By: Sophia Wang
The trend of applying calamine lotion (usually a pinkish liquid used to treat rashes) before applying makeup is a supposed “beauty hack” that has recently gained popularity. The hashtag #calamineprimer has about 3.5 million views on Tiktok. #calaminelotion already had over 6.6 million views on TikTok.
Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is actually a medication used to treat mild itchiness. The original purpose is not to be a primer, as many TikTokers have dubbed it. This includes sunburn, insect bites, poison ivy, poison oak, and other mild skin conditions. It also helps dry out skin irritation and is applied to skin as a cream or lotion. Possible side effects include skin irritation. Calamine causes the skin surface to dry up and harden, protecting it while it heals. “Calamine lotion contains mostly zinc oxide and iron oxide, but can contain other ingredients such as glycerin, water, carrageenan, and calcium hydroxide,” stated board-certified dermatologist Stacy Chimento. It also contains ferric oxide and phenol.
Women all around the world claim that calamine lotion helps dry out oily skin, repair acne scars and keep their makeup in place for long periods of time. One TikTok user, who goes by @brittanybowmann1 on TikTok, posted a video applying the calamine lotion with a makeup brush before adding on a layer of foundation on top. Around the end of the video, which Bowman claims was filmed following an "8-hour shift," her makeup seems to be perfectly in place. "10/10 would recommend," Bowman captioned.
However, this supposed “beauty hack” might not be as good as it seems. Experts warn that trying this new trend could worsen skin.
“This is not a long-term daily solution,” dermatologist @drwhitneybowe says on TikTok. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies calamine lotion as a skin protectant and has not approved it for any other purposes.
Azadeh Shirazi, a dermatologist practicing in the San Diego area, told The Washington Post, “It just doesn’t make sense to use calamine lotion and risk drying out the skin and damaging the skin barrier.” Shirazi has also used TikTok to warn people to consider the ingredients in calamine lotion because blindly using it could lead to overuse, which would be detrimental to the skin.
Shirazi told her 1.8 million followers: “It’s a no from me.”
Links: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658688485603x546950573926757950/TikTok%20trend%20of%20calamine%20lotion%20as%20makeup%20primer%20draws%20dermatologist%20concern%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/tiktok-calamine-lotion-makeup-primer
https://www.everydayhealth.com/skin-beauty/why-using-calamine-lotion-as-makeup-primer-is-a-bad-idea-dermatologists-say/,