Beware the ‘glow trap’: Dermatologist warns TikTok is driving the rise of painful ‘influencer inflammation’

Are you caught in the “glow trap”?

A leading dermatologist is speaking out against some viral skincare routines, warning that Gen Z’s obsession with online beauty hacks is leaving their faces red, raw and burning with “influencer inflammation.”

“One patient recently came in convinced she had ‘sensitive skin’ for the first time in her life,” Dr. Sandy Skotnicki, author of Beyond Soap and co-host of Skin To It podcast, told The Post. “In reality, she had irritant dermatitis from overdoing actives she saw on TikTok.”

The patient is part of a growing wave — mostly women in their late teens to early 30s — showing up at Skotnicki’s office with inflamed, stinging skin after adopting beauty regimens they found online.

“They’re often well-informed and genuinely interested in skincare, but that curiosity gets hijacked by influencer marketing and peer pressure,” she said. 

But it’s not just women. Skotnicki said more men are experimenting with multi-step routines — and when they overdo it, their skin flares up the same way.

“When I ask about their routine, they’re often using a foaming cleanser, followed by glycolic acid toner, vitamin C serum, niacinamide and retinol — sometimes all in one go,” she said.

That was the case for the patient with irritant dermatitis, who lifted her daily regimen straight from a skinfluencer.

“When we stripped her routine back to basics — gentle cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen — her skin calmed within weeks,” Skotnicki said.

Product elimination and skin cycling: your new BFFs

The protocol, known as the product elimination diet, has patients switch their hair and face care products to fragrance-free, essential oil–free and formaldehyde-free formulas before slowly adding them back one at a time.

“They typically get better and then reintroduce one per week to see what combination works for them,” she said. “It’s often not one product but the combined irritation from all of them together.”

Take glycolic acid and retinol, for example. Each ingredient has benefits — exfoliation and collagen stimulation, respectively — but used together, they can seriously damage the skin barrier and cause irritation.

“I like the idea of skin cycling if they really want to use multiple actives,” Skotnicki said. “It empowers a routine and they can still use their ‘stuff,’” Skotnicki said. 

The technique involves alternating powerful actives — like glycolic acid and retinol — on different days to minimize irritation and maximize benefits.

Influencer overload

Skotnicki says one of the biggest challenges for skincare-savvy young people is cutting through the “information overload” online.

“Who do you trust?” she said. “Some dermatologists even get things wrong sometimes. And the Gen-Z self-taught gurus that appeal to their generation often have some great information — and then also get things wrong.”

“Also, your skin is different from the influencer,” Skotnicki noted, so their regimen may not work for you, especially if you have acne or eczema-prone skin.

To avoid falling into the “glow trap,” she broke down a few red flags to watch for.

Buyer beware

“My first advice is this: If there is a buy button and link to purchase to what they are talking about, beware,” she warned.

“If the influencer has a reputation for solid advice and most of their content is ‘I tried this and this happened’ and only occasionally is selling something, I would be less troubled,” Skotnicki added.

She also called out misleading marketing buzzwords.

“‘Sensitive’ on the bottle means basically nothing,” she said. “Even ‘fragrance-free’ can be on natural products and they contain essential oils — which are fragranced,” she added, citing examples from Goop.

Skotnicki stressed the importance of knowing what you’re mixing as well.

“As derms, we were happy to see the 12-step Korean trend go,” she said. “Now we are back with multiple actives vs. steps.”

While she’s encouraged that people are learning more about what’s in their products, she said the results can be the same: irritated, overloaded skin.

“This is why I do encourage products with few ingredients,” she said. “If they do use multiple products, it could amount to less overall ingredients in general.”