Published: March 30, 2025
While you’ll find plenty of skincare tricks and hacks all over social media, it’s not often that dermatologists support them. In fact, the opposite usually occurs – when a whacky new skincare trend emerges, experts often advise people not to try it!
With that said, there’s one skincare trick that dermatologists have really been raving about. While it may have only recently been popularized, it’s a technique that the pros have been recommending for years, and they’re delighted that it has now gone mainstream.
Wondering what it is? You may know of it as ‘slugging’ – a term that has been trending lately. It’s a game-changer when it comes to rehydrating the skin while also giving the skin barrier a stronger and more resilient finish. It’s a trick that every skin type can benefit from…so long as it’s done correctly.
Ready to find out more? Read on as Bionyx explains what slugging is all about and why you should try it.
What is Slugging?
As we mentioned above, slugging is nothing new. It’s a trick that dermatologists often recommend to their patients. However, thanks to slugging recently becoming a rising K-beauty trend, more and more people are giving it a try, meaning that its effects are now being widely recognized.
So, what is it?
Slugging involves slathering your skin with a thick occlusive, such as petroleum jelly. This leaves the skin looking really shiny and slimy, just as it would if a slug had crawled all over your face! While this may not sound very appealing, slugging offers up some very distinct benefits…
Why is This Skincare Trick Worth Trying?
Let’s take a look at a few of the reasons to give slugging a try:
Improves Skin Hydration Levels
People tend to place a large focus on hydration when it comes to their skincare routines, and rightly so. After all, every process that occurs in your skin requires water. A lack of moisture inhibits your skin cells from functioning to their full potential, which can then lead to accelerated aging, inflammation, and a whole host of other problems. Unfortunately, with there being so much out there that dehydrates the skin, thirsty skin cells are a common occurrence.
Slugging, however, can turn this around relatively quickly. Applying a thick occlusive to your skin’s surface means that moisture can’t evaporate out of the skin in the way that it otherwise would have, which is what primarily leads to dehydration. It’s estimated that petroleum jelly can prevent 98% of moisture loss, which is very significant!
The fact that slugging also usually involves applying a hydrating skincare product underneath the petroleum jelly helps to boost the skin’s moisture content even further. Not only will you be trapping in your skin’s natural moisture but you’ll also be locking your hydrating product in, preventing those ingredients from evaporating away too. This is why most notice immediate results after trying slugging for the first time. The extra hydration leaves the skin looking plumper, fuller, and dewier.
Keeps the Skin Feeling Safe From Environmental Aggressors
The environment around you is full of impurities that don’t do your skin any favors. Even a super-clean home will be hosting air pollutants and other substances that trigger damage when they enter the skin. There’s really no getting away from the many environmental aggressors out there!
How does slugging help?
The layer that the occlusive forms over your skin’s surface essentially acts as an additional barrier between your skin and the environment. It mimics the role of your natural protective barrier by making it much harder for irritants and impurities to get into your skin.
This benefits everyone but can be particularly advantageous for those with sensitive skin. Sensitivities are a sign that your skin’s natural barrier has been compromised. This means that it won’t be able to keep impurities away quite so effectively. With slugging, the occlusive that you apply will step in and give your skin barrier a helping hand, ensuring that your deeper skin cells feel safer and better protected.
Leaves the Skin Barrier Feeling Restored
The way in which slugging gives the skin’s natural barrier an extra barrier can be a godsend for anyone whose skin barrier is suffering from damage. Like dehydration, this is very common and can happen for a number of reasons.
Once your skin barrier ends up damaged, even if only slightly so, it needs some time to heal and recuperate. Unfortunately, it often doesn’t get a proper opportunity to do this because it’s still constantly hard at work trying to defend the skin from environmental aggressors.
However, as we talked about above, the additional barrier provided by slugging takes some of the heat off of your skin’s natural barrier. Not only does this help to keep your skin cells feeling safe, but it also gives your skin’s natural barrier a chance to recover since it won’t need to work quite so hard while it’s covered with your chosen occlusive. Slug your skin regularly and you’ll find that your skin barrier starts to feel stronger and healthier much sooner than if you had given slugging a miss.
