TikTok skincare trends: smash or pass
Our board-certified dermatologists weigh in on the TikTok skincare trends on everyone’s feeds.
TikTok is a great resource for a lot of things – cooking tips, fashion and decorating inspiration, travel planning, completely uncertified hot takes – you name it. However, we’ve been seeing a lot of skincare trends popping up across the platform (some from dermatologists, many not) that our patients want to know more about. Our providers took some time to share which trends are worth trying and which ones are best left to the influencers.
Trend: Slugging
Slugging is the final step in a nighttime routine that involves applying a layer of a heavily occlusive moisturizer (like Vaseline or Aquaphor) to the face before bed. It is meant to retain moisture overnight by trapping it on the skin, in the hope of waking up to more hydrated, nourished skin in the morning.
The Derms Say:
“Overall, slugging is a good practice for dry skin or anyone looking for extra hydration. It creates an occlusive barrier on the skin to help reduce water loss, maintain skin moisture, and improve hydration. This is best done as the very last step of your nighttime routine and requires only a pea-sized amount of Vaseline! We don’t recommend it for patients who have acne-prone skin, as it can lead to breakouts, or over retinol, active acne or exfoliating acids, where it might increase irritation.” – Dr. Leight
Trend: Retinol Sandwiching
This trend involves applying retinol products in between two applications of moisturizer in order to stave off some of the irritation retinol can cause, like dryness and redness.
The Derms Say:
“We don’t recommend retinol sandwiching long term, but it is a good idea temporarily for people (especially those with sensitive skin) trying to get their skin used to using retinol. It can reduce irritation, but it also slightly minimizes the benefits of using retinol since it serves as a buffer. It is important to use a lightweight moisturizer when retinol sandwiching or focus on the areas that are most sensitive to irritation (eyes, smile lines, chin and neck). As your skin adjusts to the retinol over time, you can slowly stop doing a retinol sandwich and just apply one layer of moisturizer after you apply your retinol at night.” – Dr. Kosari
Trend: Skin Cycling
Skin cycling is the practice of cycling through a 4-part skincare routine that includes exfoliation, retinol and other treatments, focusing on one treatment each day, to give the skin time to acclimate to each treatment without overwhelming the skin and giving it time to rest between active ingredient application.
The Derms Say:
“Skin cycling is a great way to reduce irritation from retinol and exfoliating acids, especially if you are just starting to incorporate these products into your nightly routine. We recommend the following schedule:
Day 1: apply an exfoliating acid at night
Day 2: apply retinol at night
Day 3 and 4: recovery days (do not use any active in your nighttime skincare routine)
As your skin gets used to the retinol and you are having no irritation, you can drop one of the recovery nights and go through a 3-day skin cycle. Once your skin is experiencing no irritation on this 3-day skin cycle, you can work towards using retinol nightly.” – Dr. Munavalli
Trend: DIY Dermaplaning
Dermaplaning on your own skin involves using a razor and oil combination to remove facial skin and dead skin cells in order to achieve esthetician-level results of smoothness and brightness.
The Derms Say:
“This is not something I would recommend, first of all because it is a non-sterile procedure using a razor blade on the face, so there is a possibility of causing or spreading infections such as staph or herpes – but also, if you’re not extremely careful, you can cut yourself causing scarring or pigmentary changes in the skin. Leave this treatment to the professionals!” – Dr. Om
Trend: Face Taping
Face taping uses tape and sticky adhesive on the face overnight in order to attempt to restrict movement such as frowning and furrowing the brow, in order to prevent the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Sometimes referred to as “preventative Botox”.
The Derms Say:
“We have much more effective ways to help with anti-aging and decrease fine lines and wrinkles. It is not effective to do this while sleeping as you would not be using the muscles that are tapped anyway. It does not have a similar efficacy in any way to Botox or other neurotoxins, so any results from face taping are extremely temporary. If you want to work on wrinkles and fine lines but are not interested in Botox, talk to your dermatologist about retinol, growth factors, and sunscreens as daily usage of these products gives much more long-lasting results than face taping.” – Dr. Leight
Trend: Pore Vacuums
A pore vacuum is a type of handheld device used to remove impurities and junk from the skin on your face. Besides being a fascinating and weirdly satisfying thing to watch, are they safe and effective?
The Derms Say:
“We don’t recommend using pore vacuums at home. They can be very damaging to the skin, and can cause telangiectasias by breaking blood vessels or post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation. They can even temporarily cause bruising on the face if used in one area too long.” – Dr. Kosari
Trend: Ice Rolling
Applying ice rollers to the face is said to stimulate the lymphatic system and massage the face, ridding the face of toxins and puffiness and increasing circulation.
The Derms Say:
“Ice rollers are fine to use and can lead to some temporary improvement in the skin’s appearance, but be warned that the results are not permanent! Also, be sure not to overuse the ice and unintentionally burn your skin.” – Dr. Om
Trend: Nasal Tanning Spray
Nasal tanning spray is a spray that includes a lab-made ingredient called Melanotan II (otherwise known as “the Barbie drug”) that is meant to be snorted through the nasal passages. It is said to give users a “perma-glow”.
The Derms Say:
“HIGHLY recommend against this one! Nasal tanning spray is not FDA regulated and puts unknown chemicals into your body. It can cause nausea, appetite changes and changes in libido. It mimics melanin in your body, leading to cellular changes in the skin, increasing the risk for melanoma or atypical moles that can develop into melanoma. Stay away from this trend!” – Dr. Munavalli
As always, seeing a board-certified dermatologist about your specific questions is the safest and most effective way to get the results you’re looking for. Make an appointment today for a custom consultation at DLVSC.