Hey, we’re no stranger to weird-sounding beauty trends (case in point: root beer hair, tanning vitamins and sparkly face masks). But when we heard that people were “slugging” in the quest for better skin, we were seriously confused. Fortunately, it has nothing to do with the slippery creatures in your backyard—here’s what you need to know.
Um, what is it? “Slugging” is the process of slathering your face with Vaseline before bed (after cleansing and applying moisturizer), thereby turning yourself into a shiny, slimy slug.
And why are people doing this? Devotees (often found in various “Slug-Life” threads on Reddit) swear that slugging leaves them with softer and more hydrated skin when they wake up.
But won’t it clog my pores? Actually, probably not. “Pure petrolatum is heavy and can feel greasy on oily and acne-prone skin; however, it has not been shown to clog pores, so is fine to use,” Dr. David Lortscher, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Curology tells us. (And here’s a study published in the Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists that found the same thing.)