
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e.l.f. Makeup Mist & Set Clear Spray, £5.00
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And when it comes to maskne, try to avoid comedogenic products (both skincare and cosmetics), which tend to clog pores and cause breakouts.
If your maskne is severe, or persistent, be sure to follow up with your dermatologist or healthcare provider.
Here’s a handy wee checker for pore clogging ingredients, just copy and paste the ingredient listing into the box and hey presto! Simple.
https://www.skintasybeauty.com/pages/ingredient-checker
A skincare kit that could be great for you if you are a maskne sufferer is DRVICTORIA™ Mask-ne Skincare Pack.
If your maskne is severe, or persistent, be sure to follow up with your dermatologist or healthcare provider.
Here’s a handy wee checker for pore clogging ingredients, just copy and paste the ingredient listing into the box and hey presto! Simple.
https://www.skintasybeauty.com/pages/ingredient-checker
A skincare kit that could be great for you if you are a maskne sufferer is DRVICTORIA™ Mask-ne Skincare Pack.
Dr Victoria’s Mask-ne Skincare Pack, rrp £153.00 (on sale for just £115 as of Feb 2021)
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The REVEAL wash unblocks clogged pores and removes the build-up of excess oil. The SOOTHE & HYDRATE serum rehydrates your skin. And the ACCUMAX capsules will fortify your skin to help prevent breakouts. The products are beautifully packaged, and pack a punch when it comes to their actives. The kit is suitable for all skin types apart from sensitive skin with rosacea. |
For anyone who wishes to learn more about their Mask-ne Skincare Pack, get in touch with the fabulous team at DRVICTORIA™, who would be more than happy to help.
For a maskne repair skin treatment, I can also recommend Edinburgh based, Zest Skin Spa, who are also a fantastic team of ladies, and always happy to help.
The skincare advice given is based on my experience and knowledge of working with skin when it comes to makeup & my clients. Where my approach is always to begin with the skin to ensure it is as healthy as it can be, which then acts as a good base for the makeup.
And if you would like to receive some bespoke advice about your own makeup routine when it comes to wearing a face mask, and/or help avoiding maskne, I have a new virtual Face Mask Makeup Lesson. So feel free to get in touch to find out more.
I hope you found this blog useful! Interested to hear your thoughts on both how you manage your face mask makeup and keep your skin healthy!
Please share this post with someone who would really love some beauty tips when it comes to their face mask makeup & beauty routine!
Colettex
Useful links:
DRVICTORIA™ Mask-ne Skincare Pack
Zest Skin Spa Maskne Repair Skin Treatment
Freja Designer Face Masks
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