You May Be Ruining Your Skin if You Follow These Bad Instagram Beauty Tips
It’s not just lemons you need to stay away from. From Elmer’s Glue to, yes, pizza grease, social media is booming with — shall we say, “unique” — beauty hacks. But are these bad Instagram beauty tips really worth ruining your skin for?
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2017 was the year of the beauty guru. I think we can all agree that, easily, beauty bloggers are the most influential types of content creators on the Internet. Think about it: When’s the last time you purchased something blindly, without at least looking up a review somewhere? I know I hardly EVER buy anything without looking for reviews, so beauty bloggers are pretty important in my life.
But I don’t know what happened on social media. Viral beauty bloggers went from posting actually helpful tips and tricks to using the most insane products and ingredients on their faces and skin. From cat litter to Elmer’s Glue to pizza grease (I literally cannot with that one), it just seems like every day these gurus are straying further from God’s light.
![bad instagram beauty tips](https://d3vlxf0ngetfml.cloudfront.net/blog-media/original_images/bad-instagram-beauty-tips-resized.jpeg)
Some of the tips are supposed to be money-saving (?!), while others seem to be just for viral shock value. But one thing is for sure — DO NOT TRY ANY OF THESE THINGS AT HOME. Instead, I’m here to help by giving you some (real and effective) alternatives to these ridiculous tips.
Wasabi lip plumping
The queen of insane beauty tricks, Farah Dhukai, posted a video on her Instagram page about a year ago, where she takes a tube of wasabi and spreads it on her lips to mimic “natural lip fillers.” As of now, this video has been viewed nearly 13.6 million times (AHHHH!). And she is STILL using this trick in a recent video posted in November of last year.
However, wasabi is probably not the safest nor the most effective product to use on your lips. First, it’s not meant to be used on the skin and can result in pretty painful discomfort and burning sensations. Users that have tried this reported that their eyes and noses starting stinging — not super pleasant! Also, it doesn’t really work. You might experience some initial plumping, but the painful stinging and burning negate that. If you really want to plump your lips, try scrubbing your lips with a sugar-based scrub and using the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. It’s hella hydrating, and makes your lips feel and look smooth and plump.
Elmer’s Glue for blackheads
Blackheads are the bane of most of our existence. According to some beauty “gurus,” slathering a thin layer of glue on your nose, letting it dry, and then peeling it off will help combat blackheads.
First of all, Elmer’s Glue should not be used on the skin. It can be irritating to the skin and most definitely will not dig deep into your pores to extract blackheads. Second, there are more effective ways to get rid of blackheads, like my bae, the COSRX Blackhead Liquid. Topical products, like the COSRX Liquid work by “ungluing” the dead skin and debris from your pores, which is much more safe (and effective) than attempting to rip them out of your skin with actual glue.
Pizza grease?!
So I read a story about a beauty editor who removed her liquid lipstick with pizza grease, and I actually cannot deal. I think we all know that food grease is highly comedogenic and can cause breakouts, so please, just use my faves, the Innisfree Apple Lip & Eye Remover or Nature Republic Herbal Face Wipes.
Just discovered the best matte liquid lipstick remover EVER: pizza grease. 💄+🍕=😶 (@kelseystiegman) pic.twitter.com/zg3Rtv5gk8
— Seventeen (@seventeen) November 7, 2016
Kitty litter face mask
I first saw this whole kitty litter on your face thing on a popular blogger’s site, and it’s been rehashed and imitated all over the web since. The thought behind this is that kitty litter contains natural clay, which is used to help balance oily skin and remove impurities.
However, you can just as easily use something like the Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Color Clay Mask Purifying or even just the super popular Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay. Not only would both of these products be more effective (the former also contains other skin-beneficial ingredients like orchid, green tea, and camellia extracts), they are also cheaper because honestly, who wants to buy an entire bag of cat litter to use as a face mask?!
Have you tried any bad Instagram beauty tips? How’d it work for you? Let us know in the comments!
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