I don’t know about anyone else, but when multimasking became a ‘thing’ it was a complete revelation to me. It was one of those moments where you just go ‘Oh THAT’S what I’ve been thinking about all this time!’

I’ve been multimasking twice a week for a year now, and I can honestly say it’s been one of the best changes I’ve made to my skincare routine in a long time. I thought I’d share my method, as I’ve refined it a little bit over the months, and might help you get the most out of it too!

It’s important to start with is a good mask collection. There are so many great masks out there for every price point. This picture has budget (Lush Rosy Cheeks – £6.95), mid-range (Avene Moisture Mask – £11.50), high-end (Caudalie Moisturizing Mask – £22, Origins Original Skin Mask – £24, Antipodes Aura Mask – £19.75) and luxury (Eve Lom Rescue Mask – £55). I’m not saying you need to go out and buy 20 masks in one go, but the great thing about masks is that they can help your skin overcome those issues you only get on occasion, or that don’t make up part of your ‘skin type’. For example sometimes I get a few blackheads, or a bit of flakiness. If I incorporated a blackhead eliminating product into my skincare routine, it’d dry my skin out. If I incorporated a rich cream for flaky skin, I’d break out. The solution? Effective, high quality masks, twice a week on the problem areas until it’s gone away!

Here are a few examples. While there are similarities (my skin doesn’t vary that wildly!) every time I think about what I need to use, it’s always different. If get spots, they’re usually along my jawline, flakiness is usually on my forehead, blackheads are usually on my nose…and my cheeks change a lot (in just these pictures I have a mask for blemishes, a mask for dryness and a mask for redness on them). The great thing about multimasking it that it forces you to really think about your skin, how its doing and exactly what it needs. You can really gain a great understanding of your skin by giving it this extra attention.

Another thing I really like to do might seem a bit silly to you before I explain. Do you see the little spatulas in these photos? They’re from MAC, and they are called ‘Cheek Applicators‘ (£7.50). I use them to apply my masks. Don’t get me wrong, this is completely unnecessary if you’re only using one mask. But using your fingers when you use several masks at the same time is a messy business, as many masks are deliberately formulated to stick to the skin. You have to do the whole ‘apply, spread, rinse, dry’ thing three or four times. When you use these spatulas, all it needs is a wipe and you can apply the next mask. Check it out:

Start by choosing your masks. I had some spots on my jawline but no blocked pores so I went with Antipodes Aura Honey Mask (£19.75). My forehead was a little dehydrated and rough, so Caudalie’s Moisturizing Mask for that, and my cheeks were their usual red/bordering on irritated but generally fine, so I went with my fave Lush Rosy Cheeks. My nose was fine, so I just used Rosy Cheeks on it too.

Squeeze some mask on your applicator – depending on where you’re using it you might need more than one squeeze, but you can go back in with more as much as you need.

Gently begin to apply the mask. It’s much easier to spread it in a generous layer with these applicators, because it doesn’t stick to it like it does with the fingers. When you’re done, wipe the tiny traces off with a tissue or cotton pad, and carry on.

I also find that it’s much easier to get the mask precisely where you need it, which is a big deal when you regularly multimask! Fingers are squishy, which makes them messier.

I have to say, I get a much better layer of Rosy Cheeks when I use these applicators. Because of the kaolin clay it really sticks to your fingers no matter what you do, but doesn’t stick to these applicators at all.

I really love these little applicators. They are a soft, bendable plastic which makes them gentle, yet effective to use, and I can get a really close join between masks without mixing them. I’m not entirely sure what you would use them for otherwise, and even the girls in the MAC store I bought them from asked me what I was planning to do with them! They actually loved the idea when I explained, so I’m hoping other people will like it too and not just think I’m a beauty blogging weirdo. I got the idea because of the somewhat more expensive Erborian Precision Mask Applicator – while I really liked the idea, I couldn’t imagine spending £16 on something so eccentric. These resilient little paddles do a great job, and are less than half the price for 4!

Once applied, it’s important to stick to the recommended times for your masks, and to remove them the way the instructions tell you to. For these, they can all be rinsed, and should all be removed after 15 minutes, so I had a nice easy removal! Because I have sensitive skin, I usually try to use the same mask in the same place a few times in a row, but really it depends more on what your skin needs.

So there are my multimasking tips. I hope you enjoyed reading them! Do you multimask? Thinking of starting?