Does the skin care routine work?

The trend has fascinated beauty lovers who are eager to try everything for that morning glow. Some makers keep it simple with face and lip masks allowing these products to work their magic overnight. However, some take it a step further by taking a more-is-more approach, such as carrying chin straps, eye masks, night creams or even mouth tape. The idea is to wake up looking fresher and renewed than the day before, and #morningshed devotees swear by their results.

Still, with all the fad beauty tricks out there, it’s ‘morning shed’ Actually a useful hack? To find out, I tapped Nava GreenfieldMD, a board-certified dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City for her expert opinion on the latest TikTok craze.

What is the morning sanding trend?

As the name suggests, ‘morning scour’ is the very long process of removing (or shedding) all the beauty products you wore to bed. “I think I spend too much time on this app,” creator Kayla Lee Mills (@kaylaleemolens) says inside a TikTok clip as she begins to remove her mouth tape, eye masks and jaw tape. In Mills’ video, it’s unclear whether she’s been doing a skincare routine all morning, but she does prep using red light therapy on an LED device — only to reveal clear skin and a bouncy breakout.

@kaylaleemills

Morning shed. Honestly the jaw strap was an elite addition and I don’t know how crazy it looks #morning routine

♬ original sound – kayla lee

Creator Maur (@maurslevens) took the morning scouring trend to the next level by taking off mouth tape, a nose mask, eye masks, a silk hat and a jaw strap. As with any TikTok video and social media trend, reviews are mixed and the comment sections on #morningshed videos are full of skeptics. “Overconsumption is killing my people,” writes one commenter, while another notes, “I think I have sleep apnea because the mouth taping almost killed me.”

@maurslives

the combination of chin strap and mouth tape is deadly…#morningshed #skincareroutine

♬ Carrie Bradshaw – Gal Matza

Is morning loss safe or necessary?

While you can certainly do whatever you want with your face, says Dr. Greenfield that the morning loss trend bubbling up on TikTok has a lot of shock value, but no real weight from a professional standpoint. “Not only is the theory behind its effectiveness unconvincing, but there is also a lack of data to support its use, and the trend may even be harmful,” says Dr. Greenfield.

Take for example the mouth tape trend typically seen in morning sanding videos. “Taping the mouth shut overnight prevents normal physiological changes in breathing patterns,” says Dr. Greenfield. “Our body normalizes and regulates during sleep, and it is important to allow that process to occur uninterrupted.” The same goes for using a chin strap or sleeping with an eye mask: these are all things that haven’t been proven to make a big difference in the quality of your skin (or your sleep) overnight. Some users have even reported that preparing their morning shed gave them a worse night’s sleep.

If your goal is to wake up with glowing skin, try investing in a fine line serum or an editor-recommended moisturizer. Of course, if you’re constantly concerned, it’s best to talk to a board-certified dermatologist who can help you establish a routine that works for you.

Last takeaway

Listen, if your nighttime skincare routine already includes mouth tape and a chin strap, keep doing that. But if you’re hoping that adding a layer of tape, straps, and band-aids will give you tighter, smoother skin when you “shed them” in the morning, you’ll probably be disappointed. “I suspect that videographers use these techniques to induce shock and rarely use them as a committed routine,” says Dr. Greenfield. In short, do things that make you feel good about yourself in the long run. Yes, you can sleep with your heatless curling wand and wear a night mask if desired. But be sure you don’t spend time and energy on trends that could be harmful (or at least unproductive) in the long run.