Masks Revisited

I know what you're thinking: "So, tell us the latest about your very interesting mask situation!" OK, thanks for asking. I will. 

Go Gaiters

As I'm sure you'll recall from my previous post, I was thinking / panicking about getting some extra masks for my children. I also wanted to try some that were just one piece i.e. not pleated, to see if they found them easier to breathe through. I decided to try my luck with some "neck gaiter" style ones that they could wear around their necks and just pull up to cover their noses as needed. I went with a 5-pack from SA Company via a Facebook ad for suckers which cost $26.93 including postage and packing.

We tried these out on a walk one Saturday. At first they were a hit. My son liked pulling it up like a ninja, although he actually preferred pulling the face shield over his entire face, eyes included. They're not very thick, though, so apparently he could still see. After about ten minutes, however, it was clear that although these were child-size and my kids have at least average if not rather large heads, it was tricky to keep these up. I had to keep tucking the tops over their ears to hold them in place which totally defeats the object of them being able to wear them e.g. to school. We weren't sure what to do with my daughter's hair either. She rarely wears it up, preferring the lank scarecrow look, but it was itchy and bulky with her hair tucked in and too loose with it out. So yeah, I have 3 unopened face shields if anyone wants them. Although according to a study, these type of masks are worse than not using a mask at all! On a possible flip side, I also saw that only one example was tested so I'm sure different materials act differently. 

On to the Next Mask!

It wasn't long before I needed to waste even more money by making sure I also had enough face masks for myself! During a trip to Irvine Spectrum, we popped into my high street fave, Old Navy. The last time I had bought masks from them, I had ordered them online, there was a huge wait and a random assortment of patterns that you couldn't choose yourself. Now the walls were lined with 5 and 10-packs in whatever patterns your sheepy consumerist heart could desire, still at $12.50 for 5. My daughter chose a dog (or in internet parlance - "doge" pack - they are cartoon Shiba Inus) pattern, my son got dinosaurs and I got an assortment of black and white patterns. These also now come with ear adjusters which have been useful. Woo! And another $37.50 down. 

Yes, I'm Still Buying Masks!

My ultimate goal has been to find some good quality masks that my kids will wear and that are easy to breathe through. The Old Navy masks are our go-tos but my daughter still frequently complains about finding it hard to breathe. I started looking about for some one-piece masks and via another Facebook ad (how do they know?), I found these from an obviously pivoting Starks Vacuum's. And bingo! They tick all the boxes! I got 2 to start with in case they were a disaster (see face shields above) and spent $25.90. They have adjustable bands and a sticking-up nose bit which means they can sit a little lower on the face and not be so close to the mouth. The only downside is that with the nosepiece, they are a little fiddly for my kids to put on themselves but I'm sure they'll figure it out. Well, they'd better!

I will probably get some more of these in the future and it seems like there are deals on the site to make them more wallet-friendly. 

And so ends my quest! Although, when I went to Old Navy's website to get the links for this post, I found they are now doing one-piece masks for kids too! $9.50 for 3? I'll see you there!