Slugging….To slug or not to slug….

This dilemma arrives from Instagram and other social media posts the place there is certainly a ton of confusion all over this subject matter.

What is “slugging”? It is the apply of placing occlusive brokers like or related to vaseline/petrolatum more than all sorts of other pores and skin care products.  The objective is to intensify the item but does it seriously get the job done?

4 Explanations to Feel Twice Prior to You “Slug.”

1. Slugging dilutes your pores and skin care products and solutions. Placing an occlusive agent on your skin, does very little by alone besides reduce drinking water evaporation through the skin. This is known as transepidermal water reduction, but who desires to say that all the time, so it is abbreviated TEWL. 🙂 If you put an occlusive agent around an active, it may penetrate improved owing to a lot more h2o retention in the barrier layer (epidermis). You cannot make the item alone stronger. There’s no science that I’ve found on utilizing vaseline or Aquaphor over remarkably engineered, normally highly-priced, currently productive skincare solutions. Why perhaps wreck a great skincare product or service?
2. Slugging changes your solutions formulation by modifying the pH. I really don’t propose employing occlusive moisturizers in excess of these now efficient products because you can alter them and shed their performance. For instance, if you try to intensify a retinoid this way, you might get additional irritation, clogged pores, and you could get a lot less penetration dependent on how the products was formulated. But base line….just about anything acidic is not a good thought. So for certain not vitamin C, retinol (retinoid acid) or any of the alpha or beta hydroxy acids like glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and many others.
3. Slugging may result in irritation. For instance, what if you have, and quite a few men and women do, a low amount of irritation or allergy to propylene glycol (in lots of skincare merchandise). If you occlude acids, it may well bring about discomfort. But it’s far more probably it would inactivate the actives in the item. Lots of of these goods will need a particular pH initially to penetrate nicely. Do you want to transform that?
4. Slugging clogs pores and may possibly cause acne. In some who are quite dry, it is pretty much difficult to induce clogged pores. Other people, with plenty of oil of their own, lots of merchandise can clog pores and frequently unwanted acne breakouts is the end result. Some “natural oils” can do this also. This kind of acne will generally exhibit up 4-8 months immediately after you start the product.  Occlusives essentially never make it possible for TEWL or sweat evaporation. Normal oils like jojoba and apricot, for example, really do not have a tendency to be as occlusive as petrolatum, waxes, mineral oils, and stable nut “butters.”  These substances however as aspect of a well balanced formulation might be excellent.

Hope this allows,

Brandith Irwin, MD