Over the past five years, dermatologist Rajani Katta has noticed a change in the people who come into her office. Their skincare routines have been getting more complicated ' some stretching to 12 steps ' and often involve products that they found through social media, many of which don't have a lot of scientific backing. They didn't realize that some of those products were doing damage to their skin, says Katta, who specializes in sensitive skin and allergies at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. 'People are much more likely to experiment on themselves' than they have been in the past, she says. Globally, there seems to be more interest in skincare than ever before, with the industry expected to generate more than US$200 billion worldwide in 2026. Social-media platforms such as TikTok seem to be a main driver of the hot pursuit of youthful, glowing skin, with hashtags such as #SkinTok generating more than one billion views per month. The platforms have helped...
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