Dermatologists Skeptical of Calamine Lotion TikTok Craze
Aug. 16, 2022 — A rising bandwagon of TikTok influencers has been utilizing and endorsing calamine lotion as a makeup primer less than basis. Although this may well work as a base layer for some men and women, dermatologists have issues about this craze, especially the risk of dryness.
As of Aug. 12, the # calamine lotion tag experienced much more than 20.8 million views on TikTok, with hundreds of movies hailing the product for its opaque pink tint and matte outcome when made use of beneath foundation.
Calamine lotion has been utilised to treat itchy rashes, insect bites, and suffering from chickenpox and poison ivy for several years. It’s bought over the counter and is a frequent treatment method for pores and skin pain, states Doris Working day, MD, a skin doctor in New York Metropolis. It is also on the Planet Overall health Organization’s checklist of vital medicines, she states.
“This is a little something that has been close to for a prolonged time. It’s acknowledged as a drug that has great importance. So every single now and then I guess somebody comes across it and says it is a ‘new panacea’ for a little something, but it is actually not. It’s just an previous-time simple product.”
Calamine lotion is built of ferric oxide and zinc oxide, which gives it its antiseptic and anti-itch houses, in addition to its characteristic pink coloration. Zinc oxide is also typically applied in mineral sunscreens, Working day says.
However these ingredients are safe and sound with momentary, localized use, high concentrations and long-term use of calamine lotion can be annoying to the pores and skin, says Pooja Sodha, MD, director of the Centre for Laser and Cosmetic Dermatology at George Washington College in Washington, DC.
At these higher concentrations, calamine lotion can be drying, which may perhaps bring about skin clumping and can be abrasive, suggests Sodha. She also cautions that the astringent attributes of the zinc and the significant pH might disrupt proteins on the skin, which breaks down the skin’s pure defenses. Using calamine lotion all around the deal with every day can “potentially injury your skin barrier to a point the place you’re going to have to do a lot of additional operate … to bring it again.”
Day also concerns about this craze resulting in dry skin. Even in conditions exactly where employing calamine lotion is ideal, like treating poison ivy, its drying consequences can occasionally irritate the pores and skin.
And dry skin can be more than an aesthetic difficulty: It can guide to breaks in the skin, which can consequence in bacterial infections and scarring, she claims. Even though this could not take place in somebody with incredibly oily skin, most men and women never have exceptionally oily pores and skin, says Day, so this will be ineffective at most effective and harming at worst.
If an individual is hunting for a good make-up base layer, Sodha suggests anything that is non-comedogenic and non-sensitizing, like silicon-centered primers.
“The excellent issue about these products is that they are non-comedogenic, so they is not going to clog your pores. They are artificial, so they are not likely to result in some form of allergy,” she suggests.
In typical, both equally dermatologists alert their clients to be wary of the TikTok trends they see on the web and caution about feasible consequences with extensive-time period use of calamine lotion on the confront, even if it seems to work with 1 use.
“Consumers have to believe about this like they do with any form of item that they come across, just wondering about the lengthy-time period outcomes of a thing like this and how it will work for their own skin,” says Sodha.