Fact: Your face and head are responsible for losing a majority of your body heat. Stop the heat loss by covering your face!
Here’s a complete breakdown of face masks, bandanas and everything else that keeps your face warm.
1) Bandanas
Bandanas come in 2 types:
Cotton
These suck. Don’t get a cotton bandana. They get wet by your breath, stick to your face and make it hard to breath.
Fleece
These are really good. The only downside is that your breath still gets trapped inside the bandana and this makes it a little wet on the inside. The upside is they won’t stick to your face like a cotton bandanna.
2) Balaclavas
These will keep you really, really warm. The downside is obviously that you can’t wear one unless it’s really cold.
I’ve also found that they sometimes make your face itchy.
3) Airhole
Ninja masks! These are literally fleece bandanas with a small hole in front of your mouth area to let the air in and out. You’ll still get a little bit of moisture inside the bandana but overall it’s a nice solution to the whole air trapping problem.
4) Neoprene masks
These do a pretty good job of keeping your face warm and letting air in and out. The big downside is they give you a giant bird beak around your nose.
Not the best looking facemask, but they do keep you warm.
5) Scarves
A unique way to keep your face warm is to buy a large knitted/crochet scarf. It may look like the holes let cold air in, but this does a surprisingly good job of letting you get fresh air while keeping your face warm.
6) Ninjaclava
These are basically polyester full face masks made by Burton. They do a great job keeping your face warm, but I find that they trap a lot of moisture against your mouth, which makes things a little wet and uncomfortable.
7) Neckwarmers
Some neckwarmers can be pulled under the bottom of your goggles to cover your mouth. This works really well for keeping your face warm.
The main downside of this is that they can sometimes be a little thick and trap too much air and moisture inside the neckwarmer.
The Top Pick
I’m a big fan of Airhole. I own two right now and couldn’t be happier with them. They’re a good balance between all of these face masks.
Airholes are not too thick and not too thin and I don’t get as much of that stuffy trapped air feeling that I get with most other face masks.
Plus, they make you look like a ninja. We all know that ninjas are totally sweet.