By: Vincent Wang

TikTok beauty life hacks are a dime a dozen, and popular influencers on the website often post their own takes on these beauty hacks. One such instance is where women across the world are smearing calamine lotion on their faces.

Calamine lotion is an over-the-counter medication that is commonly used for mild itchiness. The lotion soothes irritation, pain, and discomfort caused by bugbites, chickenpox, poisonous plants, and more.

Influencers on TikTok claim that this lotion helps dry out oily skin, repair acne scars and keep their makeup in place for hours on end. However, many dermatologists and makeup artists state that overuse of this lotion can be harmful to your skin.

With more use of calamine lotion, the chance for results such as severe irritation and worsening of scars grow higher. The overuse of calamine also has the effect of having the risk of drying out your skin and damaging your skin barrier, one dermatologist says.

This trend has grown with astonishing popularity over a short period of time, not all influencers recommend it. Some such as Azadeh Shirazi use their TikTok accounts to actively speak out against it.

With this sudden growth in popularity of calamine lotion, pharmacys were not well stocked for this event anywhere around the world. Online, Tesco, Morrisons, Amazon, and Wilkos are all experiencing this shortage and this does not bode well for many people that have actual needs for this lotion. People with chickenpox, rash, and other skin conditions are finding it hard to come by this important lotion.