Ready to Give Slugging a Try?
Of course, no matter how much dermatologists rave about this skincare trick, you’ll only fully appreciate the benefits of slugging after giving it a try for yourself! Here’s how to do just that:
Cleanse Your Skin
Slathering an occlusive over dirty skin is the last thing that you want to do. Rather than helping your skin, this will only trap all of those impurities in, contributing to free radical damage. This is why cleansing is always the very first thing that you should do before slugging.
Ideally, you want to do this with a relatively gentle cleanser. This is especially the case if you’re hoping that your slugging efforts will leave your skin barrier feeling stronger. Irritating your barrier before slugging defeats the purpose as your skin barrier will then be trying to recover from the harsh cleanser that has just been used rather than from the deeper damage that it has been dealing with.
Our pre-slugging cleanser of choice would be the Bionyx Rhodium Mousse Cleanser. Mousse cleansers are revered for being kind to the skin yet excellent at doing their job. This one is particularly beneficial because it has been infused with ingredients that keep the skin barrier feeling supported.
Exfoliate
Exfoliation isn’t an essential pre-slugging step. However, it can definitely be helpful. It will enhance the absorption of the hydrating serum that you’ll be applying in the next step, allowing those ingredients to penetrate deeper into the skin since there won’t be any pore blockages getting in the way.
However, again, choose your exfoliator carefully. Now isn’t the time to be reaching for those acid-infused formulas. Instead, keep things gentle with a product like the Bionyx Rhodium Complex Facial Peeling. It exfoliates without irritating, which is ideal when you’re about to give slugging a try!
Apply a Hydrating Serum
This step is a very important part of slugging. Applying a hydrating serum saturates your skin with moisture before you layer an occlusive over the top. The more moisture you give your skin now, the more moisture your occlusive layer will be able to push into your skin.
The best pre-slugging serums are formulas that are brimming with humectants. These are ingredients that bind moisture to the skin, making them very effective at hydration. They’re also wonderfully lightweight. Therefore, you won’t have to worry about your occlusive layer causing your serum to clog your pores.
The Bionyx Alloy Platinum Synergizing Serum would be a great addition to your slugging routine. With sodium hyaluronate, collagen, peptides, and glycerin, it contains a super-hydrating blend of humectants that your thirsty skin will quickly drink up.
Apply Your Occlusive
Now for the actual slugging! While there are a few different occlusive products that you could opt for, most people tend to go for petroleum jelly. It’s one of the most effective ingredients for preventing moisture loss, making it a no-brainer for slugging.
Ideally, your occlusive of choice should be applied to your skin while your skin is still damp from your hydrating serum. You’ll only need a pea-sized amount of product. Don’t be tempted to overdo it, as a thin layer of your chosen occlusive is all that’s required. Applying more than this won’t enhance its effects – it will only leave your skin feeling excessively greasy.
Once you’ve spread this evenly over your face, it’s time for bed! Make sure that you use old pillowcases on your slugging nights, as some materials can end up stained by petroleum jelly and other occlusives.
Once you wake up in the morning, rinse the occlusive off your skin and then continue on with your regular morning skincare routine.
Slugging Oily Skin
If your skin type is oily, you’re probably reading the above with horror. Won’t a thick occlusive clog your pores and exacerbate breakouts?
Yes and no. Petroleum jelly has a large molecular size, meaning that it isn’t actually able to sink into the pores to cause blockages. With that said, it can end up trapping your skin’s sebum into your skin rather than allowing your skin to release it. This is what can lead to slugging clogging the pores.
To get around this, consider short-contact slugging. Rather than keeping your occlusive layer on overnight, rinse it off after a few hours. You’ll still benefit from the hydrating and barrier-boosting properties of slugging without having to worry about clogged pores and acne breakouts.
Taking Your Skincare Routine to the Next Level With Bionyx
While there’s no shortage of intriguing skincare tricks and hacks out there, it’s always worth finding out what the professionals think before you go diving in. When it comes to slugging, the consensus among dermatologists is generally very positive. It’s a technique that can make a huge difference to your complexion, making it one that they recommend exploring. If you’re still on the fence about it, give it a go as a one-off and see what your skin thinks!
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