Gigi Hadid's favorite pimple-fighting hack is actually a bad idea, according to dermatologists
- Gigi Hadid revealed she uses toothpaste to dry out pimples in a Vogue video released on Thursday.
- A dermatologist told Insider using toothpaste on acne is actually a bad idea.
- Toothpaste contains ingredients that may irritate skin and can worsen pimples.
Gigi Hadid is full of helpful life hacks, from her viral recipe for spicy vodka pasta to her extremely affordable Christmas decorations from Target.
But some of her tips are less sound - like using toothpaste to get rid of pimples. An expert told Insider that it's flat-out "not a good idea."
On Thursday, the supermodel and new mom shared her post-pregnancy skin-care and contouring routine in a Vogue video. She gave viewers an inside look into how she keeps her skin moisturized and her makeup looking flawless. She also revealed something unusual she does to heal pimples.
"A strange thing I do, which my mom taught me, is I put toothpaste on spots at night and it dries it out," Hadid says in the video.
"I might get hell for saying that but that's what I do," she added.
Social media caught on to Hadid's beauty tip even though she only spent a few seconds talking about it. Using toothpaste on pimples is a common home remedy.
"The only skincare routine by gigi hadid that i can afford to follow is put toothpaste on my pimples," one Twitter user wrote.
Read more: New mom Gigi Hadid says she doesn't feel the need to be a size 0 on the cover of Vogue
But a dermatologist says putting toothpaste on acne is a bad idea
While Hadid's toothpaste trick has been around for a long time, it's not a great method for healing pimples.
"The use of toothpaste for pimples began among pregnant women looking for a 'safe' treatment," Dr. Heidi Waldorf, a New York-based dermatologist, told Insider. "They think the toothpaste helps because it peels the skin."
"In fact, toothpaste can worsen pimples and the skin around them," Waldorf added.
According to Waldorf, many common brands of toothpaste contain ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate (a type of detergent meant to be rinsed off after a short period of time), fluoride, and baking soda which irritate the skin. Sodium lauryl sulfate, in particular, is harmful because it strips away the natural fat and protein barrier from the skin.
To combat acne that is particularly inflammatory, like the kind occurring under face masks, Waldorf recommends Lasercyn Spray and salicylic acid to her patients. The former fights against bacteria, viruses, and yeast/fungi, while the latter works on oil in the follicles.
If that doesn't work, Waldorf says she typically prescribes a topical antibiotic and might add an anti-inflammatory to the mix.
Read more: What to do - and what not to do - to get rid of a pimple
Hadid gave viewers a peek into her skin-care routine during fashion week
Hadid is one of the most recognizable faces in fashion and regularly walks the runway for brands like Tom Ford, Burberry, and Chanel.
However, in the Vogue video, she shared that fashion week, as glamorous as it may be, isn't always the best for her skin. In fact, she says her skin gets "the most irritated" during that time.
Hadid thinks her skin is worse than normal during fashion week because she wears makeup all day, several days in a row. It also doesn't help that, according to Hadid, make-up artists use the same unwashed brushes on many models' faces.
"They take the same makeup brush all the way down the line on 30 girls," Hadid said.