Tips on Wearing PPE Masks with Cosplays

Photo by Toshi Studios

PPE, or personal protective equipment, is more important for cosplay than you may think it is. Almost all events are now back in person, and nearly all of them have removed health and safety protocols. Cosplay may be fun and games… but for anyone who has ever caught con flu or any myriad of other illnesses after a con- that is always an unpleasant experience. And masks can help a LOT. 

However, wearing masks sometimes looks ugly, doesn’t match your cosplay, ruins your makeup, ruins your wig, or is generally uncomfortable. Here are my tips and tricks, as well as tips from others!

Photo by Keshii.dragon 

DISCLAIMER: I am not a healthcare professional, so please do not take any of this as medical guidance! However, I will quote and link to various scientific papers to best educate myself and hopefully you can use them to make your own informed risk-aware decisions. I am also happy to be corrected if any of this information is outdated or incorrect. This blog post is purely based on my experience as someone who needs to wear masks, but still want to be able to cosplay and have fun while staying safe. 

What PPE masks are available?

Let’s start with the most effective down to the least effective. 

From https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ppe/respirators/elastomeric.html

 

NIOSH full face masks and hazmat suits are probably the most effective, but I imagine most normal people do not have access to them, nor do they go well with your cosplay.

Half facepiece respirators: These can be equipped with cartridges, which filter for 100%, 99%, or 95% of very small particulates, as well as vapors or gases. When looking at the cartridge labels, N stands for not resistant to oil, R stands for Resistant to oil, and P stands for oil proof. 

If you work with contact cement, plastidip, resin, spray paint, or other toxic materials, you probably already have this respirator. Which is awesome because these kinds of masks can surprisingly match a lot of video games, scifi, and other characters. So this actually super effective respirator can also double as a mask that fits your cosplay! If the series you’re cosplaying from already wears respirators, like The Last of Us or Arcane or steampunk/cyberpunk versions of characters, you can use this mask. Clear from Dramatical Murder? He canonically wears a gas mask so my half face respirator would totally fit. I also personally find the silicone/rubber far more comfortable than itchy paper masks. 

N95 respirator: This reduces the wearer's exposure to small particle aerosols and large droplets, but it is N-rating and non-oil aerosols only. It filters out 95% of airborne particles including large and small particles. This is what I use most often for wear when I need to leave the house. When going on public transportation or to conventions, I use an N95 and a mask cover. I also prefer the behind head strap kind because I wear glasses with a lot of piercings and can’t stand having that much stuff on my ears. KN95 and equivalent masks also go in this section.

Double masking: Double masking is better than just a single surgical mask, for these reasons https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8111192/

Single surgical mask: This protects from large droplets, but is not a reliable level of protection from smaller airborne particles.

Cloth masks: It protects other people from YOUR respiratory particles, so it’s better than nothing, but is most effective when everyone else is also masking. 

Now some additional protection- vaccines, social distancing, quarantining, regular testing, and just staying home and not going to an optional event when you’re sick are also more layers of protection. Similar to using PPE when working with resin or contact cement, your health is more important than going to an event. 

And also some good news:
Nasal vaccines are being developed in Europe! This will be great for people who aren’t able to get injection vaccines: https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/11/30/more-progress-on-next-generation-covid-vaccines-and-a-setback-in-the-us-update-no-35/

Still under clinical trials, but this antihistamine nasal spray might have possible protection too? 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40892398/
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/antihistamine-nasal-spray-prevents-covid-19-study-finds

How to make masks more comfortable?

For my N95 behind the head masks, I sometimes put band aids on my nose as a cushion. I have also used this moleskin tape and stick that to the mask. Sometimes, I also put sunscreen or face lotion on my skin where the itchy parts of the mask touch and that makes it feel a little better. However, don’t put too much stuff between the seal and your face- that may break the seal and make it ineffective.

Moleskin tape. You can get this at most drugstores.

For people that use over the ears masks, you can get different kinds of ear protectors. But here’s a trick- I have taken garter belt garters and bra straps and they function the same as the kind of ear protectors that pull the 2 ear straps behind your head. 

Does that not look like a garter belt or bra strap?

Makeup

First, I take notice of which parts of my face are still visible, as well as what parts a mask might rub off- such as these straps here. I try to skip any makeup in any of those areas, because no one is going to see it anyways, and getting makeup on the inside of your mask is just uncomfortable, as well as potentially making it less effective.

I focus on my eyes and eyebrow makeup and sometimes put concealer on my forehead. I’m not a makeup expert or artist though, but I’m pretty happy that I’m still able to get makeup on without interfering with my health and safety. 

Here are some tips from some other cosplayers that I asked!

