[Equipment] Masks: My Amara View just arrived. Have you found your favorit mask?

[SevereApnea]

"At 2 am I found myself in the bathroom rummaging through the medicine cabinet, looking for some kind of cream in the hope that it would provide an effective seal, however all the hand creams and facial ones get absorbed into the skin after a few minutes and I am back at square one."

Hmm been there, done that, no good for me either.

In the beginning...
...my Sleep Doc recommended some Amolin cream to help "seal" the silicone to my face.

But, all things being equal, we are not all the same. My face gets greasy. Adding some Amolin cream only results in a greasy slippery oily recipe for disaster.

These days one of my anti-leak strategies is to stay de-greased.

1. Even though I shower at night, before I mask up I still wash my face with soap and water. Dry thoroughly.
2. Wipe the face mask clean with baby wipes or similar. Allow to dry. I use the Purdoux face wipe towels. Box of 75 if I remember correctly.
3. I place one wipe in a small air-tight plastic tub next to my bed. This lasts for at least a week.
4. Whenever I get up at night, I wash and dry my face, wipe the mask with the face wipe, face wipe back in the air-tight tub.

For me there is a better seal if there is less slop and more grip between mask and face.

(Honestly, I even considered latex make-up artist in a tube at one stage, to glue the damn thing in place, but thankfully no longer need that.)

Most times with this treatment for SDB things are the opposite to what I think.

I have migrated from F30i Wide to Small Wide.

I have a wide mouth, and so naturally I thought a wide mask would be better. But the fact is that the Small Wide holds my lips together, more puckered if you like, fish mouth like, and my leaks are seldom over 10L/min.

Tonight I will try the F30i Small!

Just some additional things to consider in your quest.

Happy hunting!

[Dawnstar]

For me there is a better seal if there is less slop and more grip between mask and face.

In my case, I’ve noticed with the silicone masks, that too much facial oil means the mask slides around too much resulting in a poor seal, and too little facial oil means the mask bleeds air and creates too much friction. 

I end up using acne cleansing pads on my face every few days and thoroughly cleaning the mask of oil at least twice weekly, but never both on the same day

[S. Manz]

I have a problem with air directly hitting my mouth which is why front tube masks like Resmed's F30 don't work for me, but a frame overhead tube type will work for me which is why I am keen to try the Resmed F30i which is almost identical design to Dreamwear full face mask, but I am thinking that the F30i may have a better cushioning and seal without having to be snugged up, like I have to do with the dreamwear to keep it from leaking.

[S. Manz]

Thanks for that advice.
I have ditched the idea of "lube sealing" hencewith. Clearly it will not work with the mask slipping and sliding on the face on top of ending up with greasy skin. Very unpleasant.