Taking care of your wellbeing, in general, can be difficult during the pandemic, and managing mask-related breakouts can make it even harder! 

Here are a few skincare tips to help get your pores through this acne resurgence!

1. Whenever you’re not in a public space, try to have a little bit of time per day where you don’t wear anything on your face – not even a relaxing face mask. Just let your face breathe as you go about your day at home!
2. Reduce touching your face. Not only should you not be doing that during COVID times due to health and safety reasons, but your fingers can be really oily and not to mention dirty, and it can worsen that daily mask acne. 
3. Exfoliate your skin (and choose chemical exfoliants over physical ones). 

As New-York-City dermatologic surgeon, Dr. Dendy Engelman mentions, physical exfoliation “can be too harsh on the skin if not done properly or too frequently” (Fashionista).

Dr. Chiu specifies that chemical exfoliants “unglue dead cells to make them slough off the skin, versus irritating yourself with traumatic physical exfoliants which are a bit more likely to irritate” (Fashionista). 

Dr. Sejal Shah has also stated that chemical exfoliation is in fact, “gentler on the skin” as “it doesn’t involve scrubbing” (Fashionista).    

Acid exfoliators not only help get rid of dead skin cells,  but they are also beneficial to your skin in the long term. Unlike physical exfoliants, they brighten, smooth, and even out your skin tone as they also make your skin more firm, “stimulate collagen production” and “reduce wrinkles” (Fashionista).

Make sure you only exfoliate once or twice per week as over-exfoliation may cause “irritation, inflammation” and make “you more susceptible to sunburn and you can lose moisture and disrupt the natural skin barrier,” according to Dr. Chiu, which in no way helps with mask acne (Fashionista).

That said, every skincare treatment seems to be more successful when done in moderation. 

1. As for specific products, Dr. Engelman suggests looking for products with “ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and peptides to strengthen the skin barrier” (Fashionista).
2. After exfoliating, make sure to moisturize and if you’re planning on going outside – apply sunscreen!
3. Finally, rinse your face with warm water before going to bed. Warm water is preferable to cold water as the first helps cleanse your face while preserving your skin’s natural hydrating oils.

While you may not show your full face in public for a couple more months, look after yourself, and show your skin just how much you care about its health!