"We have a lot of clients that are nurses as well as a cosmetic injector that contracts out through our salon and works at the Armidale Hospital," Ms Brown said.

"They have been commenting that their skin has been dreadful since they had to wear masks during their shift now.

"We call it 'maskne'. "

Ms Brown said face masks hold a lot of moisture and carbon dioxide from the breath plus bacteria, which causes congestion and dehydration.

"Also the constant rub of the masks on the skin can cause blistering and irritation," she said.

"So I decided to reach out to one of my skincare companies, Dermalogica, to see if they could help out with something.

"They came back with 300 mini skincare kits for the hospital staff."

The Dermalogica mini skincare kits are designed for sensitive skin and will calm the nurses troubled skin overnight.

The company also makes a silicone-based skin repair barrier cream which Ms Brown says can be worn under the mask without affecting its efficacy.

And it is not just nurses who are suffering from COVID-19 related skin problems - particularly on hands.

"Everyone's hands are dried and cracked from using hand sanitizers and constant hand washing," said Ms Brown.

"Using hand cream and maintaining good gut health and eating well is very important to protect your skin."

Hamish Yeates, director of nursing and midwifery at Armidale Hospital, said he believed only a small number of staff were experiencing skin problems but everyone appreciated the gifts.

"We were very pleased with the donation because there have been some staff who have had reactions to the face masks, and it was a really kind and generous thing for Nicole to go to the effort of sourcing a donation from Dermalogica for us," he said.

"As a hospital, we really appreciate the efforts of the community, supporting our staff during this difficult period."

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Ms Brown has owned the beauty salon( which had been trading for more than 25 years) since 2009.

In 2019 the young businesswoman was a regional winner in the NSW Business Chamber- Outstanding Business Leader awards.

"I'm dedicated to providing professional beauty treatments with highly trained skincare therapists, " she said.

"We specialise in the skin."

The business was shut for nine weeks during COVID-19 lockdown earlier this year, so the salon had to change the way it serviced its clients.

"I pivoted our business early on during that time to an online store offering free contactless home delivery," Ms Brown said.

"We also offered online consultations.

"Since reopening in June, we now have to allow 15 minutes after every client to sanitise, which we were doing anyway before shutting down.

"The main difference now is that our therapists wear masks during their shifts because of our close proximity to clients.

"We have definitely seen a change in our skin, but we are lucky to have the knowledge and resources to help ourselves."

Business is picking up at Face2Face now lockdown has eased, and many are coming in for treatment.

"We are actually getting quite a few new clients because we offer a hygienic service," she said.

"Dry winter weather is one cause of skin problems, but you can also see people are a lot more anxious now when we're doing our treatments because they have had to stay at home and they're not sure what to do now.

"So we are offering more of a therapy kind of thing as well.

"Anxiety definitely affects the skin with things like eczema, red skin and breakouts becoming an issue."