What is TikTok’s ‘morning shed’ skincare trend — and does it actually work?
It’s time to shed your skin.
The latest viral skincare trend on TikTok doesn’t have much to do with actual skincare, but rather taking it all off.
“Morning shed,” which has 77 million views on the platform, is when people use a load of skincare products and treatments before bed and then remove — or shed — it in the morning.
While some people keep it simple with a classic routine plus a lip or a face mask, other content creators — like Kayla Lee Mills — go for a maximalist approach.
Eye masks, mouth tape, chin straps, overnight cream, bonnets and more are worn by these TikTokkers, often resulting in a scary and/or humorous nighttime look.
The idea is to wake up the next day appearing more refreshed than you did the day before — and some people swear it’s made a difference.
Comments on almost every morning shed video are extremely divided, with some people saying they are “easily influenced” and are going to start doing the same, while others say it’s “too much.”
“I’m too easily influenced. all of this is in my Amazon cart now,” one person admitted.
“The jaw strap wasn’t it for me I woke up in the middle of the night and freaked out and ripped it off and then my throat was sore and I cried myself back to sleep,” someone shared.
“Overconsumption is killing my people,” another joked.
TikTok user @maurslives quipped in the text on her morning shed video, “pov: you almost died in your sleep.”
But what do experts say?
As one person on TikTok declared, “Let’s see if going to bed ugly actually helps.”
Dr. Nava Greenfield, a board-certified dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City, recently told Well+Good that the morning shed may be mesmerizing — perhaps due to the freakiness of the way the people look — but there’s no real benefit to it.
“Not only is the theory behind its effectiveness not compelling, but there’s also a lack of data to support its use, and the trend may even be harmful,” Greenfield shared.
One example is the use of mouth tape, which is one of the main common threads between all of the shedding videos.
Mouth-taping forces you to breathe through your nose at night, minimizing mouth breathing and snoring.
Many celebs and influencers have shared their love for mouth-taping, including Andrew Huberman Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Graham, Erling Haaland, Mark Consuelos and Tiki Barber. In fact, Barber is such a fan that he is on the record supporting Hostage Tape, which is also what Consuelos swears by.
But those who aren’t in need of mouth tape might not want to force it into their sleep routine.
“Taping one’s mouth closed at night prevents normal physiologic changes in breathing patterns,” Greenfield explained. “Our body normalizes and regulates during sleep, and it’s important to allow that process to occur uninterrupted.”
Same goes for chin straps, eye masks, etc. — there’s no guarantee of overnight success, or any success at all.
If your routine already includes all of this and it works for you, then keep on keeping on. However, Greenfield believes that most people who share these extravagant nighttime rituals on social media are doing it simply for the camera and clout.
“I suspect creators are using these techniques for the shock appeal and rarely actually use them as a committed routine,” Greenfield said.
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