As face masks remain in our lives in our ever-changing transition back to school, work, traveling and more, one thing remains constant: the prevalence of maskne.

“Maskne,” a term that used to apply to athletes who wore helmets, are now impacting both teens and adults due to our everyday face masks. This type of acne (a form of “acne mechanica”) is caused by friction against the skin that leads to skin irritation and inflammation that can block pores and lead to breakouts.
 
University Medical, a wellness brand who created the new Acne Wipeout system have seen a significant rise in social comments, searches and overall consumer interest in maskne as they try to seek help for their skincare solutions .

Findings include: 

•  The keyword “Maskne” has increased in total topic volume across all social channels by 67% in the U.S. with 4.85M potential impressions (As of August 30, 2021)
• #maskne hashtag videos on TikTok has exploded with 172.6M people watching videos on maskne solutions (As of August 20, 2021)

• Even before the global pandemic, people missed out on activities such as dating (26%), school (21%) and hanging out with friends (20%) just because they have a blemish or a breakout on their skin.
• 38% of moms notice a negative change in their teens skin during the pandemic – puberty (21%), wearing a mask (20%) and stress (20%) have contributed to the change.
• Now that we are trying to get back to life, 63% of respondents are more determined than ever to take better care of their skin.