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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

5 skincare hazards the beauty boom created. Go easy on actives and ‘hacks’

I’m seeing more and more people running into trouble not from skin diseases, but from the routines they’re following to ‘fix’ things.

A few years ago, a lovely 28-year-old woman walked into my clinic looking absolutely exhausted. She plopped down, sighed dramatically, and said, “Doctor Deepali, my skin has officially declared war on me. I’ve tried every cream, serum, face mask, and TikTok trend under the sun… nothing works. I feel like my face is betraying me every single morning.”

I smiled because I’ve heard versions of this story hundreds of times. She showed me her phone gallery—close-up selfies with angry red patches, tiny bumps across her cheeks, and that tell-tale greasy-yet-flaky combination that screams “confused skin”. We chatted for a good twenty minutes before I even picked up my dermatoscope.

It turned out she’d been aggressively scrubbing with a 2% salicylic acid cleanser twice a day, layering three different actives at night, and using a physical exfoliating brush “because everyone says you need to slough off dead skin”. No wonder her barrier was screaming for mercy.

That day, we made a pact: press pause on the war and focus on peace-making instead. We stripped her routine right back, focused on gentle repair, and slowly reintroduced actives only when her skin stopped looking angry. Six weeks later, she sent me a photo—clear, calm, glowing. Her smile in the message said it all: sometimes less really is more.

The skincare world has exploded in the last decade, and that’s exciting. We now have powerful ingredients that........

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