A British news story purports that teens are hiding behind face masks “in order to retreat from society.” Blame is predictably cast on the economy and “social insecurities.” My favorite is the quote from the teen who claims to only take off his mask after running practice: “All I can say is that it somehow calms me down.”
My advice to anyone who wants “to look Japanese,” wear a face mask!
Tokyo Moe 
Seriously though, those kind of news stories – what do they do? Get like 2 Japanese people who have some wack ideas then quote them and call it a trend?
I’d say it’s more likely to be a trend with girls who can’t be bothered putting on the 3 hours worth of makeup they normally wear!
I can’t stand them!
Using them in a valid medical environment is one thing, offering me one after i randomly sneeze is entirely ridiculous.