Should You Try Slugging? How to Add it to Your Skincare Routine | Dr. Sam Ellis

slugging as a skincare trend has been around for quite some time now but I find that a lot of people still have a ton of confusion around the topic so in this video I'm going to be covering who's a good candidate for slugging who's not a good candidate for slugging what products you should be using and how to do it properly so that you can get the best results for your [Music] skin hey there I'm Dr Sam Ellis and I'm a board certified medical and cosmetic dermatologist in Northern California I'm here to help you understand

your skin and find products that work for you so if that sounds good give this video a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe to the channel before we get into the nitty-gritty of slugging let's just quickly review what slugging actually is with slugging you are taking an occlusive ointment typically something that is petrol lotum based and applying it as the last step of your nighttime skincare routine and as you can imagine after you've performed this final step in your routine you look a little bit greasy or slimy or slug like if you will slugging

can be done for for a variety of reasons first and foremost it's usually done to help the skin heal so when you have a disrupted Skin Barrier petrolatum can be exquisitely helpful for helping the skin repair itself and help the skin with its regenerative processes so in dermatology in clinic I use petrolatum all the time to help with post-procedure care whether that's someone who had a laser done or micro needling or they had a biopsy performed or we did surgery anytime we are trying to have the skin heal optimally because either we accidentally or purpos

did damage to it using a petrolatum based ointment is key slugging with petrolatum is also a form of moisturization so I know we think of moisturizing with lotions and creams but a pure ointment can also help moisturize and condition the skin as well and then lastly we can use slugging to help enhance the efficacy of the rest of our skin care so when we apply an occlusive ointment over the top of other skin care the skinc care that's underneath it is going to work better now that can lead to some problems if you are applying

skincare that has the potential to be irritating and we'll talk about that later in the video but if you have other skincare that you are trying to optimize its function of slugging over the top of it can be beneficial if we are talking slugging 101 this is typically done with 100% pure petroleum jelly or petrol AUM petroleum jelly petrol AUM those are interchangeable terms and I would guess that the petrol AUM product that the most people are familiar with is good oldfashioned Vaseline this has been around since the 1800s and has a very long proven

track record and this proven track record isn't just for efficacy but also for safety I feel like anytime we talk about using petroleum jelly or Vaseline I will always get a lot of push back especially from people who ascribe to clean Beauty saying that that's a toxic product or it's carcinogenic but cosmetic grade petrolatum that is used in products like these is completely safe unrefined petroleum can contain carcinogenic compounds called polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons those are removed in the refining process so that we can get cos metic grade petrolatum if you're kind of trying to look

for a comparison I think of it like drinking water out of the gutter versus processed and refined bottled water of course you're not going to go drink water out of the gutter that's not like comparing Apples to Apples and the same goes for comparing unrefined petroleum to the petrolum used in cosmetics the reason that 100% pure petroleum jelly is so amazing is that one it is inert meaning that it doesn't bind with proteins in your skin that can induce an allergic reaction so anytime you're using any anything else in your skin care whether it's preservatives

fragrance Etc there's always a potential for allergenicity but when you're looking at pure Vaseline you just don't become allergic to it so this makes it a very safe and easy to use product particularly for those who have very sensitive skin or who are allergy prone the other thing that's great about Vaseline and a lot of petrolum based ointments in general is that they are anhydrous meaning they don't contain water and thus don't need to contain preservatives and don't get me wrong love a good preservative but some people are sensitive to them either they have an

allergy or they cause burning itching discomfort with the skin and so if you can have a product where you don't need a preservative that's awesome oh and one last thing before we get into like who should slug who shouldn't slug who's going to benefit who's not going to benefit I do want to address the homogenicity or pore clogging idea around Vaseline or petrol lotum based products if you look at the scientific data the good scientific data that is out there you will see that petrol lotum is not non cogenic or nonp clogging however it does

trap things against your skin so if you produce excess oil if you are acne prone if you are layering certain things underneath or you are not cleansing the skin properly before applying your clusive ointment you may notice that you get small breakouts or you start to form something called closed comedones which are little clogged pores essentially so even though it is technically non-comedogenic of course if it causes comedones in you or causes you to break breakout then that's something worth considering but I also think there are a lot of people out there who are prone

to clogged pores or who are acne prone who think oh my gosh I can never use a petrolum based ointment and that's actually not the case I found just from my own clinical practice and seeing lots of patients who are acne prone who have rosacea they do really well with petrol lotum based products but everyone's skin is different and there's always a little bit of trial and error involved when you're trying to figure out what routines or what products work best for you in your skin okay now let's talk about who should slug or really

