Bride Tries Viral Beauty Trends to Clear Up Acne. Ends Up 'Ruining Her Skin' Just Before Wedding Day (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Yeji Lee’s skin before and after finding the right treatment.Photo:Courtesy of Yeji Lee

Courtesy of Yeji Lee

Social media is brimming with beauty and skincare tips, and the creators behind every shred of advice aren’t afraid to claim they know exactly what they’re talking about. Glowing faces fill screens as influencers hock their favorite new products and suggest fresh ways to use what you already have in your medicine cabinet.

Many back up their recommendations with tales of the techniques that washed away their lifelong acne in just weeks, and viewers of all ages fill up their shopping carts with what they’re told will work like magic.

When it comes to skincare trends, Yeji Lee hastried them all and paid the price. She’s lathered petroleum jelly in the hopes of hydrating her face — a practice known as “slugging” — and broke out badly. She usedsnail mucinand trieddermaplaningto remove dead cells, which required her to run a razor blade along her face, and only further irritated her already sensitive skin.

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Lee, 30, tells PEOPLE that she started her search for the perfect regimen ahead of her wedding in December 2022. Luckily, she gave herself plenty of time to find ways to quell her pimple-prone skin before she achieved that ideal bridal glow, Lee says she sabotaged her skin while trying to keep up with the “miracle” trends dominating the ever-changing social media market.

At their worst, Lee’s reactions would cause “big acne flare-ups,” she explains. “For example, there was one that was really big trending at that time called ‘skin cycling,’ where you would try retinol and then exfoliate the next day and it was like a whole cycle, but that was way too harsh on my skin and I ended up getting pimples everywhere.”

Before her nuptials, the TikToker admits that she had limited knowledge about skincare in general. She didn’t really know the signs of something not working for her at all, and she definitely wasn’t able to recognize when methods were making her skin even more damaged.

She later learned that methods like skin cycling were causing a phenomenonknown as purging, meaning that her pores were rejecting and expelling incompatible products. Once the expelled material was pushed to the surface, it lit up her face with new spots.

Yeji Lee before her skin improved.Courtesy of Yeji Lee

Finally, Lee decided to seek out professional help, something she now maintains should be the starting place for all interested in improving their complexions. After “ruining her skin,” Lee visited a dermatologist, who set her up on a Korean skincare treatment, which is “more sensitive [and] skin-friendly,” says Lee.

The difference between Korean skincare and “Western” skincare is that the former uses less active ingredients that directly target a problem. “They don’t promote exfoliating and retinol as much as Western skincare would,” she adds.

Since her wedding was just around the corner, Lee was relieved that the dermatologist was able to prescribe specific treatments and give her cortisone shots to quickly repair her skin. The recovery took about two to three months, she says, but she also receivedmicroneedlingto generally prepare her skin for the big day.

Without that help, however, Lee could foresee a much longer timeline to undo the harm from all those skincare trends. “I feel like it would take months just to clear up the acne from the dark spots and all the hyperpigmentation,” she notes.

Yeji Lee after her skin improved.Courtesy of Yeji Lee

After Lee walked down the aisle with a clear face, she decided to share the skincare lessons she had learned through trial and error. The newlywed started posting about skincare onTikTok, where she currently has over 140,000 followers. Lee has racked up millions of views on her videos discussing and debunking the fads that flood feeds around the world.

While she’s determined a consistent Korean skincare routine for herself, brands often send the skin-fluencer new products to test out. She doesn’t claim to be an expert on the subject, but Lee now knows enough to step outside her comfort zone if something piques her interest. She’s just diligent about reading through the ingredients to see what works for her before testing and reviewing for her online fans.

And she’s better at discerning whether she’s having a normal breakout or if her skin is purging a product that doesn’t match her needs. “I usually can tell one to two weeks in if I should stop using a product,” says Lee. “I don’t try multiple products at once. I would try one new product at a time just so I can tell if it’s breaking me out or not.”

Her DMs are full of TikTok users looking for guidance, but Lee knows better than anyone that one person’s skincare needs differ from the next. She doesn’t respond to everyone, though when she does, her first piece of advice is usually to skip the breakouts and confusion and go straight to the pros.

Yeji Lee and her husband on their wedding day.The Blossom

The Blossom

“Other than going to the dermatologist, I would say don’t trust all the reviews. Look at the ingredients yourself, see what has worked for you in the past and incorporate something slowly,” Lee advises. “And maybe don’t start with a harsh product.”

She has plenty of messages from younger people as well, some of whom are clearly consuming trends meant for people with much more mature skin. Lee recalls multiple teenagers asking whether or not they should start using retinol, which she’s shut down in favor of a more limited approach, starting with basics like sunscreen.

It’s not too surprising to Lee that people of all ages — herself included — are susceptible to the many rotating crazes promoted online.

“Trends are just a huge thing on social media in general,” she tells PEOPLE. “If you see a pretty girl with pretty skin doing something crazy to her face that you’ve never tried before, maybe you’d want to try it yourself just to see if it works, and then you realize it’s a lie.”

Yeji Lee on her wedding day.The Blossom

Current internet obsessions aside, is there a skincare practice that Lee would recommend to anyone looking for help outside of a dermatologist’s office? Possibly, but it’s not as outlandish as dragging razors against your cheeks or falling asleep coated in an exotic bottled gel. It’s not even as regimented as a five-step routine.

“It really depends on what you’re looking for,” Lee says. “I guess if you want something very simple … I would say very gentle cleanser would work on everyone.”

source: people.com