Microtrend Final Boss: Skincare Edition

By: Natasha Magrefte

You’ve probably heard the phrase “microtrend final boss” being used to describe people who buy different pieces/styles of clothing that will gain, and then lose, huge amounts of popularity, sometimes in a matter of days. While we typically hear this phrase in reference to fashion, the concept holds true for skincare as well.

It might seem fun and exciting to be one of the first to try the new fruit scented facial mist or

the serum that will supposedly make your pores disappear overnight. I’ve made this mistake

more times than I’d like to admit. However, keeping up with the trends of skincare is neither

beneficial to your skin nor your wallet. While we all know that new and trending skincare

products can be expensive, constantly switching up the products you use can also cause harm and irritation to your skin’s barrier.Because of this, we must be mindful of the way we consume information like this (or any information, for that matter) from social media. One of the most important things to remember when taking skincare advice from a 15 second TikTok video is that everyone’s skin is different, and a skincare product that works for a bunch of random people you saw online, may not give you the same results.

On top of that, we also need to be careful about who we trust online. Much of the content we consume every day is paid promotions, and we might not even know it. If a creator is making commission from a product, can we really expect them to be 100% honest about it? We’d love to think so, but at the end of the day, social media is a business, and not everyone’s priority is looking out for your skin.

So what can we take away from all this in order to make wiser choices when deciding on the newest addition to our skincare routines? Next time you catch yourself wanting to buy that new cool skincare product that all your favorite influencers are raving about on social media, maybe ask yourself the following questions before clicking ‘add to cart’:

Do I really need this product?

Or do I already have a skincare product in my routine that fulfills the same purpose? Will this make a difference in my skin in the long run?

When it comes to skincare, less is more. You do not want to have a 10 step routine of

products that are all doing the same thing or shouldn’t even be used at the same time.

Can I afford to repurchase this product each time it runs out?

Now this doesn't just mean you have enough money to pay for the product. But does it realistically fit into your budget? Does it make sense for you to spend that much on a skincare product?

Have I seen real, long-term results from actual users of the product?

Furthermore, are there enough of these results/reviews that I can come to real conclusions about the product? Are these reviews coming from a reliable source that I know can be trusted?

Can I read the ingredient list on the product?

Chances are, if the ingredient list is filled with words that you’ve never even heard of, or sounds like a chemistry experiment you wouldn't want to take part in, you probably shouldn’t be putting them on your skin.

If you answered yes to each of the questions above, you’ve probably found yourself a

skincare product worth investing in. Congrats!

If you need some good recs, here are a few of my personal favorites that check all the boxes for me: