2. Streamline your skin care routine.

Many of us use too many beauty products anyway, so consider mask wearing a good excuse to adopt the most basic skin care routine: a gentle non-soap cleanser and a mild, fragrance-free moisturizer.


“Fewer ingredients is better than more,”  Eucerin, Avene and CeraVe. The moisturizer does double duty here. Besides, well, moisturizing the skin, it can protect it from mask friction, à la a runner’s chafing cream. Another reason for using fewer products: The mask will intensify product delivery to your skin. (You’ve seen this side effect of occlusion in action if you’ve ever, say, treated dry, cracked feet by applying Vaseline and wearing socks to bed.) But in the case of products with acids or retinols, which can be irritating, intensifying delivery is not likely to be a good thing.

 using products with actives only at night. If you’ve never used a retinol — dermatologists charmingly call this “naïve skin” — Dr. Kovarik said that “now is not the time to try one.” If you’re a seasoned user, you may need to reduce your usage.

3. Break up with makeup (at least temporarily).

If you put on makeup for a video call, consider taking it off when you go out. Dr. Heath gently chides patients who appear onscreen at tele-appointments wearing a full face of makeup.

“This is the time to really tone it down,” she said. For those who absolutely can’t break the habit, she suggests a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen.

If you sweat underneath your mask, Dr. Shari Marchbein, a dermatologist in New York, suggests using micellar water or a gentle cleanser to do a quick wash when you take it off. (Overwashing your face dries it out, tricking it into thinking it needs to produce more oil, which can give you more of the acne you’re trying to avoid.) Either apply moisturizer or, if it’s late enough in the day, whatever products you’d use at night, Dr. Marchbein said.

How to Treat It if You Get It

If you do end up with maskne, keep in mind that acne treatments can be irritating and you still need to contend with the continued irritation of the mask.


“You can just go gangbusters on regular acne,” Dr. Gohara said. “With maskne you have to be really careful.”

She recommends using an over-the-counter benzoyl peroxide treatment only on the spots, and starting with a 2.5 or 5 percent concentration, not 10 percent. If you use retinol, apply that product one night and the spot treatment the next.

If you have black or brown skin and develop hyperpigmentation from the acne, Dr. Heath recommends a topical with glycolic acid, which can treat both the blemishes and the darkening of the skin. She cautions against long-term use of a skin lightening agent without the advice of a dermatologist.

Dr. Gohara, who like Dr. Heath specializes in treating skin of color, reminds patients with hyperpigmentation to wear sunscreen even indoors, because blue light from devices can make the problem worse.


If what’s on your face looks like more of a rash or “makes you want to scratch your face off,” as Dr. Gohara put it, it’s possible your issue isn’t actually acne. You may have contact dermatitis, which she sees patients get from metal or rubber parts of masks, and some fabrics (which, when washed, may release formaldehyde, an irritant) and dyes.


Hydrocortisone cream can help, though you’ll want to see a dermatologist for proper diagnosis and treatment.