MadameNoire
Source: Courtesy of LOLI Beauty / LOLI Beauty
Acne caused by face masks — what’s now commonly known as “maskne” — is a phenomenon caused by the pandemic that unfortunately has no end in sight. As the bacteria from unclean masks, sweat, trapped dead skin cells, and stress-induced acne are still wreaking havoc on our faces, what have you been doing to treat the irritation on your skin?
Described as “an all-day spot treatment, anti-maskne gel, and a skin soother,” Loli Beauty claims its Arnica Elderberry Jelly Organic All Day Maskne + Spot Rescue ($28) is a vegan, cruelty-free, and organic product that hydrates, smooths, and soothes the sensitive, irritated or chapped skin that can be caused by wearing face masks all day. Working “as a barrier to fight maskne bacteria,” the brand suggests using it directly on the whole face or as a spot treatment.
If anything, the most problematic aspect of this product is its packaging. Because it’s in a small jar and has a very liquidy and waterish consistency, I would recommend always taking caution when you’re opening it up. Ideally, it would easier if it was either in a roll-on applicator or even a dropper bottler. Although thin and a little tricky to get onto your fingertips without making a mess at times, the product goes on in an even layer on top of the face or smoothly onto blemishes when used in smaller amounts for a spot treating – my preferred method of using it.
When applied all over the face, the product leaves a slightly tight and dry feeling. You’ll definitely wanna follow it up with a moisturizer as per its instructions. Unfortunately for me, I noticed the combination of my most used face moisturizer on top of the maskne treatment would only leave little clumped-up balls of product on my face — most probably because the formula of two just didn’t mix. Essentially, that’s why I preferred using the mask as a spot treatment instead. Not only did it create a thin barrier between my blemishes and slight roughness of my face masks — which can lead to further irritation on the skin — but it also calmed down the inflammation on my spots whether applied on the lower half of my face, my forehead and/or around my temples.
Realistically, in the aftermath of the pandemic using face masks to protect others and ourselves will probably remain a big aspect of the way we live our everyday lives. With that in mind, treating the skin underneath your masks in particular and targeting any of the blemishes caused by them is a step that makes sense to include in our skincare regimens on a routine basis. While I wouldn’t recommend the Arnica Elderberry Jelly Organic All Day Maskne + Spot Rescue to be applied all over the face, it does serve its purpose as a good spot treatment and slight barrier in between your skin and the masks we wear — so I’d recommend it for the latter.
