By now you should be accustomed to wearing a face mask whenever you leave the house… as well as the slew of problems that comes with wearing a protective face covering for long intervals in a day. I’m talking about breathability, design (if you’re fashion-conscious) and the most heinous one of them all — maskne.
It’s bad enough having to deal with Singapore’s hot and humid climate on a daily basis. Throw in the friction and abrasion that comes from wearing a mask for an extended period of time, and you’ve got yourself a prime candidate for breakouts.
As someone who’s able to work from home, I count myself lucky enough that I never have a face mask on longer than an hour or two. And this is usually when I’m out taking public transport to meet someone or going grocery shopping.
But for someone who’s been riddled with acne her whole life, sometimes these one to two hours can have devastating effects on my skin, especially if that has been a particularly sweaty one. Suffice to say, I haven’t been excused from acne ever since I’ve started wearing a mask. So when brands started developing silk masks with claims that they could help prevent maskne, I figured why not try it out?
According to Dr Dendy Engleman, a consultant dermatologist for Elizabeth Arden and the person who coined the term “maskne”, silk masks are one of the best things we can do for our skin due to the smoothness of the fabric.
And it makes sense. Silk has been having a moment within the beauty sphere, with brands such as Slip creating silk scrunchies and pillowcases that help reduce friction when it comes into contact with your hair. This, in turn, helps to prevent breakage and frizz. Silk as a fabric is also less likely to absorb as much moisture as cotton, helping to keep your hair (or in this case, skin) more hydrated when used. So why shouldn’t a silk mask have the same effect when it comes to your face?
Armed with this knowledge, I reached out to two brands to sample their silk masks to see if they were really as effective as dermatologists say they were.
Disclaimer: The silk masks used were sent to me for the sole purpose of this review.
