Hitting my late twenties has given me a wiseness, a confidence, a refined style and unfortunately, a crop of adult acne. Instead of asking for the advice of a medical professional, I channelled my inner Belle Gibson and spent the last 12 months trying a highlight reel of basically every TikTok skincare ‘hack’ to grace my phone screen.
For some background, I’m a long-term acne girlie with no medical training whatsoever. I’m also a lover of naturopathy and budget-friendly hacks. See, I’ve had problematic skin before. As my first period came, I developed breasts, hips and an onslaught of cystic acne. In my teens, I turned to Proactiv, dermatologists and Accutane. But when I faced the same problem in my late twenties, I turned to TikTok (not very mature, not very mindful).
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The new-age wellness hacks, ‘morning shed’ videos and weekly skin micro-trends has left my mind and skin over-stimulated and struggling. So, if you’re feeling tempted to go down the same road to disaster I did, here’s exactly what I experimented with, using my face as the guinea pig.
Slugging my way to ‘glass skin’
Starting off strong with the old ‘you have acne because your skin is dry’ theory. Slugging is the method of applying a thick layer of Vaseline or other heavy, occlusive cream to your face before bed, to trap in the moisture of your other products and wake up with glass skin.
Verdict: A no go for me! I wanted this to work so bad. Slugging works so well for a lot of people on TikTok, but seems to be dependent on the layering of your skincare and dryness of your skin. Vaseline slugging works by trapping moisture, but it can also trap oils and dirt, leaving my congestion pimples worse than before, especially around my lips.
@carissajuhl Vaseline hydrated my dry and flaky skin in just ONE night and no this is not an ad #vaseline#skinhacks#creatorsearchinsights#dryskin#dryskintips#dryskincare#skincaretips #slugging ♬ Brother Eww Mark Kross Edit – Jayden Collison
Apple cider vinegar as toner
Okay I’ll admit I’m an ACV stan, so I was a sucker for this one. The idea of using ACV as a facial toner, to be used after cleansing and before moisturising to get rid of any remaining bacteria, is something my crunchy nature-loving self would probably have done without TikTok. ACV does have antibacterial properties after all…
@daynasworld Tutorial pinned on my home page 4 years of using diluted ACV as a toner
one of my favorite hacks for getting rid for texture #acv #acne #breakouts #applecidervinegar #pimples ♬ original sound – Daynasworld
Verdict: Sadly this didn’t work for me. I diluted it but it was still very harsh on my face, and flared up my sensitive skin and (shocker) and made my breakouts a lot worse.
Not cleansing in the morning
Okay, this was a loose one that originated from a TikTok I saw of Salma Hayek saying she attributes her ageless skin to not washing her face in the morning, because it strips the natural oils accumulated overnight. My celeb crush may have led me astray on this one.
@dermatica Is this hack the secret to Salma’s glow? Dr Mia explains #facewash #morningcleaning #doublecleansing #skincaretips #salmahayek ♬ original sound – Dermatica
Verdict: Not washing my face in the morning doesn’t work for me and actually made my acne worse. However, it has worked fine for me before when living in a less sweaty, colder climate and when my skin wasn’t breaking out as badly. Not a full failure.
Head and Shoulders for fungal acne
Fungal acne has become somewhat of a buzzword on social media and SkinTok, referring to itchy red acne that is caused by a yeast overgrowth on the skin due to humidity, heat and sweat. TMI but I’m well accustomed with… yeast, and my acne did start whilst backpacking in Thailand, so I figured this was enough evidence to justify washing my face with anti-dandruff shampoo, and when that didn’t work; diluted anti-fungal tea tree and clove oil.
Verdict: Nay! Some people do suffer from fungal acne, but that ain’t me. Watching TikTok did not qualify me to diagnose myself and my skin was very dry, very red and very inflamed.
@aamnaadel how to use head & shoulders as a FACEWASH she is that girl for fungal acne & seb derm #dermatologist #dradel #skintok #skincare #skincareroutine #skincaretips #skinhacks #fungalacne #acne #seborrheicdermatitis #headandshoulders #foryou #fyp #fypシ゚ ♬ Chopin Nocturne No.2 Op.9-2(1391533) – 314P
How I actually improved my skin
Unfortunately, for all my fellow crunchy and budget queens, none of my TikTok skincare hacks worked. They actually left me out of pocket, with a year of very unhappy skin to show for my efforts. Here’s a list of things that did work for me:
1. Going. To. A. Doctor. I know it sucks, and it’s usually expensive. But medically-prescribed retinol has worked wonders for me, and if it doesn’t keep working I’ll go back to my doctor and decipher why. My acne could be the result of hormones, my IUD, or another underlying condition, and I’ll never know unless I see an expert.
2. Regular facials with a beautician at a clinic, who got me onto using medical-grade skincare.
3. Stop picking! Watch extraction videos on TikTok to scratch that itch instead.
4. Stop listening to untrained people on the internet. Talk to a medical professional, beautician, dermatologist; anyone but me or the thousands of self-proclaimed skincare experts online.
Moral of the story: stick to what you know and outsource the rest – especially when it concerns the largest organ of your body.
For more on dermatologist reactions to TikTok hacks, try this.
This article All the TikTok skincare advice I shouldn’t have taken appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-03-06 05:19:00
#TikTok #skincare #advice #shouldnt
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