Pennsylvania aesthetician and teen warn skin care products from TikTok can cause damage, breakouts
TikTok has become a powerful sales machine, both with information from influencers and direct sales. Skin care products are especially popular.
Doctors advise caution when it comes to getting skin care advice from the social media app. One Montgomery County teenager says products from TikTok made her break out.
Skin care advice and products are all over TikTok, and it's go-to information for teenagers like 17-year-old Reese Miller.
Miller was trying to get rid of some acne, but she says it got worse with the products she saw online.
"It got super red and inflamed super quickly," Miller said.
Blue Bell aesthetician Linda Lee Tagliamonte, who's treating Miller now, says the products touted on TikTok can be abrasive and contain things like retinols and exfoliates. They're ingredients in many skin care products available in retail stores.
"I feel that there needs to be more education," Tagliamonte said, adding that some products can cause rashes, redness, burns, infections and premature acne.
Miller said she kept buying different products with her mom's support, hoping to find the right solution eventually.
Skin care experts say everyone should pay attention to ingredients and understand some can cause side effects no matter where you buy them, including from TikTok.
"These kids, they want this Korean glass skin. And the influencers, they look perfect on screen," Tagliamonte said. "And I try to tell them that they're salespeople."
Miller said her skin has cleared up now that she's using fewer products.
TikTok says it aims "to create a welcoming, safe, and entertaining experience." The company also says it is "deeply committed to TikTok being a safe and positive experience for people under the age of 18" and that it moderates "content that involves goods or activities that may be risky … or otherwise require a higher degree of care."