Aug. 16, 2022 — A rising bandwagon of TikTok influencers has been utilizing and selling calamine lotion as a make-up primer below basis. Whereas this may occasionally work as a base layer for some folks, dermatologists have issues about this development, significantly the danger of dryness.
As of Aug. 12, the # calamine lotion tag had greater than 20.8 million views on TikTok, with a whole lot of movies hailing the cream for its opaque pink tint and matte impact when used below basis.
Calamine lotion has been used to deal with itchy rashes, insect bites, and ache from chickenpox and poison ivy for years. It’s bought over-the-counter and is a standard remedy for pores and skin discomfort, says Doris Day, MD, a dermatologist in New York Metropolis. It is usually on the World Well being Group’s listing of important medicine, she says.
“That is one thing that has been round for a very long time. It’s acknowledged as a drug that has significance. So now and again I assume anyone comes throughout it and says it’s a ‘new panacea’ for one thing, however it’s actually not. It’s simply an old-time easy product.”
Calamine lotion is made from ferric oxide and zinc oxide, which supplies it its antiseptic and anti-itch properties, along with its attribute pink shade. Zinc oxide can also be generally utilized in mineral sunscreens, Day says.
Although these elements are secure with momentary, localized use, excessive concentrations and continual use of calamine lotion may be irritating to the pores and skin, says Pooja Sodha, MD, director of the Middle for Laser and Beauty Dermatology at George Washington College in Washington, DC.
At these excessive concentrations, calamine lotion may be drying, which can trigger pores and skin clumping and may be abrasive, says Sodha. She additionally cautions that the astringent properties of the zinc and the excessive pH could disrupt proteins on the pores and skin, which breaks down the pores and skin’s pure defenses. Utilizing calamine lotion everywhere in the face every day can “doubtlessly injury your pores and skin barrier to some extent the place you are going to should do loads of additional work … to convey it again.”
Day additionally worries about this development leading to dry pores and skin. Even in conditions the place utilizing calamine lotion is acceptable, like treating poison ivy, its drying results can typically irritate the pores and skin.
And dry pores and skin may be greater than an aesthetic subject: It might probably result in breaks within the pores and skin, which may end up in infections and scarring, she says. Whereas this may occasionally not happen in somebody with extraordinarily oily pores and skin, most individuals don’t have extraordinarily oily pores and skin, says Day, so this will probably be ineffective at finest and damaging at worst.
If somebody is searching for make-up base layer, Sodha recommends one thing that is non-comedogenic and non-sensitizing, like silicon-based primers.
“The wonderful thing about these merchandise is that they’re non-comedogenic, so they will not clog your pores. They’re artificial, so they don’t seem to be going to trigger some kind of allergy,” she says.
Normally, each dermatologists warn their sufferers to be cautious of the TikTok tendencies they see on-line and warning about potential results with long-term use of calamine lotion on the face, even when it seems to work with one use.
“Customers have to consider this like they do with any kind of product that they arrive throughout, simply eager about the long-term results of one thing like this and the way it works for their very own pores and skin,” says Sodha.
