Face Slugging TikTok Trend: How Dangerous Is Spreading Grease on Human Skin?

The question for millions of TikTok users turning to the leading social media platform for tips and information specifically on slugging.

A US News report describes slugging as involving "slathering some sort of sealing agent" such as Vaseline or another petroleum-based ointment onto the skin, particularly the face.

While this DIY skin care remedy becomes a phenomenon, not to mention a trend on TikTok, a new study cautions that most of the posts on the social media giant focused on the practice of reducing wrinkles "are medically unreliable" promoting the benefits yet downplaying the dangers.

Slugging Benefits

According to the lead author of the study, Kyla Pagani, the main objective of slugging is to help the skin get moisturized and strengthen the skin barrier, for people combatting skin inflammation, irritation, or dryness.

Pagani, who performed her research published in the Clinics in Dermatology journal, while she was a medical student at the Department of Technology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston emphasized that the idea is not medically unsound

She added she heard some dermatologists quite highly speaking about it, more frequently for dealing with eczema on the hands. Indeed, she said, slugging has benefits.

However, she continued, it has potential downsides, too like boosting the chances of having acne. More so, with social media such as TikTok, exerting such a strong influence on younger individuals, she, together with her colleagues wanted to find out if TikTok's over one billion users are likely to get the entire picture of what slugging really encompasses.

Probable Risks of Slugging

To do that, the research team investigated the content found in the top 49 English-language videos on slugging posted on TikTok.

As a result of their investigation, overall, the research team discovered that roughly six out of 10 posts underscored only the positives of slugging while only two in 10 mentioned probable risks.

Pagani said, what they found was not essentially misinformation, but frequently a lack of information. Most of the time, there were only no mentions or inclusions of the risks of slugging.

"What we found was not necessarily misinformation, but often a lack of information," Pagani said. "A lot of the time, there was just no inclusion of risks."

Containing Cancer-Causing Compounds

One concern with the use of petroleum jelly on the skin is that the body cannot metabolize it. Therefore, according to a Health and Natural World report, petroleum jelly "provides no benefit" to the skin or body aside from softening dry skin.

Some studies have also suggested that petroleum jelly has harmful substance contents that can build up in the body. Previous research specified that hydrocarbons from cosmetics in mineral oil, also a petroleum product, can contaminate the body.

In addition, compounds found in petroleum jelly may cause high estrogen levels too, in the body. The dominance of estrogen in the body impacts the reproductive system of a woman and causes fibrocystic breast changes, premenstrual syndrome, and mood swings.

In connection to this, estrogen levels were also linked to the use of petroleum jelly and products that contain it for skin care.

What's even more alarming about the use of petroleum-based substances is that they may contain compounds that cause cancer.

Related information about slugging is shown on Mixed Makeup's YouTube video below:

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