Masked Beauty – How to Change Up Your Beauty Routine During Lockdown

If there’s anything we’ve learnt over the last six months, it’s that COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere soon. We’ve adapted the way we work, the way we socialize, and the way we keep ourselves entertained. 

The world has adapted to the normalcy of face masks, but have you adapted your beauty routine? 

For our safety, and for the safety of those around us, wearing a face mask is mandatory, but in compliance, we’re forced to cover up half of our face, half of our identity. 

Apart from stripping us of our individuality, having to wear a mask for extended periods of time comes with its own set of side effects. Breathing creates a warm environment that might even lead to sweat or sebum accumulating — this suffocates the skin. 

Having to constantly wear a mask also causes friction on the nose, chin, and cheeks, which creates irritations, rashes, itching of the skin, and weakening of the skin. 

Your skin care routine is just as important as ever. Right now, looking after your skin means emphasizing cleansing your face, toning your skin, and moisturizing to restore hydration. 
Our beauty team at MAVALA recommend the following tips and tricks for keeping your skin healthy and hydrated on lockdown.

FACE HYDRATION 

Whether day or night, it is fundamental for healthy skin to stay clean and hydrated, the first step in skincare. During the day, while you’re probably wearing a mask (and even if you aren’t), you want to go for something that is lighter on skin, something that allows the pores to breathe, something that, ideally, provides non-stop hydration. 

Keeping the skin hydrated means lessening the chance of irritation and chaffing. 

MAVALA’s Multi Moisturizing Featherlight Cream is perfect for keeping the skin feeling fresh, light, and hydrated. Specifically formulated to penetrate the layers of the epidermis to intensely re-infuse skin with moisture, forming a layer that acts as a protective coat and locks in moisture. The hydrating formula leaves your skin feeling soothed, and silkily so. 

Keeping your skin cleansed is very important, and while it might be tempting to cleanse immediately before and after wearing a mask, it is best to limit yourself to cleansing twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, as any more can lead to further irritation and dryness. 

Your night-time skin-care routine might remain largely unchanged. After you’ve removed your makeup, use a gentle to mild exfoliator to support the absorption of your moisturizer. A moisturizing face mask is absolutely essential for locking in moisture and maximizing non-stop hydration while you sleep. 

Mavala’s Multi Moisturizing Night Mask is a truly nocturnal moisturizing infusion, a sleeping mask helps to restore the skin of its water reserves and reinforce the protecting cutaneous barrier.  Inspired by the “sleeping packs” from Korea, this no-rinse night mask is very concentrated in active ingredients and its silky formula is lightly film-forming, diffusing the benefits of its ingredients overnight and allowing the skin to perfectly breathe at the same time.

ACCENTUATE THE EYES

“Being safe, social distancing and wearing a face mask is absolutely essential now. So with half our face protected and covered, it is certainly an opportunity to really make the eyes look their best because they are the only part of our face we can really showcase to celebrate our individuality during this global pandemic,”says celebrity makeup artist Vincent Oquendo, and we couldn’t agree more. 

Framing the face is important, especially when we are just seeing the eyes. Whether you’re a ‘less is more’ or a ‘go big, or go home’ kind of gal, it’s important to celebrate what makes you feel beautiful. Perhaps you want to go for a more natural aesthetic, but that doesn’t mean less beautiful. Or maybe now is the time to really stand out? Don’t be afraid.  

Now, more than ever, crayons and mascara are your close friends. 

The MAVALA Crayon Lumiere Eye Shadow Pencil comes in a range of soft, sensual colours to suit your skin tone or mood, from luminous to sparkling. The creamy, pearl texture allows for easy and pleasant application and remarkable hold hour after hour. 

These crayons are made from botanical ingredients, containing soothing and moisturizing soya, calendula extract, and silk for a soft and delicate touch on the skin that won’t cause harm to the tender eye areas. 

For something more intense, try out the MAVALA Khol Soft Crayon, easily-applicable, gentle on the skin and eye area, underlining and widening your eyes. 

If you’re feeling the need to turn up the volume, look no further than the MAVALA Volume & Length Mascara. 

Finish with a protective mascara, suitable for sensitive eyes, to give volume and length to lashes, choose waterproof if you need it to resist water and heat; not waterproof if you have mixed skin because contact with sebum will tend to dissolve the waterproof mascara which will then be deposited on the eyelids.

Further than its beauty benefits, the formula is enriched with a botanical complex that helps restructure damaged lashes while at the same time keeping them hydrated and flexible, and includes ingredients such as: Film-forming and moisturizing collagen and silk powder, which allows a better hold of the product, beeswax, a natural, protective, flexible, shiny and waterproof wax that is both thickening and volumizing.

LIP CARE

Avoid lipstick and glossy lips which can stick to the mask, stain and, even worse, smudge. On our (hidden) lips, on the other hand, apply a protective and repairing lip balm that will prevent the dryness caused by wearing the mask.
The MAVALA Lip Balm protects and takes care of damaged lips, wrapping them with its fine, velvety texture and ensnaring the senses with a subtle vanilla fragrance. Thanks to its balanced formula made from a botanical complex of heart seed and sunflower oil, it provides a shield effect and soothes your lips.

Stay safe, stay hydrated, and stay beautiful.