“It’s the same way you go to the gym,” she said on the mindbodygreen podcast back in 2020. “If you want to get your muscles and your body to be stronger, you have to alternate between periods of intense activity and recovery. And the same thing holds true for the skin barrier and the microbiome: They need days to recover.” Essentially, skin cycling entails rolling through your active ingredients at night to prevent irritation. On night one, you exfoliate; night two is for retinol; then nights three and four are dedicated to simple, nourishing hydration (ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and the like). We’ve long been a champion of giving your skin barrier a break, so consider us sold. See, sunflower seed oil, castor oil, and plant-based waxes help create a thicker consistency, but they also include antioxidants and fatty acids to help strengthen the lipid barrier, as opposed to just sitting on top of it. Try Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Advanced Repair Barrier Cream or this Slug Balm from Futurewise if you’re looking for a mineral-oil-free product. The concept went viral after content creator Ava Lee (otherwise known as Glow With Ava) posted a video of herself receiving a facial. When her facialist pinches her cheek, it immediately holds its shape. “That just shows you have enough of a support cushion underneath,” her facialist explains. “The way that it bounces… It’s the perfect consistency of Jello. That’s a perfect sign that you have a beautiful level of collagen in the skin.” We’re big fans of supporting collagen production around here, and considering that your levels decline by an average of 1% each year1 starting in your mid-20s, any “trend” that helps you promote your natural supply is a worthwhile investment. But to achieve Jello skin, you need to work from the inside out—here are our favorite collagen supplements on the market, all backed by a nutrition scientist. But what I love about this trend is that people are bending the rules when it comes to blush; they’re focusing less on sculpting their exact face shape or nailing that perfect, natural-looking flush and having way more fun with the pigment. “To me, there’s no such thing as ‘way too much blush,’” makeup artist Alexandra Compton, product development manager at Credo, previously told mbg. “The way it can instantly light up and refresh the complexion is incredible.” All that to say: more blush in 2023, please. But experts like Mattam are happy that hair oiling routines are making their rounds on TikTok—just make sure you honor the history of this historically significant practice. And if you’re looking for an easy guide, Mattam offers a step-by-step tutorial here. (Bonus points if you fold in a tension-relieving scalp massage, which has been linked to faster hair growth.)