Diana Soreil (@silencedrowns)

“Tip I have for cosplay[s] with mask[s]: eye makeup is CRUCIAL. Practice that the most and also consider trying to cover your brows and redraw on character shape brows; it really makes a difference when all you can see is nose bridge up! Also you tend to need more blush lol.”
-Diana Soreil (@silencedrowns)

“Also re: preventing makeup rub off with a mask, I do the same method that stops makeup from rubbing off on the nose pads of my glasses: I put a little bit of eyeshadow primer on the bridge of my nose where the mask touches it before I put on foundation, and that eliminates most of the transfer.”
-MarlequinnCos

Wigs

From @Fabrickind , fabrickind.com

For masks with over ear straps, it’s fairly easy to wear and remove them when wearing wigs!

However, because I prefer behind the head straps, they can be troublesome to wear or remove with a wig in the way. I have found a very good method, though! 

1- Put on your wig cap and wig grip first.
2- Put the bottom strap of your respirator, and mask cover if you’re wearing one on next.
3- Put on your base wig, but not any accessories or ponytails/pigtails yet.
4- Put on the top strap of your respirator and/or mask cover.
5- Then put on any other head accessories, including glasses if you’re wearing glasses.

The great thing with this method, is that it’s easy to remove the top half of your mask to drink water or eat something, but you don’t need to remove your entire wig set up at the same time! I sometimes tuck it under my chin, behind my neck, or into my shirt, so that I don’t drop food or water in my mask.

Some wigs are also kind of slippery for the top strap. If you crimp your wig- that makes it easier to grip. Curly wigs, wigs with ponytails or spikes, also help keep the top strap from slipping down.  

You can see how my straps stack under my wig here. Photo by @thecosplayunderground

 

Mask covers

Photo by Toshi Studios

The main complaint that I hear people say about masks, other than discomfort and messing up makeup, is that it looks ugly. Luckily, there are brands that make colored N95 masks, such as Bonafide! And here is one that makes cat KF94 masks! https://www.family-masks.com/products/savewo-3dmeow-kf94-kidults-3-fun-designs-for-small-face-adults-or-teenagers (Not sponsored) 

Believe it or not, before the Covid pandemic, if you went to any convention dealer's hall or even looked online, especially amongst odorites- a lot of people were already wearing fashion masks! Aka, mask covers. We can repurpose them or make our own to cover our actual PPE masks.

 

If you want more than just another colored N95 mask, you can also get or make mask covers with different designs on them. Just know that fabric mask covers are not effective enough PPE for protecting yourself.

Photo by @shan.palebluedot

 

When it comes to pre-made mask covers, almost all mask covers are over ear straps. So I cut open the ear straps, attach an elastic to combine the bottom into a single strap, and then I make different options for the top strap- sometimes I use snaps, sometimes I use the garter belt strap/bra strap trick, and sometimes it's just 2 strings tied together.  

Admittedly, this was my 1st self-made mask cover and it's too big.

 

When it comes to making my own cloth mask covers, I recommend using a pattern that is slightly bigger than the actual PPE mask you wear. If the mask cover fits your face perfectly, it might squash your PPE mask, making it ineffective or hard to breathe.  If the cover is too big, it might accidentally end up covering your neck too. I also recommend designing something that matches something about the character. For example, fangs for Grell and Gyarados, a steampunk aesthetic mask for steampunk vaporeon and Arcane, and Cookie from BT21 for BTS. 

Here are some other examples!

  

From Leafnin Cosplay

"For Ahri, I used HTV to put her 'whiskers' on my fabric mask cover." - Faeliae

Facial Hair

As someone without facial hair, I don’t have first hand experience. But according to some research, there is no way to guarantee an effective seal when you have facial hair in the areas where a mask needs to seal. Here are some blog posts and research papers:
https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2024/11/07/beards-and-respirators/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12099016/

PAPR respirators don’t require a facial seal at all, but they are expensive, noisy, and bulky. There is also the Singh Thattha beard wrap method that Sikh healthcare workers developed: science direct link  

I also asked some other cosplayers and people with facial hair about how they manage masks and these were their suggestions:

Photo from Whimwitch

“For me, I just shave cause I don’t want a beard and am too patchy for one. I have no issues growing my sideburns and sometimes mustache out, so I just let myself have facial hair that doesn't get in the way of the seal if I want. And then I don’t feel self conscious at all about growing it out since it's obscured anyway... The people I know that do have more facial hair and still mask usually just shave it enough to fit under the mask.. So like having facial hair styles that accommodate a mask like a goatee or manicured beard... I think masking is helpful too if you’re transmasc or a teen boy and just growing facial hair for the first time cause you can experiment with it without the prying eye of judgmental people.”
-Whimwitch

