When buying a skin care product there are hundreds of options to choose from and online influences playing into the decision to purchase.
Ring light on, phone perched up, press record, it’s time to get ready with me.
With the “get ready with me” videos taking over algorithms, influencers are endorsing skin care products along with creating their own, taking part in the multibillion-dollar industry. Skin care falls into self-care, and it can affect how confident someone feels about themselves. With a high volume of products available it can be overwhelming to figure out what is best, especially with everyone having different skin types.
Oily, dry, rough, soft: these are all factors that play into what products will work best for you.
Brianna Ellerby, an esthetician and manager at Lulu Head Spa who recently started her own practice, Stellar Skin, recommends people research before buying a product.
She said some areas of the skin care market are oversaturated, especially when looking at TikTok where so many products are advertised.
“Everyone’s skin is different and no one has the same exact skin type, or no one’s pores are exactly the same,” Ellerby said. “So, some products might work really well for that one TikTok influencer you might follow, but it might not do well at all for your skin.”
Ellerby said a current expectation is the look of “glowy glass skin” that celebrities have. She added that it takes time and effort to reach that point, and chances are celebrities are likely working with professionals to reach that look.
With so many new products constantly entering the market it means there are more options for consumers to buy.
Ellerby said that education goes both ways. Consumers should be looking out for themselves, but an influencer or celebrity should also be educating people about their product. Responsibility does not solely fall on the consumer end.
It is important to look into the ingredients of a product for your skin before purchasing, but the online personalities endorsing or creating a product should be transparent about what is in the product, who would benefit from it and how to properly use it.
Influenced to invest
Social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok are a space where people share their skin care journey. Influencers such as Alix Earl and Emma Chamberlain have been open with their fan base on their struggles with acne. Through videos and images online they keep their followers updated on the progress of their skin journey and what products they are using.
For Alix Earl, this had led to her creating her own skin care brand, Reale Active. While the brand is joining an industry with thousands of other competitors Earle has said the brands’ goal is to limit one’s routine to fewer products.
Earl told People Magazine that she was “overdoing it” with skin care products and had the realization that when she minimized it and stuck to a core few her skin improved.
Viewers can grow to feel like they know the person on their screen, grow to trust them and take their advice. When watching a “get ready with me” or “unboxing haul”, you’re watching multiple brands and products be pushed in your direction.
Emily Trujillo has worked at Sephora for two years, starting as a beauty advisor and moving up to operations. She said the store was insane before the launch of Hailey Bieber’s brand Rhode as customers waited in line for the product.
Trujillo said another time this spike occurred was when the EADEM lip balm, a product Sephora had for a while, went viral because influencers posted positive reviews about the lip balm that made it look as if you had just put on lip gloss. This caused the demand in stores to increase.
“People have just come in saying, ‘Oh, I’ve heard about this’ … just coming to look at the brand and get any shade that’s available because it was pretty popular,” Trujillo said.
She said that many people do come into Sephora asking for guidance or recommendations, adding there is a common theme among younger shoppers in the aesthetic of a product.
“Super young crowds come in basically just for packaging,” Trujillo said.
Road to the regimen
Twenty-five-year-old Beth Xanthopoulos, event sales coordinator at Swift & Son, bases her skin care choices mainly off ingredients, specifically ones that help with acne, and never has purposely bought an item because a celebrity owns it.
“The use of influencers posting their skin care routines and them being 10 products long is a little ridiculous,” Xanthopoulos said. “My everyday skincare routine is three products, and I don’t really know if you should be putting that much more on your face.”
Ellerby said using 20-plus products can be too much, “because you can overpower your skin and do too much on the skin where it won’t do anything.”
She added if you change up your skin care abruptly it can cause your skin to go through a “purging phase,” meaning the skin becomes imbalanced.
Xanthopoulos’s routine consists of the CeraVe Renewal Salicylic Acid Cleanser and BYOMA Moisturizing Gel-Cream both morning and night along with the Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum in the morning and on occasion at night the Innisfree Retinol Green Tea PDRN serum.
Xanthopoulos got into skin care back in middle school when she started to get cystic acne breakouts. With the help of her mom, she began Proactiv, saying it was popular for teens with acne at the time but did not work for her.
This was the beginning of her many years of experimenting.
It was not until the last three years that Xanthopoulos solidified her routine. Morning and night, whether she was out till 3 a.m. or in bed by 10 p.m., she will still complete her skin care routine.
It was not until the last three years that Xanthopoulos solidified her routine. Morning and night, whether she was out till 3 a.m. or in bed by 10 p.m., she will still complete her skin care routine.
Xanthopoulos said her routine takes about five minutes, “According to my boyfriend Ethan, probably like 15 to 20,” she said laughing.
She said over the last three years her skin has cleared up a ton and gotten her to a place where she has stopped caring about having a pimple here and there.
“A huge, huge part of my middle school and high school confidence issues was my bad acne, so I was very intense about my skin care,” Xanthopoulos said.
While Xanthopoulos started her skin journey as a young teen, some are more recent in their skin care journey.
Meredith Batcheller, a DePaul 2026 graduate with a degree in public relations and advertising, started caring about skin care her freshman year of college.
It was over the course of her freshman year at DePaul when her skin began breaking out, something she never dealt with in high school.
Batcheller’s first product she bought in efforts to fix her skin was off TikTok shop, a viral snail mucin that was all over her For You page.
“It did not work,” Batcheller said. “It honestly made it worse.”
In the beginning stages Batcheller said she searched on TikTok but mainly turned to friends and people she knew were into skin care.
“I really rely on recommendations. I don’t really know ingredients in products,” Batcheller said. “That’s not really my forte.”
Batcheller shared she used to be very influenced by the person behind a brand or product, but now that is no longer the case. As a young adult the first thing she looks at when searching for a product is the price.
“If I had like an unlimited budget I would try more influencer products,” Batcheller said.
Over the last four years Batcheller has crafted a four-product routine for the morning and night with no intention of changing it anytime soon.
“That’s really, I think, all that you need,” Batcheller said. “I don’t really think there’s a huge necessity for more unless, of course, it works for people.”
Batcheller’s routine in the morning starts with a CeraVe Cleanser, Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum, CeraVe Moisturizer and finishing it off with Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen. At night she uses Micellar Cleansing Water to take off her makeup, CeraVe Cleanser, Trader Joe’s Rose Water Facial Toner and CeraVe Moisturizer.
‘A way to show self-care’
For both Xanthopoulos and Batcheller skin care has become a piece of their self care.
As Xanthopoulos pins her hair back to prep her skin, day or night she starts and ends her day with her routine.
“Sometimes it really annoys me because I’ll be really tired and I don’t want to do it, but I have to because it’s taking care of myself and it feels good in the end,” Xanthopoulos said. “Nothing feels better than clean skin to me.”
For Batcheller, she said her skin care routine is helpful for her own mental and physical health.
“It’s a way to show self-care and appreciate my skin because I kind of neglected it for so long,” Batcheller said.
She said it is a way for her to calm down and relax at the end of the day.
“It’s just nice because it did clear up my skin and I like that it’s beneficial to my skin health as well,” Batcheller said.
Ellerby wants anyone making purchases for their skin care to always put themselves first when purchasing a product.
“I promise you that influencer is doing just fine. Always care about yourself when it comes to your skin because at the end of the day your skin is your biggest organ and you need to make sure that you’re protecting it at all times,” she said.
Header Image by Kathryn Byrnes
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