Bianca Umali demonstrates DIY face mask hacks

The face mask has become a daily essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for people who need to go to work or go buy groceries for the family.

However, along with the protection it provides, the face mask can also cause a bit of discomfort.

Since most face masks are available only in few sizes and they're not really customized per person, they sometimes tend to be too small for the person, and consequently, the ear loops tend to tug on your ears.

This can lead to red, irritated ears and a very uncomfortable experience of wearing a tight face mask for hours.

So, if you chance upon a face mask that's too tight that it hurts your ears, try these DIY hacks shared by Kapuso actress Bianca Umali in Mars Pa More's Handy Mars Segment.

For these hacks, you'll need the following:

1. Paper clips
2. Hair ties/scrunchies
3. Zip ties
4. Cardboard

For the paper clips and hair ties, the idea is to connect several pieces of these items and link them to the ear loops, so they can serve as an extension or add more length to the ear loops.

For the zip tie, you can use only one piece just like what Bianca did, but it generally depends on how much length you need to add to your face mask's ear loops.

It may be challenging to adjust its tightness though as you cannot loosen up the zip ties anymore once you've tightened them.

So, Bianca advises that you only tighten the zip tie once you've already worn the face mask.

Finally, for the cardboard, you need to cut out a small piece of cardboard, about one or two inches long.

Then, on the sides of the cardboard, cut out small slits or small parts of it to make it look like a comb.

Once done, you can now hook the ear loops of your face mask to these gaps or slits in the cardboard.

If you want to see how these DIY face mask hacks are actually done, watch Bianca Umali's tutorial on top of this article.

For more DIY projects like this, tune in to Mars Pa More from Monday to Friday, at 8:45 a.m. on GMA-7.

For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.

You might also want to read about face masks and don'ts for beautiful skin.