TO: The compulsive scroller stuck in a loop of comparison and self-doubt every time they scroll through beauty content.
Picture this: You open TikTok for a toner rec.
Thirty minutes later your cart is full, your confidence is wrecked, and your skin feels broken – yet nothing actually touched your face.
That’s Skinxiety: an algorithm-fed loop of comparison, cortisol, and cash burn that masquerades as “skincare research.”
You think you’re just watching skincare content – but what you’re really consuming is anxiety, comparison, and unrealistic beauty standards – on a never ending loop.
You’re essentially trading your sanity and time (for most of us – so, so much time) just to end up feeling like a drained, powerless piece of sh*t from seeing so many people with perfect, glowy skin on your feed.
What started as curiosity has turned into a self-esteem crisis. And that’s become such a frequent thing that you might not even be aware of it anymore.
Not because your skin changed.
But because your perception of it did.
That’s not skincare.
Skincare is supposed to be taking care of your skin – and you’re going in the complete opposite direction.
That’s skinxiety.
A slow erosion of trust in your own skin, fueled by filters, comparison, and a feed that can’t be shut down or stopped.
It isn’t one tiny panic attack or crisis.
It’s a cumulative pressure that makes you tweak, overthink, and stop listening to your own skin.
And the worst part is it doesn’t feel like manipulation.
It feels like research. Like you’re staying “in the know.” Like you’re just window shopping or checking out the newest trends.
If I had your attention up to this point, I want you to ask yourself whether you saw yourself in these lines.
If you didn’t, you probably won’t get much value from this post.
If you did, this is the most important post you will read on skincare – ever. Not just skincare, but your relationship with yourself. But I’ll let you get to that conclusion by yourself.
(that’s coming from someone who is usually super critical towards his own writing.)
Because behind the scenes (more like screens), your skin is not-so-quietly paying the price.
Skinxiety = a slow erosion of trust in your own skin. Fueled by filters, comparison, and a feed that never sleeps. It disguises itself as “research” but shows up as a thousand tiny thoughts:
And while there is no definitive research on my next statement (I mean, who would fund something that would make them less money?), but – I am sure there is a point of no return.
This post isn’t here to tell you to delete your apps or throw your phone into the ocean.
It’s here to show you how the scroll is slowly training and rewiring your brain. And your skin is on the receiving end of it all.
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
More importantly, you can actually start taking some power back.
What Is Skinxiety – And Why It’s Not Just In Your Head
Skinxiety isn’t some made-up buzzword.
Made-up – yes.
Buzzword – no.
It’s real. It’s everywhere. And the worst part is you barely notice it happening.
As I promised in several other posts, one of my missions with this blog is to make skinxiety the next big thing in this space.
Why? Because it’s free, and if it ever did become an adopted term, the awareness it would bring to people would have an infinitely better ROI on skin than expensive products and fad treatments.
That’s my mission.
Throwing that word around is not making me any money.
In fact, I’m losing out on $500+ weekly because of it.
(feel free to skip this next part if you hate giveaways and are here for the post content only. I reposted the block below in cca. 30% of my posts – where it makes sense – so you may have already come across it)
Back to the post –
It’s the low-level anxiety loop you fall into after consuming too much (in this case, skin care) content, usually disguised as “learning.”
For the purpose of this post and my blog’s readers, I’m referring to skincare-specific content throughout this post.
But this manifests in any comparison-driven niche. Which are most all niches online nowadays. The overall message can be applied to most every sphere of your online life.
It starts off subtle, then seeps into your self-image, your confidence, your spending habits, and eventually your skin health itself.
It’s like a little internal voice that you can’t get rid of.
First it tells you your skin looked fine this morning.
But now that you’ve seen five girls with glass skin and tight cheekbones, you suddenly “look” tired, textured, and dry.
It’s what makes you feel guilty for skipping a step. Or nervous when trying a product. Or irritated that your skin didn’t respond fast enough to the new product you blew $50 on.
It’s what makes you believe that unless you constantly have that glow, poreless, 24/7 calm, you’re doing something wrong.
But here’s the kicker:
It doesn’t feel like anxiety.
