Dec. 6, 2022 – They have been round for some time and present no indicators of going away: Movies on TikTok of individuals, typically teenagers, slathering their face with petroleum jelly and claiming that it is remodeled their pores and skin, cured their pimples, or given them a tremendous “glow up.”
Movies on the favored social media platform mentioning petrolatum elevated 46% and Instagram movies by 93% from 2021 to 2022, reported Gabriel Santos Malave, of the Icahn College of Drugs at Mount Sinai, New York, and William D. James, MD, a professor of dermatology on the College of Pennsylvania, in a just lately printed research within the journal Cutis.
The authors mentioned that Vaseline maker Unilever experiences that mentions of the product elevated by 327% on social media in 2022, primarily due to “slugging,” which entails smearing petroleum jelly on the face after a moisturizer is placed on.
In a typical demonstration, a dermatologist in the UK confirmed how she makes use of slugging in her routine in a TikTok video that is had greater than 1 million views.
Not likemanyTikToktraits, slugging is probably not completely dangerous, say dermatologists.
“I feel it is a good way to maintain your pores and skin protected and moisturized, particularly in these dry, chilly winter months,” dermatologist Mamina Turegano, MD, mentioned in a video posted in February. That TikTok video has had greater than 6 million views.
Turegano, who’s in personal follow within the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, LA, says she determined to publish about slugging after she’d seen the subject was trending. Additionally, she had tried the method herself when she lived in Washington, DC, greater than a decade in the past.
On the time, she says, she was conscious that “placing petroleum jelly in your face was not a traditional factor.” However, given its historical past of being utilized in dermatology, she gave it a attempt to discovered that it labored effectively for her dry pores and skin.
Turegano is one amongst many dermatologists who’ve joined TikTok to dispel myths, educate, and inform. It is essential for them to be there “to interact and empower the general public to turn out to be a greater client of data on the market and take possession of their pores and skin well being,” says Jean McGee, MD, PhD, a dermatologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Middle in Boston, and an assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical College.
McGee and colleagues studied TikTok content material on slugging and located that by far, movies that had been created by well being care suppliers had been extra instructional. Dermatologists who posted had been extra more likely to focus on the dangers and advantages, whereas “influencers” not often posted concerning the dangers, in line with the research printed in Clinics in Dermatology.
Trapping Moisture
Slugging is mostly secure and efficient for many who have a compromised pores and skin barrier or “for many who have delicate pores and skin and may’t tolerate different merchandise however want some type of moisturization,” mentioned Turegano.
“Its oil-based nature permits it to seal water within the pores and skin by making a hydrophobic barrier that decreases transepidermal water loss,” Malave and James wrote in Cutis. They observe that petrolatum reduces that water loss by 98%, in contrast with solely 20% to 30% for different oil-based moisturizers.
Dermatologists have typically advisable a “seal and lure” plan for dry pores and skin or eczema. It entails a brief, lukewarm bathe, adopted by moisturizing with a petrolatum-based ointment instantly, says McGee.
This may very well be secure for the face, however “different variables have to be thought of,” together with use of different topical drugs and different skincare practices, she says.
The idea of double-layering a moisturizer and an occlusive agent might be helpful however extra sometimes for the fingers and toes, the place the pores and skin might be severely dry and cracked, says Adam Friedman, MD, a professor and chair of dermatology on the George Washington College of Drugs and Well being Sciences in Washington, DC. “I might not suggest that on the face,” he says.
He and different dermatologists warn there may be the potential for slugging – given petroleum jelly’s blocking potential – to boost the motion of any topical steroid, retinol, or exfoliating agent.
Muneeb Shah, DO, who practices in Mooresville, NC, is among the hottest dermatologists on TikTok and has greater than 17 million followers. He additionally warned in a February video about potential downsides. “Watch out after utilizing retinol or exfoliating acids as a result of it could really irritate your pores and skin extra,” he says within the video.
“Slugging is superior for some folks however not for others, and never for each night time,” Whitney Bowe, MD, says on a TikTok video she posted in July. She advisable it for eczema or actually dry pores and skin. Bowe, who practices with Superior Dermatology in New York Metropolis, suggested these with acne-prone pores and skin to “skip this development.”
On a webpage aimed toward most people, the American Academy of Dermatology additionally cautioned: “Keep away from placing petroleum jelly in your face in case you are acne-prone, as this may occasionally trigger breakouts in some folks.”
Pimples Remedy or Pore Clogger?
And but, loads of TikTok customers declare that it has improved their pimples.
One such person posted a before-and-after video purporting to indicate that slugging had virtually gotten rid of her pimples and prior scarring. Not surprisingly, it has been considered some 9 million occasions and received 1.5 million “likes.”
Friedman notes that it is theoretically attainable – however not going – that slugging may enhance pimples, provided that pimples principally is a illness of barrier disruption. “The concept right here is you’ve got disrupted pores and skin barrier all through the face no matter whether or not you’ve got a pimple in that spot or not, so you must restore it,” he mentioned. “That is the place I feel slugging is considerably heading in the right direction, as a result of by placing an occlusive agent on the pores and skin, you’re restoring the barrier aspect,” he mentioned.
Nonetheless, making use of a thick, greasy ointment on the face may block pores and trigger a backup of oil and useless pores and skin cells, and it may lure micro organism, he mentioned. “Pores and skin barrier safety and restore is central to pimples administration, however you must do it in a secure method,” he mentioned. He famous that meaning making use of an oil-free moisturizer to damp pores and skin.
Turegano mentioned she has seen slugging enhance pimples, but it surely’s laborious to say which individuals with acne-prone pores and skin could be the perfect candidates. Those that have used harsh merchandise to deal with pimples after which had their pimples worsen may probably profit, she mentioned.
Even so, she mentioned, “I might be very cautious in anybody with pimples.”
