Nothing like a global pandemic to put your vanity into perspective, wha?

It always feels a little odd to reflect on how the coronavirus outbreak has affected the more frivolous aspects of our lives but let’s indulge for a minute. This year, every constant in our lives has been fecked out the window and that includes our approach to how we beautify ourselves. Here are just some of the ways we’ve had to overhaul our skin and makeup game in 2020.  

Less makeup day-to-day…

Remote working; a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it’s left many of us with a crippling inability to switch off from our professional lives. On the other hand, no more having to put on a full face of makeup at 7am before running for a bus. How delicious it is to roll out of bed minutes before I’m due to be online. Zoom meeting? No problem – concealer, mascara, a quick brush of the hair and I’m away.  

… but a full face of glam for random outings

Anyone else considered doing tan for going to the shops? No judgement here – I’ve never put more effort into my makeup as I now do for nipping out to get a few messages. Though I’m strict about covering up with a mask, even a trip to the garden centre warrants a full face to go along with the outfit I’ve spent hours picking out.  

More time for skincare

I had always considered a lengthy skincare routine to be more of a bother than a self-care ritual until lockdown. Having lots of spare time has been one of the few upsides of all this and has meant that I can really slow down and enjoy taking care of my skin. It’s also a moment of calm and indulgence that distracts me from the sh*tstorm that this year has been. Want to see me at my most zen? Catch me just after I’ve massaged my serum all over my face.  

Battling ‘maskne’

Though I’ve managed to stop touching my face 30 times a day (who knew it’d be so hard?), wearing a face covering has wreaked havoc on my skin. Trapped air and grime can lead to nasty build-up in the pores, which means spots or ‘maskne’ (i.e. mask acne). There’s no quick fix for this and it looks like we’ll all be wearing masks for the foreseeable so I’ve had to adjust my cleansing routine. Gone are the days when I’d leave makeup on all evening or even (shock, horror) sleep with it on. As soon as I’m in the door, the mask is off and I’m giving my face a good rinse. The Ordinary’s Salicylic Acid 2% Mask has also become a hero product for my oily, spot-prone visage.