The Skincare Glossary: a Guide to Beauty Buzzwords
Welcome to skin school – from slugging and snacking to skinimalism and strobing, decode the beauty terms of the moment
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The Skincare Glossary: a Guide to Beauty Buzzwords
Welcome to skin school – from slugging and snacking to skinimalism and strobing, decode the beauty terms of the moment
By: Maddi John
Keeping up with the ever-growing list of skincare terms and beauty buzzwords is no easy feat, especially when new trends pop up on our social feeds every single day. We hear terms like ‘beauty snacking’ and ‘skin flooding’ all the time, but what do they actually mean and are they worth bringing in to our skincare routines? And why are we asking our facialists and manicurists for glazed donuts? Read on to find all the definitions you could need in our beauty buzzword glossary below...
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Skin Flooding
Skin flooding, as the name suggests, is all about flooding your skin with ingredients that optimally hydrate the skin. It might sound simple, but there’s more to it than just lathering yourself with any old moisturiser. When trying out this viral technique you need to layer moisturising skincare products in the right order to ensure longer-lasting hydration is achieved. The four simple steps include: gently cleansing your skin, spritzing on a mist, applying a serum or two, and lastly, moisturising your skin.
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Beauty Snacking
While we wish this meant enjoying your favourite snacks while slathering on your morning moisturiser, beauty snacking is actually a little more constructive. Beauty snacking, or skincare snacking, refers to the bite-sized moments of self-pampering you do throughout your day, designed to boost your mood. Created during the (dare we say) lockdown, beauty snacking adds a touch of joy to your daily routine by breaking it up with short beauty breaks, like a 3pm face mist or a Gua Sha massage in front of the TV, that leave you and your skin feeling refreshed.
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Slugging
If you’re a frequent viewer of BeautyTok, you may have noticed the period of time where everyone was dousing their faces in Vaseline. Albeit a tad strange, these early adopters were practising the art of slugging – a technique originating from the K-beauty world. While the name suggests otherwise, slugging has nothing to do with the creepy crawly. Instead, it is the process of applying petroleum-heavy emollient, like Vaseline, to the face after completing your night-time skincare routine. The idea is that you then sleep in it in the hopes of sealing in moisture before washing it off in the morning.
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Skinimalism
If the glowy/dewy aesthetic is your desired effect, you’ll know all about this simple highlighting technique. Strobing is when you put highlighter in strategic spots on your face without contouring to give you a bright and healthy finish without caking on too much product. Typically, highlighter is brushed on the cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, below the arch of the brows and on the cupid’s bow to add lift and definition.
Strobing
If glowing, dewy skin is your desired effect, you’ll know all about this simple highlighting technique. Strobing is when you put highlighter in strategic spots on your face without contouring to give you a bright and healthy finish without caking on too much product. Typically, highlighter is brushed on the cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, below the arch of the brows and on the cupid’s bow to add lift and definition.
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Microdosing
Skincare Microdosing is the concept of using potent and powerful skincare ingredients regularly but in small amounts. Why? Because some ingredients, such as retinol and skincare acids have a tendency to cause sensitivity or other adverse reactions when first used or when used in large amounts. Microdosing, on the other hand, allows you to build up tolerance over a longer period of time.
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Skin-Cycling
Adopted by multiple TikTok beauty gurus, skin-cycling is a term you’ll want to know (and try). It involves using active ingredients in your nighttime routine only on certain days, with ‘rest’ days between, to allow skin to build up tolerance and avoid upsetting the all-important skin barrier. One of the more popular rotations is to do a four-day cycle using active ingredients like AHAs – two days on and two days off, and then repeating.
Glazed Donut
While the glazed donut trend was made popular by Hailey Bieber in 2022, it’s here to stay. Glazed donut skin is exactly what it sounds like – dewy (but not greasy) and glowing (but not shiny) skin that embraces natural marks like freckles and beauty spots, rather than covers them. Similarly to skinimalism, this ‘glazed’ finish is achieved with a few strategic products that encourage hydrated and smooth skin. The trend even branched out to nails, with 'glazed donut’ and ‘chocolate glazed donut’ nails taking the salons by storm – which is essentially a nude or brown gel color with a chrome powder finish over the top.
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Blue Light
A term not so loved in the beauty (or everyday) world, blue light refers to the rays emitted from your electronic devices or the LED light bulbs in your home. It’s believed to pose certain risks to both your eyes and skin, which has meant a slew of skincare formulas have hit shelves, designed to combat the negative effects (skin damage, discoloration, inflammation and a weakened barrier) of blue light.
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Barrier Repair
The skin barrier, or scientifically the stratum corneum, is the outermost layer that protects against the harsh outside world, responsible for keeping the good things (like moisture) in, and the bad things (like pollutants) out. Protecting your skin barrier is important, mitigating the risk of redness, dryness, itching and flare-ups. Enter: barrier repair products. These formulas work to rebuild or fill-in gaps within the skin barrier, helping to improve its built-in shield.
Skincare Acids
Put simply, skincare acids are ingredients that are commonly used for exfoliation and hydration. They are usually categorised into two groups: alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) like glycolic acid and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) like salicylic acid. Some loosen the bonds between dead skin cells and the upper layers of the skin, while others help to clear out pores, leaving you with a brighter, smoother complexion.
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Cloud Skin
Now we know glowing skin will always be in – nothing beats a glass-skin glow in summer – but as of recent, cloud skin has become the next beauty craze on TikTok and making us consider whether we ought to ease up on our highlighter. The new trend offers a soft-matte alternative to sheeny complexions, thanks to strategically mixing skincare and makeup to achieve an ethereal, cherub-like glow rather than a wet-like gleaming finish. It's the best bits of dewy, glowing and matte skin rolled into one look.
