When I first heard of this recently, I thought “are we talking about garden slugs? That eat your lettuce? Or something in baseball?

Nope, apparently “slugging” is a new skincare trend taking over TikTok, where you slather a petrolatum based product on your face at the end of your evening skincare routine (think Vaseline) and sleep in it, washing it off the next morning.

Vaseline is a barrier. It locks in what you put on underneath, it keeps things out as well. I recommend a thin layer for acne clients before they swim in a chlorinated pool, as sometimes chlorine can irritate acne prone skin.

Slugging is a short term Band-Aid, however, and the best benefit of it is preventing TEWL (short for trans-epidermal water loss. Basically a stripped barrier) and does nothing to actually feed or heal the skin. It’s not a long term solution. Keep in mind too, that most facial oils disrupt the skin barrier and do not actually hydrate, so if you’re locking in oil, you’re setting your skin up to be a total disrupted, dehydrated mess further down the road.

In short, the only time I’d recommend it is if a client is struggling with TEWL, and she’s using this method to lock in some serums and moisturizers that I’ve put her on that will feed and heal her skin.