A real medical opinion from a real doctor.
Tamim is beauty commerce writer at InStyle, with nearly a decade of experience writing about beauty, fashion, wellness, and music. Pullup Underwear
Years ago, a video of beauty vlogger Farah Dhukai using baby diaper rash cream to cure and soothe her acne went viral. Farah outlined the two ways she used it in her video — as an overnight spot treatment or full face mask. Internet beauty fads are one thing, but when it comes to skincare you want to be more careful before you go experimenting. Commenters had mixed opinions (surprise it's the internet) about you know — smearing rash cream on your face. We spoke to an actual doctor, renowned New York city dermatologist, Dr. Leslie Gerstman who runs her own practice — to get an honest medical opinion about the fad.
Gertsman recommends looking through the list of ingredients. "Different brands have different ingredients but the main ingredients are zinc and petroleum," say the dermatologist. She says though zinc is typically a good ingredient due to its anti-inflammatory and wound-healing qualities, users should be wary.
"[In pimples,] there's a lot of inflammation and bacteria and it needs to be healed," Gertsman explains, adding that the petroleum is a protective agent, which is why it's good for babies. "[Petroleum] protects the skin — it's almost like having cellophane on the skin."
Because of this, applying petroleum is completely closing the pores, which is a problem, especially when you have skin that has acne. "That's why it's not a good idea," says Gertsman. "Basically you're taking oily, inflated and potentially infected skin and putting a barrier on it and potentially making it worse."
So there you have it — zinc good for your acne, petroleum not so much. Unless you want to clog every pore on your face, we wouldn't recommend this. And while this is still an opinion on the internet, it's a medical opinion on the internet. Proceed with caution (and don't say we didn't warn you).
Overnight Incontinence Pants By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.