If you’ve been on SkinTok recently, you’ve likely heard of “face basting.” Touted as “slugging 2.0,” this technique involves slathering your face with *checks notes* diaper cream before going to bed.
We don’t know about you, but we’d like to learn a little bit more before putting butt cream on our faces. So we went straight to the source—Dr. Shereene Idriss, board-certified dermatologist, founder of Idriss Dermatology in NYC, and creator of the #PillowtalkDerm series on Instagram.
“Face basting is a hack I came up with to repair a dry, inflamed skin barrier,” she tells us. “As the last step of my skincare routine, I layer on a thick layer of Triple Paste Diaper Rash Cream, icing my face like a cupcake before bed,” she says. “You can do this a few nights a week as needed, depending on your skin type and environment.”
But why diaper rash cream? For one, it contains a high level of zinc oxide. “Zinc oxide is gold, little nerds. It is gold,” she says in her viral video on the technique. “It will help repair your face and heal your skin while locking in hydration.” Zinc oxide has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties, and can help repair injured skin.
Dr. Shereene notes that if you have oily skin and live in a humid environment, you don’t need to face baste. It’s most helpful for people with super dry, inflamed skin who live in a dry climate (think: Utah, Nevada, Wyoming)