who May benefit from slugging this isn't something that you absolutely have to do but remember we are slugging for improved Skin Barrier function and healing increase moisturization or to enhance the efficacy of the products that we are using so there's a few reasons why you may want to incorporate it number one obviously if you have really dry skin particularly if you are the person that does your nighttime skincare routine and then 20 minutes later is like my skin just feels dry again like I don't feel like my nighttime skincare really did anything or you feel

good when you do your skincare at night but you wake up in the morning and your skin again feels dry and tight then slugging over the top of your regular skin care may be super beneficial for you and then I of course like I mentioned earlier love it postprocedurally to help the skin heal faster after a chemical peel lasering micro needling Etc of course you're always going to want to check with the person who performed your procedure because I think every practitioner has Preferred after care for their patients but if one of my patients wanted

to go in with pure petrolatum I am all for it I should also mention you don't have to slug all the time it can be something that you do only when your skin is acting up or during the winter months when the air is cooler and you have more of that transepidermal water loss because of the indoor Heating and the wind factor and all those things but just because you bring something into your skincare routine one doesn't mean you have to keep it there if it's not serving you anymore but two always make it adapt

for your skin you never want to take a skincare Trend and then blindly apply it you always need to have a purpose for what you're doing so essentially in summary I really like the concept of slugging for people who have dry or irritated or sensitive skin or damaged skin or some combination of that now let's talk about people who shouldn't slug or really just people who may need to be more cautious about slugging or may find slugging doesn't really work for them through my own clinical experience I've definitely found that people with oily skin don't

tend to enjoy slugging as much they already get a little bit of a greasy sensation on the surface of their skin anyway so to come compound that with a thick or occlusive ointment sometimes just feels kind of gross that being said there are people out there who have oily skin but their skin is still dehydrated meaning that it lacks water and so by doing slugging but maybe like slugging light so maybe just in certain areas for example you can decrease that transepidermal water loss and help the skin maintain its hydration without making the skin feel

too oily or greasy I also think slugging tends to be less desirable if you live in a humid clim climate where there's already a lot of ambient moisture that plus already having an occlusive ointment on your skin just can feel a bit nasty also if you are a sweaty sleeper or you run really hot because occlusive ointments trap moisture but they also can trap Heat against the skin and that doesn't feel great for everyone and speaking of trapping heat people who have rosacea or have a very flushing prone rosacea may not like slugging either because

again you're trapping Heat against the skin and if you've ever had a rosacea flare I know I've had hundreds if not thousands in my life the last thing I would want during that is feeling like that heat couldn't dissipate and then lastly acne now like I mentioned before petrol lotum based products are non-comedogenic or nonpor clogging but that doesn't mean that it's going to be nonpor clogging for every single person in their specific type of skin so if you have acne and you've tried slugging or using a petrolum based product and you notice that it

increases your breakouts then of course it's not for you but a lot of acne medications can cause a lot of dryness and irritation and so using slugging on off nights that you're not using your acne medication or if you're trying to build up a tolerance to your acne medication can actually be pretty beneficial so people with acne I feel like fall in the middle it's not a definitely you should slug nor a definitely you shouldn't now before we get into the technique of slugging because I think that's actually very important in terms of having success

with your slugging process I do want to talk a little bit about certain products that you can and slug with because of course Vaseline is just fine she is tried and she is true but she's also thick AF and for some people that's just going to be too overwhelming on their skin or they may just really hate the texture of it and you have to enjoy your skincare it shouldn't feel like oh my God I have to slug tonight so if there are products that you can use to make that process more successful for you

we should know about it I'd say probably one of the biggest competitors to Vaseline and also a very well-known household name is aquafor so aquafor is 41% petrolatum and then it has things like mineral oil as well as lanolin that act as both conditioning and occlusive agents Aqua Force certainly has a little bit more of a slip to it it's much more spreadable this is actually what we use in clinic the most postprocedurally now it's not going to be great if you are sensitive to lanoline which is derived from sheep it's a rare allergy but

it certainly is one and of course that makes the product not vegan also so that's important to you so those are all things worth noting but I think aquafor is a great product overall super effective I've used it for years and years and years I'm also a really big fan of sahie healing ointment that's 46.5% petrolatum and then also has additional moisturizing ingredients like ceramides that cave is known for as well as panthenol and even hyaluronic acid to help draw water to the skin surface so a lot of people find that product to be extra

moisturizing and then I do want to give a shout out to my skincare brand prequel and our skin utility ointment when I was launching the brand I really wanted one of the first products I created to be a petrolatum based ointment because it is such a staple not only in my own skincare routine but in what I recommend to my patients so this is 45% petrolatum and it also contains a unique shielding polymer which allows it to continue to have that really nice even seal over the skin but still feel a bit more breathable so

