COVID-19 Skincare Essentials

Times have changed, for everyone. No matter your race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or your political beliefs, you have, in some way been effected by the global pandemic, the coronavirus. As important preventative measures to stay safe from the virus, we are now washing our hands more than ever, using hand sanitizer, and wearing face-masks, sometimes for hours at a time, daily. Although these practices have been put in place for our wellbeing and ultimate safety, they could also dry out, irritate, and damage the skin. Thankfully, we can adjust our skincare with a few easy changes to keep our skin free of harm.

Let’s begin with the face. During COVID-19, whether it be workers in restaurants, retail stores, or health care professionals, there are still many workers out there forced to wear masks during their shifts. Yes, these masks could be helpful and are used as safety precautions against the virus, however they can cause real damage to the skin on your face. People are reporting chafing of the skin around the nose, chin, cheeks, and behind the ears. There are rashes and irritations developing around the mask area and even breakouts caused by sweat and moisture build up. Thankfully, we are not hopeless here and we can do things to lessen these complications while we still move through this pandemic:

1. A Skincare Routine is Imperative: Before putting on your mask, we recommend washing your face with soap and putting on a facial moisturizer, such as Nature Only’s Natural Revitalizer. Using a daily moisturizer will keep your skin from drying out, flaking and chafing. We also recommend washing your face and re-applying the moisturizer after a long shift, while consistently wearing a mask for hours.
2. Consider Using a Bandage: A bandage can be used as a barrier between the skin and the mask. There are bandages available that conform and mold to your skin without irritation. They will bring relief to your skin, especially if you already have blisters formed by constant mask use. It will protect the irritated skin from the mask!

As you put together what you need to care for your skin correctly, begin considering the hands as well. Like we mentioned above, one of the most powerful steps you can take to prevent COVID-19, as outlined by the CDC, is to wash your hands as often as possible for long periods of time, with soap, as well as using hand sanitizers often. Washing our hands this often can really dry our skin out. Here are some quick tips:

1. Moisturize Often: Apply moisturizer on the skin as soon as you wash and dry your hands. Make moisturizers easily accessible wherever you might wash your hands to make it as easy as possible to get done without friction. Thankfully, Nature Only’s Natural Revitalizer is great not only for your face, but on your hands as well! We recommend that you take preventative action with this one. Meaning, you don’t want to wait until your hands are already broken up and dried out. Treating them becomes much more difficult at that point. Begin moisturizing now to preempt going down that road.
2. Protect Your Hands: Be gentle with the paws. Avoid using very hot water when you could use water on the cooler/warm end. Washing your hands with very hot water will ultimately cause skin damage and doesn’t eliminate any more bacteria than colder water would. We also recommend that you cover your hands with a pair of protective, disposable gloves when cleaning and disinfecting anything external. Many of the disinfectants used consist of chemicals that may irritate the skin on the hands.