How Often Should You Slug Your Skin? It is recommended that you slug your skin once or twice a week, depending on the condition of your skin. Those with extremely dry skin can slug two to three days in a row and give it a break for two to three days before repeating the process.
“As far as frequency goes, it's best to listen to your skin,” Nelson adds. If you have skin that tends to be dry, you may benefit from slugging daily. However, those with oily skin should consider slugging less or not at all, Dr. Parcells says, as slugging might make any active breakouts or oil-prone skin even worse.
In order to notice results, you need to slug consistently for four to six weeks. Slugging cannot repair your skin or your skin's appearance overnight.
But, though it's been popularized again recently, it is a practice most dermatologists recommend for quickly healing dryness and eczema and trapping in your moisture, dermatologist Dr. Shari Marchbein, M.D., who made an entire Instagram Reels on slugging, tells Teen Vogue.
A step-by-step guide to slugging
Step 1: Cleanse your skin using a gentle hydrating cleanser. Step 2: Apply a thin layer of Vaseline over your face and neck while your skin is still damp. Step 3: Leave it overnight. Last step: Wash your face with plain water in the morning.
When to Slug. You can do it nightly to heal dehydrated, dry, cracked or inflamed skin. To maintain results, I recommend slugging 2-3 times per week.
As well as preventing water loss and sealing the skin's barrier, slugging can also cause more acne, trap dead skin and increase oil too.”
Finally, slugging can help the skin repair itself if it's damaged and dehydrated. As we age, our skin barrier can no longer repair itself, leading to fine lines, saggy skin, or wrinkles. While slugging can't prevent these conditions, it may help reduce their appearance.
Slugging should always be the final step in your skin care routine. Once you're finished with moisturizing, dermatologists recommend applying a thin layer of your occlusive of choice to your skin and letting the product do its work overnight.
Apply A Layer Of Petroleum Jelly
Once you are done with your skin care routine, you can go to sleep and wake up to glowing, glass-like skin after slugging from the previous night!
The products applied before your “slug” should be formulated with gentle, hydrating ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid or ceramides. Formulas with active ingredients should generally be avoided before slugging, in order to avoid any irritation or unwanted side effects from “sealing in” these actives overnight.
If you usually wash your face come morning, go ahead and do so, but it's not necessary to wash off your slugging product from the night before, she says. Either way, be sure to admire your gorgeously glowy new skin.
The downside is that slugging can trap dead skin cells, oil, and debris, encouraging bacterial overgrowth, and it may worsen acne breakouts. “If you have acne-prone or oily skin, you may want to skip this trend,” Hartman says.
Don't add slugging over retinol (do retinol on days you don't slug) If you have acne prone skin, use an even thinner layer of occlusive moisturizer or use squalane oil (a much lighter occlusive) in your skincare regimen to get the barrier-effects of slugging.
Applying Vaseline® Jelly under eyes is a tried-and-tested way to lock in moisture, keeping skin in the eye area soft and elastic, and rejuvenating skin that looks dry and tired.
Yes, slugging can cause breakouts. Slugging is not an effective skincare method for all skin types and if you don't watch out, this skincare trend can leave your skin with more of the very break-outs you are trying to avoid in the first place.
When applied to delicate areas, like under the eyes, slugging could cause milia, which are small, painless white bumps that appear when keratin gets trapped beneath the skin's surface, says Beach. “[Milia] occur more commonly when people are using a heavy product around the eyelid or the eye area,” she explains.
Acne-prone skin or blackheads
Certain online videos claim slugging can help eliminate blackheads, but Dr. Sulewski disagrees. If you're prone to acne, don't try it because it could make the condition worse.
And, he and Palermino said, slugging doesn't require much petroleum jelly. You can use a pea-size portion for your entire face, rather than what's going on in the video below (you don't want to ruin your linens).
And apparently, the petroleum jelly does not ruin your pillows - a question brought up numerous times on Reddit. According to those who use Vaseline in their nighttime routines, the petroleum jelly soaks into your skin, leaving your pillowcases clear from the goo.
Slugging should be the last step in your night-time skincare routine, so save it for after cleansing, using treatments like serums and applying your usual moisturizer. Once you've applied the other products in your skincare routine, "apply a thin layer of petrolatum-based ointment like Vaseline or Aquaphor," Dr.