By the end of 2022, at least 89% of US TikTok users had bought beauty products based on what they had seen on the app thanks to promotions, reviews, and trends shared by users across the globe.
As we near the halfway mark of winter the main topic on everyone’s slightly chapped lips is hydration and moisture. While TikTok provides a never-ending list of trends and beauty hacks, the two that stand out the most right now are skin flooding and skin cycling – both engineered to simplify what goes into a daily skincare routine while also increasing the hydration and moisture levels in the skin.
Neither includes a huge shift in your daily routine, instead, they amend how you treat your skin and with what to boost your moisture levels.
Dr. Alek Nikolic, rea nowned specialist in aesthetic medicine and owner of SkinMiles, breaks down these two trends and outlines how to incorporate them into your daily routine:
What is skin cycling?
This alternating evening regime was created and made famous by a renowned Tik-Tok dermatologist to promote ‘exfoliating like a dermatologist’ and has continued to increase in popularity during the first half of 2023.
The process involves using exfoliants, retinoids, ‘recovery evenings’ and other select active skin ingredients to effectively cycle how the skin is treated during weekly cycles. Not only does this routine scale back on how many products are used on the skin during daily skin care activities, but it also creates an easier-to-follow and stress-free regime for almost anyone to follow with incredible benefits for sensitive skin.
The key to a skin cycling regime is to ensure routines include four-day cycles of exfoliation, retinoids, and two days of recovery.
An example of a skin cycling routine is as follows:
Day 1 – EXFOLIATION: Skin cleansing followed by a thorough exfoliation and leave-on exfoliant.
Day 2 – RETINOIDS: Skin cleansing followed by application of retinoids and a moisturiser.
Day 3 & 4 – RECOVERY: Skin cleaning followed by applying hyaluronic acid serum, moisturising, and slugging.
“Skin cycling’s biggest benefit is that it limits abrasive exfoliation and over-use of products and serums and allows the skin time to recover in between and is said to yield benefits for people with very sensitive skin,” says Dr. Nikolic.
What is skin flooding?
Skin flooding, on the other hand, looks less at what goes on our faces and is more focused on how much. With increased hydration (which is always a good idea) at the core of this trend, it’s all about strategically layering products containing hyaluronic acid onto damp skin to lock moisture in the skin before applying moisturiser to treat dryness and avoid dehydration in the skin – especially during the winter months.
Dr. Nikolic maintains that skin flooding has increased in popularity because it increases the effectiveness of a skincare routine, laying thinnest to thickets products and serums for a deeper penetration of these for smoother and softer skin – perfect for the colder winter months, but effective year-round.
Both trends are hugely popular within the skin and beauty community and involve small shifts in daily routines that should result in big improvements in complexion and skin health.
