You may be seeing photos of women on social media with smears of blue across their foreheads, white cream under their eyes, and patches of green on their cheeks and chin. A new trend that’s gaining popularity is called multi-masking – when users apply a handful of products to their faces for different concerns.
But do dermatologists think it’s a good idea?
“It’s not a common thing we see at all. I can’t say it’s a trend in dermatology,” Dr. Anatoli Freiman, a dermatologist and medical director of the Toronto Dermatology Centre, told Global News.
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“The concept can make sense because you’re trying to address different areas of the face with different products. So you’re using one thing for your T-zone, something around your eyes and a moisturizer on your cheeks. The main thing is, a diagnosis has to be made otherwise you’re using all sorts of creams to the face not knowing what the ingredients are,” he warned.
He suggests that those curious about multi-masking ought to see a specialist to get a concrete diagnosis to carve out a tailor-made approach. That way, you’ll know what your skin needs.
After that, start slowly. Don’t pile on the products to see what happens – try one at a time and don’t go beyond two or three products, at most, he urged.
“My only concern is the more products you place on your face, the higher the chance of having an allergic reaction,” Dr. Rachel Nazarian, of Schweiger Dermatology Group, told Marie Claire magazine.
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It isn’t atypical for some consumers to have combination skin – say, acne on their forehead but dry skin, or eczema on other parts of their face, Freiman says.
He says dermatologists already have a hard time convincing patients to adhere to their skincare regime.
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Nazarian offered tips to be used as a rule of thumb: an oily T-zone usually needs a charcoal mask or a product with salicylic acid to address blackheads, whiteheads and clogged pores.
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The area around your eyes is the most sensitive. It needs retinol to work on reversing wrinkles and moisturize the skin around your eyes.
Your cheeks, meanwhile, need a boost of vitamin C and peptides to work against any sun damage.
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carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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