What Is the Morning Shed Routine on Tiktok? We Explore the Safety of This Trend

Many popular skin care hacks and trending beauty routines are scientifically unsupported and ineffective at best, and painfully damaging in some instances. In the unregulated, Wild West world of beauty influencers on TikTok, some cure-all claims, beauty elixirs, and morning skin care routines nevertheless permeate their bubble, show up on your main feed, and nag at you until you relent and attempt said routine.

Take, for example, the morning shed routine promoted by some TikTok users.

Touted as a way to wake up looking beautiful with healthy skin and hair, the morning shed routine involves quite a complex routine the evening prior, as well as a lengthy process in the morning of removing — or shedding — various products.

With that in mind, let's explore the morning shed routine and investigate whether the many claims of this routine's efficacy can be substantiated.

To explain the morning shed routine, think multiple parts Target shopping list, a heaping helping of ASMR, and a scoop of healthy skepticism from actual dermatological professionals.

As Women's Health explains it, the morning shed routine tasks participants with layering on beauty products overnight — including a hair curler, chin strap, face mask, castor oil stomach wrap, and mouth tape — and peeling each layer off your skin the next morning.

Then, voilà, your skin and hair will purportedly look as supple, vibrant, healthy, and glowing as the influencers you look up to the most.

As more than 100 million TikTok videos attest, this routine is not some niche, underground concept. Rather, it's a controversial routine that medical professionals don't necessarily support.

The morning shed routine may offer some benefits when reputable products are used. That said, some aspects of the routine are baseless — or may be downright dangerous for some people.

“There is no evidence to support that chin straps actually help slim or define the jawline,” Dr. Dendy Engelman, MD, a cosmetic dermatologist, told Women's Health. “There is also no evidence to support the claim that chin straps can prevent snoring or improve breathing when used as part of a morning shed.”

It's also extremely important to note that TikTok users trumpeting the benefits of the morning shed routine are neglecting to consider how certain aspects may impact those with medical concerns like nasal problems or sleep apnea.

While countless reports and social media videos irresponsibly recommend using face tape like Bella Hadid, the reality is that using mouth tape and a chin strap for someone with respiratory issues, if not advised by a healthcare professional, could prove fatal.

As Vogue deftly puts it, TikTok practitioners of the routine promise many benefits, while board-certified dermatologists are much more skeptical.

To wit, as dermatologist Dr. Purvisha Patel tells Vogue, the routine is "a recipe for distaster," as ingredients in various products could become either too concentrated when layered beneath an occlusive product, or the ingredients may be rendered ineffective by being far too diluted.

Furthermore, as licensed aesthetician Sara Botta notes, leaving certain products on the skin for too long — especially longer than each product's instructions recommend — could result in skin irritation or worse.

So, while your favorite TikTok beauty influencers claim the morning shed routine can help you wake up looking flawless, the reality is that medical professionals believe otherwise, especially for those with sensitive skin and respiratory concerns.