Head, shoulders and face?
An influencer shared a hack for using popular dandruff shampoo Head & Shoulders as a face wash to clear up acne, with many questioning whether her hack is a miracle or a mistake.
Popular TikToker Elyse Myers shocked the internet when she revealed she swears by using a generic store brand dandruff shampoo to wash her face.
“Before you spend a lot of money on skincare products just hold on. Just go buy Head & Shoulders,” Myers said in a viral TikTok that has since amassed 12.9 million views and 15,500 comments.
Myers shared that she’s been using the Walmart version of the two-in-one dandruff shampoo since she was in middle school when it was recommended to her by a dermatologist who reportedly told her that “the zinc in it is incredible for your face.”
Myers insisted that she had clear skin throughout her life until she stopped using the product and broke out around her chin.
She tried clearing her skin with “fancy stuff” that she got as freebies but “never had worse skin.” That’s when she threw all her products away and went back to Walmart to buy the Equate Dandruff Shampoo Everyday Clean, which she said cleared her skin in just a few days.
“Just try it,” she told her followers — many who did exactly that and shared their results.
Taking Myers’ advice, Chelsea Gerbeshi posted a TikTok video sharing her experience, noting that she’s never had clear skin in her life and always had “volcanic breakouts.”
Despite pouring money into trying all types of products, nothing ever cleared her skin until she used Head & Shoulders as a face wash.
“After three days of using shampoo on my face, it’s gone. All off it,” Gerbeshi announced.
Unfortunately, not everyone has experienced immediate miracle results from the over-the-counter product.
Alexi McKinley, who has been trying to tame her acne for months, tried the viral hack and filmed a TikTok video to reveal the results.
“I heard this only works if it’s bacterial or fungal but maybe I have a little mix of both? Who knows?” McKinley said in the video.
But several days later, she shared a follow-up clip denouncing the hack.
“Stop using this,” she said in a clip holding up bottles of Head & Shoulders and PanOxyl, claiming that the products were “pore-clogging” and continued to cause acne.
Dermatologists have also joined the online conversation to weigh in on the trend, saying dandruff shampoo can be used as a face wash for certain types of breakouts but is not a cure-all for all skin concerns.
Dr. Aamna Adel, who goes by @dermatology.doctor, posted a TikTok video explaining that the anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties in Head & Shoulders shampoo can be used to fight seborrhoeic dermatitis or “fungal acne,” but notes that the product would not be her first option for clear skin.
“If you have any of these conditions then it’s worth using the Head & Shoulders, but otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it as first-line option for clear skin,” she stated.
“Fungal acne is not acne,” according to WebMD. “It is a skin condition called pityrosporum folliculitis. It is one of many types of folliculitis, a skin condition that causes an infection in your hair follicle. It can look like pimples and is often confused with acne.”
Dr. Dustin Portela, a dermatologist from Idaho, explained in a TikTok video that the hack can be “quite helpful with that zinc pyrithione as the active ingredient in Head & Shoulders” for those who suffer from fungal acne — or “acne caused by malicesia yeast on the skin.”
Fungal acne is “most likely to appear as small monomorphic papules so lots of little bumps usually on the forehead near the hairline that look the same,” he said.
Dr. Portela also noted that for those with subrate dermatitis, “essentially dandruff coming down on the face,” zinc pyrithione, the active ingredient in Head & Shoulders, “is gonna work wonders for you.”