TikTok Skincare Trends, Honestly Rated By Someone Who Treats Skin For A Living

So many of you have sent me TikTok videos asking “is this actually true?” or “should I be doing this?” that I thought it was high time I sat down and gave you my honest, no- holds-barred verdict on the trends doing the rounds. Consider this your shortcut, the benefit of my training and years of treating real skin, so you can scroll past the rubbish and zero in on the few things genuinely worth your time. Let me run through them one by one.

Skin cycling: a wholehearted YES

Let me start with the one I am happiest to endorse, because credit where it is due. Skin cycling is the practice of rotating your evening actives across a repeating four- night cycle: an exfoliating acid one night, a retinoid the next, then two recovery nights of nothing but gentle moisturising before you start again.

I love it. It takes the single most common mistake I see (overloading the skin with too many actives, too often) and builds the rest your skin desperately needs right into the routine. You get the benefits of your hardworking ingredients without the irritation and barrier damage that comes from hammering your skin every single night. It is sensible, it is gentle, and it works. If you are going to copy one trend from this entire list, copy this one.

Verdict: brilliant, especially for beginners and sensitive skin.

Slugging: a YES, but only for the right skin

Slugging is the practice of slathering a thin layer of an occlusive (most commonly a plain petroleum jelly) over your skin as the very last step at night, to seal everything in while you sleep.

There is genuine merit here, but it comes with a big asterisk. For dry, dehydrated or compromised skin, slugging can be wonderful, locking in moisture and giving the barrier a real helping hand to recover overnight.

For oily, congested or acne-prone skin, however, sealing everything in like that can trap oil and debris and trigger breakouts. So this one entirely depends on YOUR skin. And one important word of caution: never slug over active ingredients like acids or retinol, because trapping those against the skin all night can drive irritation right up. Slug over plain, hydrating, gentle products only.

Verdict: lovely for dry skin, risky for oily or acne-prone skin.

Beef tallow: a fairly firm NO from me

Ah, beef tallow. Rendered beef fat, applied to the face as a “natural” moisturiser. This one had an enormous moment, though I am pleased to say the hype already seems to be cooling.

I understand the appeal of something natural and old-fashioned, I really do. But in my opinion there is very little to recommend it. The evidence behind it is thin to non- existent, it can be quite comedogenic (meaning it has real potential to clog pores and cause breakouts, particularly on oily skin), and we have a wealth of beautifully formulated, well-researched moisturisers that do the job far more reliably without smearing a steak’s worth of fat on your face. Novelty is not the same as efficacy, and once people compare it to proper science-backed products, the shine tends to wear off.

Verdict: skip it, your moisturiser is doing more than this ever will.

The “morning shed”: a NO, with a small caveat

If you have not seen this one, the morning shed involves going to bed looking like you are about to undergo surgery, layered in face tape, chin straps, mouth tape, under-eye patches, the whole performance, then “shedding” it all in the morning for supposedly transformed skin.

Honestly? Most of this is theatre rather than skincare. The elaborate ritual of taping and strapping has far more to do with our culture of turning everything into a productive performance than it does with any real skin science, and some elements (mouth taping in particular) are not something I would recommend dabbling in casually. The small caveat is that IF you happen to be using a good overnight product underneath all the drama, such as a nourishing night cream, then yes, your skin may well look lovely in the morning, but that is the cream’s doing, not the tape’s.

Verdict: the products might help, the performance is just for the camera.

Red light masks: a cautious YES

At-home LED face masks, glowing red and worn while you relax, have exploded in popularity, and unlike some on this list, there is real science behind the principle. Red light has been shown to support collagen production and circulation, and the at-home devices, while gentler than the professional versions, can genuinely deliver results.

The honest catch is consistency. These masks work slowly and cumulatively, so you need to use them regularly over weeks and months, not once in a blue moon, to see a difference. Buy from a reputable brand, follow the instructions, protect your eyes, and be patient. Do all that, and this is one trend with genuine substance.

Verdict: promising and worth it, IF you will actually use it consistently.

The hyaluronic acid mistake: worth flagging

This is less a trend and more a widespread misunderstanding I want to clear up while I have you. Hyaluronic acid is everywhere, and it is brilliant, BUT it works by drawing water towards itself, and if you apply it to dry skin in a dry environment, it can actually pull moisture OUT of the deeper layers of your skin and make things worse. The fix is simple: always apply it to slightly damp skin, and seal it in with a moisturiser on top. A small thing, but it catches an enormous number of people out.

Verdict: a great ingredient, used wrongly by half the internet.

How to judge the next trend for yourself

Since a new trend will have popped up by the time you finish reading this, let me leave you with the questions I run through whenever something new lands on my feed.

Who is recommending it? A qualified professional explaining the WHY is worlds apart from someone with a ring light and an affiliate code.

Is there a mechanism that makes sense? Can they actually explain how it works, or is it all vague promises and dramatic before-and-afters

Is it too good to be true? Skincare is a slow game of consistency. Anything promising overnight miracles is, in my opinion, almost always overpromising.

One last thought

The truth I want to leave you with is that good skin has never come from chasing trends. It comes from a calm, consistent, sensible routine repeated over time, the unglamorous stuff that will never go viral precisely because it is not dramatic enough to film. The trends that genuinely earn their place (skin cycling, sensible slugging, red light used properly) all share that quiet, consistent quality. The ones that fizzle out are the ones built for the camera rather than the skin.

So enjoy TikTok, by all means, it is huge fun and there are real gems among the nonsense. Just run everything past a healthy dose of scepticism first, and when in doubt, ask someone who treats skin rather than someone who films it.

As always, if there is a trend you have seen and want my honest take on, please do send it my way. I always love hearing from you 🙂

Love from Lulu xxx