Not all viral beauty trends are created equally.
This is something Dr. Muneeb Shah a.k.a. Derm Doctor—TikTok's number one dermatology influencer worldwide—knows about all too well. And the board-certified dermatologist exclusively told E! News which popular skincare hacks on social media users should keep on scrolling past.
"I think anything that you see that shows up and it trending is the first time you ever heard about it," he explained about avoiding certain trends. "I would just be a little skeptical and take my time with it, because the things that actually do work will stay around for much longer than a week or a day right?"
And when it comes to an oversaturated feed, filled with the latest, most promising beauty tricks for dewy, glowy skin, Dr. Shah recommends doing your own research.
"Take your time with things," he noted. "It is your skin. It is the thing that everybody sees when they first meet you. You definitely don't want to break down your skin barrier with anything crazy."
And while some DIY treatments are making the rounds again—such as at homemade chemical peels, DIY period face masks and the dotted makeup hack—many are not worth the try.
"One of the things is like these ‘do it yourself' hacks where people are taking lemon, lime, baking soda, mixing it together and then apply it as a pace to the face," Dr. Shah stated. "We just don't know like how safe that pH is going to be for the skin and how irritating it's going to be—especially when we have so many good skincare products out there. We really don't need to be doing things like that."
And along with avoiding the acidic DIY mask?
"I would definitely avoid at home microneedling," he continued. "The dermarolling—I'm not a big fan of that, especially if you don't clean the device. Those are the things I would recommend avoiding right now."
When it comes to Dr. Shah's mission to bring good skincare to people IRL, his goal is to "democratize dermatology." And that's part of the reason he partnered with Cortina, a dermatology app that is accessible to people nationwide, as an advisor.
"I always tell people go see your dermatologist," the 34-year-old explained. "But a lot of people can't see a dermatologist or there's not a dermatologist in their local area or it's going to take them six months to see a dermatologist. So Cortina, for me, was bridging the gap between seeing a dermatologist and what most patients have access to."
Dr. Shah added, "When I create content I say 'Hey, you really need a good acne routine or a good rosacea routine.' And Cortina can bridge that gap from anywhere in the country—all 50 states where you can get prescription medications from a board-certified dermatologist—which to me is amazing."