The Beauty Misinformation Crisis

A quick scroll on TikTok can feel like falling down a rabbit hole: one moment you’re watching a soothing skin care routine, the next you’re staring at someone literally eating their moisturizer. In the beauty corner of the platform—dubbed SkinTok—content ranges from genuinely useful tips to the downright dangerous: at-home microneedling kits, DIY dermaplaning, and product placements disguised as personal recommendations. Mixed in are harmless but misleading trends, “rage-bait” antics, and in some cases, full-on misinformation. And because these videos are only a click away, anyone—regardless of age, skin type, or health background—can access them. That’s when beauty stops being just about aesthetics and starts crossing into the realm of wellness, safety, and even medical ethics.

A Breeding Ground for Misinformation

Social media’s algorithm-driven structure makes it fertile ground for falsehoods to spread. “Misinformation or disinformation has existed since time immemorial, but before, you had to make an effort to spread it,” says Rachel Khan, PhD, a professor with the University of the Philippines College of Media and Communication and tsek.ph coordinator. “These days, it’s just a matter of a click. So now, even people who have no intention of spreading misinformation, they can share things that they think are true, without really checking their facts.”

In beauty, questionable advice often hides in plain sight—sometimes designed to spark controversy just for views. Board-certified dermatologist and content creator Chesca Sy-Alvarado, MD, FPDS, cites research that reveals the scale of the problem. “A 2018 study published by dermatologists in the United States, called Dermatology on Instagram: An Analysis of Hashtags, found that the vast majority of dermatology-related top posts were made by individuals without any formal dermatology training. Another U.S. study from 2021, called Patterns of Promotional Content by Dermatology Influencers on TikTok, discovered that, for both board-certified dermatologists and dermatology-related accounts that had no credentials, the nature of posts was mainly promotional.” For Dr. Sy-Alvarado, the takeaway is clear: There’s a gap in the online beauty space that needs to be filled with credible voices.

The harm isn’t hypothetical. Clinics see patients with complications from at-home microneedling, DIY dermaplaning, and other viral hacks gone wrong. Board-certified dermatologist and content creator Gaile Robredo-Vitas, MD, FPDS, says, “New influencers pop out everyday, and some share wrong information, maybe unintentionally, like how sunscreen can cause endocrine disruption, or cancer—na hindi naman totoo. Feeling ko most of them have good intentions, but are also victims of misinformation.”

When the misinformation leaves the screen

Not all beauty misinformation lives online. In the real world, unqualified practitioners are putting patients in danger. Board-certified dermatologist and president of the Philippine Dermatological Society (PDS) Jasmin Jamora, MD, FPDS, has treated patients harmed by procedures performed by non-doctors—some of whom pose as licensed professionals.

“We’ve seen patients who are blind from fillers injected into their foreheads near their eyes by non-doctors. We also had a patient who got an eye infection from IV glutathione, also administered by a non-doctor,” she says. “It is illegal. The Medical Act of 1959 states that anyone who practices medicine and is not a licensed physician of the Philippines is conducting the illegal practice of medicine.”

The problem is compounded by the easy availability of prescription-only products. “I’m talking about fillers and neurotoxins, which could be fake,” Dr. Jamora warns. “These medicines… find their ways into the hands of just about anyone, and get injected into individuals in settings without the proper medical support.”

The wellness connection

Beauty content’s appeal is obvious. “They’re very marketable,” says Dr. Khan. “It’s a desire of many people to look beautiful, to look younger. That desire can sometimes fuel the need to look for more affordable alternatives.” But when those alternatives are unsafe, unregulated, or outright fake, beauty becomes a wellness risk.

Her 2023 study, Countering Disinformation: Tools and Initiatives in the Philippines, co-authored with fellow University of the Philippines professor Yvonne Chua, found that medical misinformation is rampant in Southeast Asia—and beauty is far from immune. “Worldwide actually, when it comes to the medical sphere, and the beauty topics that follow, there’s a lot of misinformation going on,” she says.

Fighting back: Fact-checking as self-care

For Dr. Khan, the antidote is media literacy: “The long-term solution is really media literacy, and to give everyone a fact-checking state of mind.” She advises checking “who said it, and where it was posted or stated,” confirming if credible sources exist, and cross-checking multiple legitimate outlets.

For Dr. Jamora, it’s about choosing credible professionals—“whether through traditional media like TV, radio, and print, or increasingly, through online platforms”—and verifying credentials. She recommends asking to see a provider’s Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) license, ID, and training certificates. “And one of the best ways to ensure you’re in safe hands is to consult a board-certified dermatologist,” she says.

Dr. Sy-Alvarado adds that maintaining a medical license requires continuing education, and that affiliation with respected organizations signals professional accountability. She also warns against conflicts of interest, “such as if they are affiliated with pharmaceutical or manufacturing companies, or if they are directly participating in product promotion.”

Dermatologists as digital defenders

Scrolling through SkinTok, you might notice more board-certified dermatologists producing their own content—doctors like Dr. Robredo-Vitas and Dr. Sy-Alvarado, who use their platforms to correct misinformation. “There’s so much information out there that we need to address, counter, or verify,” says Dr. Sy-Alvarado. “I realized there are no better people to do this than us medical doctors, specialists, and even subspecialists—those who have specifically trained in the field.”

Dr. Robredo-Vitas started in 2019 to answer patient FAQs, later adapting to educate a broader audience. Many top Filipino beauty creators, she says, actually consult her before posting. “To be fair, a lot of the popular Filipino creators consult me, kasi takot sila sa backlash. Ang dali-dali ma-cancel ngayon, so the more popular ones, they’re very careful about keeping their credibility.” Still, she acknowledges the presence of “clout-chasers” who “just ride on whatever is trending, and don’t care if awayin sila because engagement is engagement.”

The code they live by

For dermatologists in the Philippines, content creation comes with ethical guardrails. The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) and the PDS prohibit endorsing medical products in exchange for benefits, as well as giving advice that encourages self-medication. Conflicts of interest must be disclosed, but disclosure doesn’t make product marketing acceptable.

In other countries, such as the U.S., dermatologists are not prohibited from endorsing or publicly recommending products. “But here,” notes Dr. Jamora, “endorsing health products is against the code of ethics, not just of the PDS, but also the PMA and the PRC, which gives us our ID.”

Pre-bunking the problem

Dr. Khan sees certified experts as essential in both “debunking” and “pre-bunking”—arming audiences with facts before falsehoods can take hold. “For example, there’s a dermatologist who’s talking about what to look for in a facial wash, and will say, ‘This is the criteria for a good facial wash,’ so people will know what to look for. So when a new product comes out, people already have some sort of checklist to go by. That’s ‘pre-bunking.’”

Information as armor

The rise of beauty misinformation is more than a digital annoyance—it’s a wellness threat. And the best defense is to sharpen your own fact-checking instincts. Research techniques before trying them, vet products and professionals, and think critically about the information you consume.

In beauty, as in life, doing a little homework before you act doesn’t just save your skin—it could save your health.