Blog

People are getting creative with their face masks

A woman in New York wears a plastic food container for protection.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Face masks look like they are here to stay.
With no end in sight to the coronavirus pandemic, some countries have made it mandatory for people to wear masks when they go out.
Many people around the world are embracing that directive, using whatever they have to make creative face masks.
Here are some of the most innovative ones. Although these are beautiful creations, they may not all keep you safe from Covid-19.

A mother entertains her children with makeshift masks made of cabbage as she cooks in Beit Lahia, Gaza.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images

Orlando Baker wears a mask in Fort Collins, Colorado, that he developed using an image from the Notorious B.I.G.'s album "Ready to Die."

Ali Akbar, a street parking man in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, wears a face shield made from a used water jug.
Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

Ali Akbar, a street parking man in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, wears a face shield made from a used water jug.
Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift protection while waiting to check in to a flight in Beijing.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

A man in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, wears a protective mask featuring a pair of lips.

Police officers wear face masks in Cali, Colombia.
Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images

Fashion designer Friederike Jorzig adjusts a mannequin wearing a wedding dress and a face mask at her store in Berlin.
Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Engineer Mario Milanesio poses with a snorkeling mask that he added respiratory valve fittings to in Savigliano, Italy. He designed and produced them with a 3-D printer.
Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

A young woman walks in Moscow's Red Square.
Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

A man wears a homemade mask in Caracas, Venezuela.
Ariana Cubillos/AP

A man in Sceaux, France, poses with a mask made out of a paper napkin.
Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images

Andres Jimenez, a retired state worker who makes masks to sell in his neighborhood, ties a mask on a girl in Havana, Cuba.

A man wears his girlfriend's rolled-up T-shirt as a mask in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Matthew J Lee/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

A cyclist in Wuhan, China, wears a face mask and plastic bag.
Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

A soldier in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, wears a mask depicting the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.
Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images

A man wearing a Spider-Man mask and gloves walks near the Coney Island boardwalk in New York.
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

Panji, 8, wears an animal-shaped face mask in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters

Fashion designer Do Quyen Hoa shows off an embroidered face mask at her studio in Hanoi, Vietnam.

A woman in Najaf, Iraq, wears a mask embellished with flower petals.
Haidar Hamdani/AFP/Getty Images

A man wears a handmade face mask in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images

Artist Lynx Alexander wears a mask in New York's Times Square.
Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

A woman waits in line to buy food in Caracas, Venezuela.
Ariana Cubillos/AP

A man poses for a photograph in Kampala, Uganda.
Sumy Sadurni/AFP/Getty Images

A girl wearing a protective mask leaves a hospital in Oviedo, Spain.

Dornazha Blake wears a festive mask on her mother's birthday in Redwood City, California.
Santiago Mejia/The San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images

A boy wears a homemade mask while playing cricket in Srinagar, India.
Tauseff Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images

A woman in Coruna, Spain, wears a mask with the word "thanks" embroidered on it.
Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images