this is probably the most lightweight of the ointments that I have mentioned and feels the least greasy on this skin some people love a lot of Grease when they're slugging some people don't so if you've maybe been thinking about slugging and you're a little intimidated by going full on with uh Vaseline or something like that I definitely think you should look into this I think it might be worth a try so let's talk about what you're going to do when you're actually going to slug the time has come so first thing you're going to do

is cleanse the skin really well remember anything we are slugging with is going to olude the skin and trap anything underneath it so we only want to be trapping the good stuff if you're doing a pure slug you're essentially going to apply that petrol lotum based ointment directly on damp skin right after you have cleansed it you're not going to put anything else underneath it it is just you your skin the petrol autum based ointment this is what I typically recommend if you are postprocedure or you're struggling with a lot of stinging irritation dryness flaking

just keep it really simple take a lot of variables out of the equation and just cleanse your face and Slug and speaking of not having to use as much of the product I think it's better to start with a smaller amount of product you can always go in and add more if you've gone in too aggressively with your slug now you're trying to remove that petrol AUM ointment and that is just a much stickier Less Fun undesirable process you make that mistake once and then you usually don't repeat it when I'm thinking about how much

product it actually takes me to slug my entire face and often if I'm slugging my face I will often bring it onto my neck as well it's maybe like a pinky nail or a little bit less but again start with less you can always add more and then I think if possible it's great to do your slug at at least 30 minutes before bedtime that product is not going to readily sink into your skin even after 30 minutes but I feel like if you put it on fresh and then go lay directly on your pillow

you're really negating some of the beneficial properties of that ointment so I try to do it at least an hour before bedtime but do what you can now if you just have dry skin or maybe just sensitive skin you absolutely can slug over the top of the rest of your skincare routine there are some exceptions we'll talk about that in a second but you could go in with your hydrating serums your skin brighteners then put on your moisturizer and then use slugging or your petrolatum based ointment as your final step to just enhance the moisturization

speaking of enhancement though remember anything that is under the ointment is going to be more potent so things you want to be very careful about slugging on top of and I generally recommend not to slug on top of them are things like exfoliating acid so salicylic acid glycolic acid and also your retinoids like troin retin alahh all if you slug over the top of those you're going to enhance their penetration into your skin which if you're not getting irritated and you actually want those things to be more effective for you may be beneficial but I

find that a lot of people reach for slugging in their skin care because their Skin Barrier is disrupted or their skin is hurting so the last thing you want to do is Slug right on top of those and actually make those things more irritating so when I'm slugging in my routine it's typically as a break from any of my actives so I'm not putting on my exfoliating acids I'm not doing my retinoid that I'm generally putting on maybe a hydrating serum maybe something to help brighten my skin since I struggle with melasma and hyperpigmentation and

then I will do my moisturizer and I will finish with a selective slug but I'm pretty much never slugging over my retinoid or over my acids yeah I just I don't want that kind of irritation now slugging doesn't just have to be for the face you can slug on the body as well and in fact it is a very common recommendation from dermatologists myself included for treating patients with atopic dermatitis or eczema I call it soak and smear where you have them soak in a bathtub and then while their skin is still damp they will

smear the skin with either their Medicated cream or their moisturizer or Vaseline or some combination of those three to help enhance the efficacy of the products that they're laying underneath that slug as well as trap moisture against the skin because their Skin Barrier is so damaged I'm also a big fan of the body slug if I need to expedite results sometimes I get a little bit lazy about my body skin care and then I'll find out like ooh there's something where I need to wear shorts too in a week and my Skin's real dry and

so I will go in and slug over my body lotion for like a week and then skin is like good as new now if you struggle with dry or irritated skin and you like the concept of slugging but for just some reason it doesn't work for you whether that's texturally or you're not getting the results that you want there are definitely alternatives to slugging that are not equivalent but can help with skin hydration and healing so for example keeping a humidifier in your bedroom can help with trans epidermal water loss and keep your skin more

moisturized also you don't necessarily have to use a petrol lotum based ointment to get really good skin moisturization so using a thicker body moisturizer for example the cave moisturizing cream or the first aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream those are also super nourishing body lotions that are not as thick or heavy or as greasy as a petrolatum based ointment but can still nourish the skin really well all right I so curious have you tried slugging on your skin what products do you like to use do you have any special techniques defin Ely let me know in

the comments thank you so much for being here don't forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel and I'll see you next [Music] time