Do you remember when you bought your first facemask and tried it on? And you thought There is no way in hell I'm wearing this thing all day! I can barely breathe!
That was a long time ago in a world far, far away. Once I got over the feeling of being slowly suffocated and found masks that fit properly, I can wear a mask all day and feel just fine. I started out with sticky notes on the edges of my computer screen reminding of the essentials of hygienic mask-wear:
1. Don't touch your face!
2. Stop adjusting the mask every 5 seconds!
3. If you JUST ADJUSTED the mask, use hand sanitizer!
The key is to find masks that fit your face, don't bend your ears in half, and don't make glasses fog up because nothing says highly competent professional like someone with stickin' out ears, foggy glasses and a mask that either slides up or down when you talk.
After spending approximately $93847293487203420349023.99 on masks, I finally found the perfect mask. What makes a perfect mask? Well...
1. Extra material on the bridge of the nose to stop gapping and to fit under glasses so I can see where I'm going even when I'm huffing and puffing up and down the stairway.
2. Extra material under the chin to make a soft seal and keep the mask from hiking up or down when I talk.
3. A combination of ear loops and a soft, stretchy neck strap attached to the loops to take the pressure off my ears. That way, nothing is actually behind my ears and contorting them into unnatural shapes.
4. Your head is probably bigger than you think, so definitely try the adult LG/XL.
And don't forget filters. Some masks need them, some masks don't. If you can blow out a candle or a match through your mask, you need another layer between you and the next disease vector you encounter in the grocery store. I bought filters to use on trips and when I'm around a lot of people during the day. Otherwise, I use half a coffee filter trimmed or folded to fit in the pocket of my mask.
Now the sticky notes on the edges of my computer screen say:
1. Remember to stop and drink more water because you are always hot in that mask.
2. Turn on the fan! You are HOT in that mask.
3. If you're hot, you're doing something right!
So now that I'm wearing comfortable masks, I can really enjoy not having to wear makeup. Yep. No makeup. What's the point? And with so much of my face covered up, I feel less like people are looking at me...which is a personal problem...but I expend a lot less mental energy worrying about what I look like because you won't recognize me if you see me again anyway.
Someday we won't have to wear masks all the time...someday.
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