It feels like you’re just staying informed.
It feels like you’re being a “responsible” consumer.
It feels like you’re trying harder to do it right.
And that’s exactly how it sneaks in.
Skinxiety isn’t about one “dramatic” moment of feeling like this.
It’s about the accumulation of 1,000 tiny, self-eroding thoughts caused by nonstop comparison and overload.
Over time, that builds internal pressure.
You start overthinking every product. Or tweaking your routine every week.
We’ve outsourced so much of our decision-making to influencers and filters that we’ve forgotten how to read and listen to our own face.
And eventually you stop trusting your skin completely.
The Scroll Is Designed to Make You Feel Inadequate
The beauty industry isn’t broken (well, it is, but that’s a topic I discuss on way too many posts) – it’s engineered to keep you stuck in a loop of comparison, confusion, and chasing.
It’s operating exactly as per design.
And now that beauty and skin content lives on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram 24/7, your access to that loop is unlimited.
What you’re seeing isn’t “advice.” It’s performance.
People with genetic lottery skin, 8 filters, ring lights, post-facial glow, and strategic blurring – giving you 10-step routines that pretend to be a surefire ticket to “perfect” skin.
Nerd Box
Our brains believe what they see. Even if it’s just pixels on our screens.
And our 2-million-year-old brain can’t out-logic an app built to hack dopamine.
We haven’t evolved enough for our minds to be able to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s on our phone. The human brain is 2million years old. Modern phones are – what? 15?
And that’s not even counting those old flip phones, because they didn’t have social media on them.
The mind doesn’t care that it’s a filter. It doesn’t care that the lighting is from a $300 setup. It doesn’t care that that person’s job is literally to look perfect.
All it registers is: “They look better than me. What am I missing?”
This is where Skinxiety sets its roots.
Because the scroll doesn’t just feed you skincare ideas – it feeds you standards.
Unrealistic ones, unachievable ones, and definitely unsustainable ones.
Even dermatologists are turning into influencers now.
You’re not just being sold a product – you’re being sold a lifestyle.
A promise that if you follow everything “right,” you too can never have to deal with “bad skin days”.
The only thing all this content guarantees is that you never feel done.
Definitely never enough. And never fully trust the skin you’re in.
How Skinxiety Keeps You in the Product Loop
Here’s the trap:
Skinxiety doesn’t just make you feel bad.
It makes you buy.
It’s the reason many of us keep panic-adding products to our carts.
It’s what pushes us to “reset” our routines every time we see a new trending serum.
And I bet there are plenty of you whose bathroom shelf is a graveyard of half-used bottles.
And skinxiety convinces you that the solution is always external.
But from a routine and product perspective, what you’re really doing is this:
- Layering too many actives without understanding how they interact
- Switching routines so often your skin never gets a chance to stabilize
- Blaming your genes when your skin doesn’t react fast enough to a formula it never needed in the first place.
This loop isn’t accidental – it’s profitable.
VERY F*CKING PROFITABLE.
The more desperate you feel, the more impulsively you buy.
The more confused you are, the more content you consume.
The more content you consume, the more broken you feel.
And the cycle continues.
You’re not addicted to skincare. You’re addicted to the illusion that something’s missing.
That if you just find that one right thing, you’ll finally feel good in your skin again.
But the loop was never designed to end.
The Psychological Cost (And Why It’s So Hard to Stop)
This is the last section before I give you the answer that got me out of skinxiety. It’s very short, but if you got the point by now feel free to go to the solution section just below.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a “just unfollow and you’ll be fine” kind of problem.
This runs deeper than that.
When your brain is constantly flooded with new information, new routines, new faces, new flaws to notice—you lose the ability to hear your own skin.
You stop making decisions based on reality.
And start making them based on emotion.
Every time you scroll, your nervous system gets hit:
- A new influencer’s perfect skin = comparison
- A new “life-changing” product = urgency
- A new myth to bust = more doubt
And when you’re operating from a place of overstimulation, overload, uncertainty – you don’t slow down.
You speed up.
You tweak, overthink, stack, fix, search.
