Slugging Could Be the Secret to Healing Dry Winter Skin – ConsumerReports.org

I grew up convinced that any moisturizer not labeled oil free would clog the hell out of my pores; thankfully, if the slugging trend on TikTok is any indication, kids these days are not afraid of a little moisture in their skincare.

And they shouldnt be! For a long time people thought petrolatum was comedogenicthat is, it causes skin to clog up, says Michelle Wong, a cosmetic chemist and science educator based in Sydney, Australia. This was based on some studies on rabbit ears, where scientists applied petrolatum to them and counted clogged pores. But the study was faulty, she says: Rabbit ears are more sensitive than human skin and have larger pores that appeared clogged to the researchers. But the damage was done. This was eventually corrected in the mid-90s, when petrolatum was tested on human skin and found not to clog pores. But by then petrolatums reputation for pore-clogging was already established.

There are particular situations in which the heavy occlusivity of petroleum jelly products may do more harm than good. If youre using other especially strong, active skincare products before your moisturizer (for example, a retinoid), petrolatum can seal it inwhich in theory sounds like a great idea, but for folks with sensitive skin, the increased contact between your skin and the active ingredient can cause irritation. This irritation, says Wong, can lead to breakouts. So in a roundabout way, petrolatum can sometimes end up clogging pores, even if it isnt comedogenic on its own, she says.

You also definitely dont want to slug if you have any skin infections, says Boull. If you have impetigo, other bacterial infections of the skin, fungal infections of the skinthose would be times when you would want to steer clear of petrolatum, just until that infection got treated, she says. I asked her if that meant I shouldnt use it on the poison ivy I for some reason get every summer. It certainly wouldnt do much good, but it wouldnt hurt, either, she says, provided that I had thoroughly cleaned it before application. In that situation, she says, I should probably stick with a topical steroid for best results.

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Slugging Could Be the Secret to Healing Dry Winter Skin - ConsumerReports.org