Maskne vs maskitis

Maskne vs maskitis product focus

Pic by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

In our ‘Behind the mask’ article on the preceding pages, we defined the differences between maskne and maskitis. Here we look at what professional products are recommended for each condition

DermaFix

For oily and inflamed maskne concerns, DermaFix Cosmeceutical Skin Care recommends the incorporation of Mandelic AHA into your skin care routine. This mild Alpha Hydroxy Acid has antiinflammatory and antimicrobial properties, and provides deepcleansing exfoliation benefits, whilst helping to brighten the skin. This super ingredient is found in the DermaFix DermaBright, DermaFix MD Mandelic Cleanser, and DermaFix MD Mandelic Toner. The incorporation of Niacinamide alongside Mandelic Acid within the MD Mandelic Cleanser and MD Mandelic Toner promotes further skin healing benefits whilst regulating oil production within the skin.

For dryer maskne concerns, and for the concern of maskitis, balancing the skin barrier health and calming inflammation is imperative. DermaFix Cosmeceutical Skin Care offers DermaFix CBD Lotion and DermaFix CBD Oil, formulated with organic Swiss Hemp Cannabidiol, known to soothe and hydrate an irritated skin, whilst helping to reduce skin redness and reactivity. For skin cleansing purposes, the new DermaFix Calming MicroFoam Cleanser is a creamy hypoallergenic cleanser that transforms into delicate micro-bubbles, lifting impurities from deep within pores to gently purify the skin, removing excess oil and make-up. It assists to soothe skin irritation and inflammation, improving skin barrier health, and leaves the skin feeling refreshed and calmed with a visibly more radiant complexion.

SkinPhD

To offer the best possible results in clearing conditions caused by the wearing of masks, SkinPhD believes it’s necessary to look at the various reasons behind the problem. Firstly, carbon dioxide is trapped between the skin and mask, which will irritate the skin and stimulate oil production as well as bacterial growth. The best ingredients to deal with this concern long term is pure aroma oils. They have proven their efficacy over years and SkinPhD therefore recommends dropping one drop onto your mask before covering up. The Aromacology De-stress oil will not only offer an optimal antibacterial action but also assist with anxiety, sinuses, headaches and much more.

Due to the friction between mask and skin, the skin barrier or first protection method becomes impaired. This leads the skin to a secondary protection response, which in many people is excessive oil production. SkinPhD’s Breakout control gel not only controls oil production but assists with breakouts, congestion and continual barrier repair to relieve this problem.

In terms of maskitis, inflammation is a natural sideeffect on a dry to sensitised skin, once the skin barrier has been impaired due to friction on the skin from wearing a mask. Thus it is necessary to repair the skin barrier and reduce the skin’s inflammatory response. Once these concerns are treated, the dryness and flakiness improves dramatically. SkinPhD’s Tissue Repair Supplement focuses on all of the above-mentioned concerns in one easy application.

“When the inflammation from maskitis becomes more advanced, to the point where the skin starts cracking, you often cannot use typical topical creams as they are not formulated to work on open skin. This is where SkinPhD’s Silver healing gel is a winner. It immediately calms and cools and inflamed skin, and assists in healing open skin effectively. By utilising Ionic Colloidal Silver, the skin’s natural healing mechanisms are triggered, inflammation is reduced dramatically and damaged skin is healed optimally,” says SkinPhD’s Diana van Sittert.

Esse

Esse believes in strengthening the barrier function by supporting a healthy skin microbiome with pH balanced products that do not contain harsh preservatives, and supplementing your skincare routine with pre- and probiotics. The brand advises using a creambased cleanser and not cleansing in the morning.

Esse suggests using Protect Oil, which gets straight to work to repair the skin’s barrier and soothes and calms a sensitive, reactive skin. With Ximenia oil, the Protect Oil forms a protective layer on the skin when exposed to UV or free radicals due to the polymerisation of ximenynic acid. This protects the skin from external aggressors, whilst healing the symptoms of maskne and other mask related skin conditions.

AQ Skin Solutions

Amy Knoetze, owner of Pulse Dermatology & Laser, believes that when treating maskitis in clinic, it’s best to be gentle and not aggravate the skin as any treatment causing inflammation will only make it worse. She says: “I

would use a mild and gentle cleanser with no actives in it or AHAs, and then put the patient under pure redlight LED to calm the inflammation. Directly after, I would apply 0.5ml AQ Skin Solutions Recovery Serum to put the skin into an accelerated state of healing. The client leaves this on for 24 hours and can then start with the AQ Skin Solutions Active Serum twice a day to control the skin long term. It’s also the most awarded anti-ageing serum globally so the patient can use it all over the face.”

Dermalogica

According to Dermalogica, the most common kind of maskne is acne mechanica. The brand’s precleanse oil removes oily buildup inside the follicles and on the surface of the skin, leaving the skin clean. Afterwards, use ultracalming cleanser, which addresses the skin’s microbiome, to help balance the good bacteria and reduce bad bacteria

Dermalogica’s hydro masque exfoliant is a 2-in-1 formula that exfoliates and hydrates in five minutes. For treating breakouts, anti-inflammatory forumulas that include salicylic acid are recommended, such as age bright clearing serum in the morning and evening. Skin can be kept hydrated with a lightweight moisturiser, such as active moist or calm water gel.

To treat maskitis, Dermalogica suggests the ultracalming serum concentrate, which restores the barrier function and replenishes the lipids for a healthy and hydrated skin. It reduces irritation, leaving the skin more resilient.

Calm water gel (with aloe vera and hyaluronic acid) provides the ultimate hydration, while instantly soothing and calming the skin. For the flakey, itchy and irritated areas, use Dermalogica’s barrier repair, which can be layered over a moisturiser or used on its own if the skin is very irritated.

SIX

The SIX Purifying & Mattifying Booster is a super effective serum that reduces pore size, sorts out an oily T-panel on the skin and regulates oil production in the skin. It contains the active from lemon fruit extract that regulates sebum secretion, and orange fruit extract to significantly stimulate collagen production.

Vitamin B3 improves the skin’s surface, smoothing out the texture. Other ingredients include bilberry fruit extract and sugar maple extract.