It’s in our human nature. And it’s something brands have known for a long time.
You don’t even realize that the scrolling is breaking your focus, obliterating your self-trust, and wrecking your decision-making in the background.
So of course it’s hard to stop.
It’s not just about quitting a habit – it’s about getting away from a dopamine system that’s designed to keep you chasing.
But here’s the thing:
The second you step back, even a little, you’ll start to feel it.
Not panic for stepping back, but clarity and relief.
A weird sense of “oh sh*t… maybe I don’t need anything new right now.”
The first glimpse that your skin doesn’t need more products. It needs you to be calm, focused, and finally paying attention to it, instead of your feed.How to Stop Stressing and Rebuild Trust With Your Skin
Good skin doesn’t come from perfect routines.
It comes from knowing when to stop messing with it.
If being influenced by Skinxiety has taught me anything, it’s that more information doesn’t always equal better decisions.
And more products definitely don’t equal better results.
Let’s simplify.
Step 1: Unfollow Everyone that makes you feel “less”
As I said, the solution to skinxiety isn’t a “just unfollow and you’ll be fine” kind of problem. But it starts at that.
If someone’s content makes you anxious, overwhelmed, or hyper-aware of your “flaws,” that’s your cue to mute, unfollow, or step away.
Even if they’ve got the little blue tick.
And even if they mean well. One thing about people who mean well in the skincare world is that – not everybody who means well is right.
Your feed should feel like a tool. Not an anxiety-inducing trap.
Step 2: Audit Your Routine
Ask yourself:
- Do I even know what each product in my routine is doing?
- Did I buy this because of hype, or because my skin actually needed it?
- Is my routine built on FOMO and hype or results?
Yes it’s going to take time out of your day.
Yes you might feel stupid while doing it because you can always buy new products.
But that’s the point.
If you don’t have the time for it, or just feel confused by everything and want someone to hold your hand, Save My Skincare is what you’re looking for – NOT another overpriced derm rodeo.
I’m not a derm – but I also don’t make fat commissions from affiliated brands for telling you to use their products – while charging you $300 for a 30-minute “consultation”.
If you’re interested and have the means to do so, check it here.
The point is – cut the hype stuff. Keep only what’s essential.
Step 3: Give Your Skin a Scroll-Free Window
Especially on bad skin days.
Ironically, what we end up doing the exact opposite.
Have bad skin → must scroll on TikTok
You don’t need to expose your brain to 40 flawless (read: filters, makeup, flattering lighting) faces when you’re already feeling vulnerable.
Instead, just give your skin and self-image a day off.
Go outside. Touch grass. Read something that has nothing to do with your skin, your appearance, or how to ‘optimize’ your life. Reconnect with your skin in real life.
Step 4: Rebuild the Relationship with your skin
Skin trust isn’t built overnight. Especially in a generation like ours.
Like any long-term relationship – it requires patience, consistency, and actually listening.
I mean, you only have one skin from the moment you’re born. Might as well treat it well and build an amazing relationship with it.
Main point – stop treating your skin like a project that constantly needs upgrades.
If you do, you’ll notice something wild:
Your skin won’t just look better.
It’ll feel better. And you will feel more confident in it.
In Short:
- Pick a routine, stick with it, and stop tweaking every week
- Normalize skin fluctuation. No one is has supple, glowing skin 24/7
- Consider your skincare routine as a support system, not a makeover
Again, if you don’t feel like going through the possibly weeks, months or years of confusion and want some insider hand-holding to get to know your skin better and build a routine you don’t have to worry about – Save My Skincare still has a couple spots left.
Also, if you haven’t already, get on the letter for my 22-page guide on how companies are manipulating your skin and how to hit the big reset button. It’s called The Skin Reset (if you signed up through the hero section on the homepage, you’re already in)
Final Reminder:
You can’t heal your skin in the same environment that convinced you it was broken.
You have to step out of the noise. Rebuild your natural rhythm. And give your skin the chance to finally recover.
Because you’re not behind (you never were).
You’re just overwhelmed.
The good thing is you can choose to do things differently.
Starting now.