Clever mask hacks to stop the fog, lipstick transfer and get loops off ears

Glasses keep fogging up? Ears hurting from those straps? Sick of smudgy lipstick staining your mask? We’ve found some of the best solutions to your mask issues.

Masks are here to stay for a while longer in SA. For all those who also wear glasses this can mean a rather opaque outlook under these new mask rules?

Masks remain a requirement for High school students and teachers, health care workers, people working in beauty services, indoor public spaces and on public transport.

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Add to that, the state’s top health boss, Professor Nicola Spurrier says: “The basic rule of thumb for everyone in South Australia: If you can wear a mask, wear a mask.”

But does wearing a mask and glasses just result in a world of fog, making you … well, quite blind, defeating the purpose of wearing the glasses in the first place?

The struggle is real.

Accurate. This meme has been doing the rounds on Facebook.

And what about our real life superheroes, the nurses, doctors and supermarket workers who find it painful after a full day of having those loops around their ears? Or that issue of make-up getting all smudgy and transferring onto the mask?

We take a look at some of the best solutions to your mask woes.

LET US KNOW YOUR MASK HACK IN THE COMMENTS BELOW

STOP THE FOG:

Wearing the glasses/mask combo can have the effect of plunging the wearer into a blur – but no glasses and the wearer is plunged into a … blur. What to do? Here’s some simple hacks to get you seeing clearly again.

Hack 1: Tape your mask to the bridge of your nose with two sided tape so your breath can’t escape up through the top of your mask. Secondary tip is if you create a tiny gap either side of the mask in line with the end of your smile the air will go that way, not up to fog your glasses.

Hack 2: Clean your glasses with soap and water and air dry.

Hack 3: Clean both sides of your lenses with a drop or two of dishwashing liquid and a clean cloth (or shaving cream if you don’t have dishwashing liquid). It won’t just clean your glasses (OMG! How did they get that filthy anyway?!) but will leave a transparent layer that (hopefully) prevents your lenses from the temperature changes that cause the fog.

Hack 4: Keep your glasses forward on your nose, sitting over the top on the mask helping secure it on your face.

HOW TO STOP THE LIPSTICK SMUDGE:

Hack 1: Use long-wearing, mattifying make-up. This goes for the foundation and the lipstick. Matt makeup is less likely to smudge and to transfer to your mask. Yes, you might miss out on that dewy glow but at least you won’t have a big smudge of lipstick across your face when you take your mask off.

Hack 2: This one comes from makeup artist Ray Carl, whose most famous client is former First Lady Michelle Obama. Place a one-ply tissue over your mouth and then brush a very light amount of translucent powder over the tissue onto your lips with a big brush. Similar to when you use powder during your foundation routine, powder on the lips helps keep your makeup in place. Your lipstick won’t smudge, and it also won’t get all over your mask. Thanks Carl!

Hack 3: Buy a mask bracket to keep the mask off your mouth and nose. They are super cheap. Just search ‘face brackets’ online. To get a bit more DIY you can cut the end off a 1.25L plastic soft drink bottle and cut a bunch of air holes in it, then burn the cut edge (that will sit on your face) with a lighter to soften it. Obviously wait until it cools and sets and airs before wearing.

FACE MASK TOO BIG?

Hack 1: The simplest solution is to criss cross your straps before you loop them around your ears!

Hack 2: This one … see the video

Or check out the tips in the next section below which you can use to shorten and get those loops off your ears!

HOW TO GET THE MASK LOOPS OFF YOUR EARS:

Many health care workers that have to wear masks all day long have found the straps sitting around your ears can be quite painful. So how to get them off your ears? Let us count the ways …

Hack 1: Use something at the back of your head to loop the straps around instead of your ears. Here’s, after hours of going down the rabbit hole that is YouTube videos on the net, the best ones we could find:

• An old puzzle piece. Yes really!
• A ponytail or man bun
• A hoop earring
• A small carabiner clip
• A bulldog clip
• A suction holder (like the ones you might have that hold a mesh shade on the car window to block the sun – just remove the shade – or in the shower at the end of your loofah.)

Hack 2: Sew two buttons onto a cloth headband just behind your ears and hook the straps around the buttons. Comfy all day long!

Do you have a clever hack we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

Originally published as Clever mask hacks to stop the fog, lipstick transfer and get loops off ears