Photo from anonymous

 

“So basically if you legit want a true seal on your face you need to get rid of the beard/ mustache. If you’re not needing to be careful you can still use a mask but know it won’t really seal as much as you can if you don’t have facial hair.
Another thing is with the mask and facial hair the mask will be constantly sliding up as the hair is slick so you’ll be needing to pull it down a lot. He said maybe if you had a way to weigh the mask down you wouldn’t have to pull on it as much. This was true for all mask types. 
He found stuff that looped on the ears were more prone to give a problem. Ones that could loop behind your head/neck seemed to be best and even better if you could tighten the straps vs just relying on elastic.
He said the respirator was the best with a beard cause it had the clip behind your neck and you could pull on the tabs… it uses a toggle pull so you can pull the ends to make it tight.”
-Anonymous

Lastly, this reddit user is also known for sharing different types of masks that work well with facial hair! Reddit link      

Underwater Cosplays with Masks

Admittedly, this part probably only applies to a very small select niche of people (me). I did try to find recent articles on what was most effective protection while at pools and the most relevant articles I was able to locate are these:
https://www.sanidad.gob.es/biblioPublic/publicaciones/recursos_propios/resp/revista_cdrom/VOL94/C_ESPECIALES/RS94C_202006074.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004313542100912X
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195670120302887

 

In summary, there is no way to swim with your head underwater and wear a mask because a soaked wet paper or fabric mask will be ineffective and hard to breathe.  However, I have found that you can swim with a pool floatie/kickboard, and as long as you keep your head carefully above the water, your mask won't get soaked! For the times that I have done underwater photo and video shoots, they were private pools with everyone involved trying their best attempt at protection and testing beforehand and afterwards. 

 Now here are some bonus tips from other people!

“If I can say any one thing to cosplayers who want to mask in crowded areas it’s this: it makes a big difference to have both black and white masks (or colors if you can!) and wear the one that looks better with your outfit...
The evil tip that you shouldn’t publish but it works every time: if someone is being really pushy about insisting you take it off, a fake family member with cancer instantly reframes you as a hero...
Also my other favorite one for outdoor events that has worked in the face of raging idiots threatening me physically is ‘dude I am so allergic to pollen and I drove myself here, do you really want me on the road on Benadryl.'”
– Diana Soreil (@silencedrowns)

“I use the same tips/tricks that I use with masks in general like those straps to make them more comfortable. I guess that is advice in and of itself, use the tools you usually do to make masks as comfortable as you can.”
– Dreaming of Cosplay

Additional examples of different ways of wearing masks with cosplays! 

From MarlequinnCos

From Faeliae

From DreamingofCosplay

 

From Fabrickind & Silencedrowns

Photo by Hurt.train

Photo by Flubber.duckie, with Zipp Cosplay

Do you have additional tips, questions, or suggestions on wearing masks when cosplaying? Let’s keep the comment section civilized and in good faith. I also plan on making a video about this topic, so let me know if you have any questions or suggestions you want me to include!

Sources:

To do your own research: 
https://youhavetoliveyour.life/masks-dont-work 
https://theconversation.com/masks-work-our-comprehensive-review-has-found-229658

About masks, types, and their effectiveness:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/healthcare/respiratory-protection/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/96-101/default.html
https://www.healthline.com/health/double-masking#improving-mask-effectiveness
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8111192/
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/respiratory-protection-us/support/center-for-respiratory-protection/respirator-selection/
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ppe/niosh-approved-respirators/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ppe/respirators/elastomeric.html
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ppe/respirators/ffr.html

Facial hair:
https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2024/11/07/beards-and-respirators/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12099016/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019567012030459X#:~:text=The%20technique%20of%20applying%20the%20under-mask%20beard%20cover,and%20pioneered%20by%20a%20transplant%20surgeon%20in%20Manchester."HYPERLINK%20"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019567012030459X?via%3Dihub"%20h

Swimming:
https://www.sanidad.gob.es/biblioPublic/publicaciones/recursos_propios/resp/revista_cdrom/VOL94/C_ESPECIALES/RS94C_202006074.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004313542100912X
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195670120302887
https://www.spandidos-publications.com/10.3892/mi.2023.92

Nasal sprays:
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/antihistamine-nasal-spray-prevents-covid-19-study-finds / 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40892398/

Thank you to everyone that contributed your photos or quotes! Please check them out!

Diana Soreil - @silencedrowns on social media sites
DreamingofCosplay
Faeliae
Fabrickind - fabrickind.com
Leafnin Cosplay - leafnincosplay.com
MarlequinnCos - @MarlequinnCos on Bluesky 
Whimwitch 
Anonymous