Sleeping with a layer of beauty treatments before stripping them off the next morning is bad news for our skin and sleep – Lois Beasley tells us why
A 17-step morning shed routine popped up on my TikTok feed this morning. You might be asking: what the hell does that mean?
The morning shed is the latest trend adopted by TikTok and is a breakout term in 2025, according to Google Trends. It’s where beauty influencers strip themselves of all the products and treatments they applied before going to bed.
You’ve no doubt seen tons of these pre-sleep preen routines, where creators layer on face masks, ointments and heatless hair applications, saying things like “Going to bed ugly to wake up hot.” Girls film themselves plastering on everything from medical tape across mouths to chin straps that look like they would be used in medieval torture.
Well, in the morning, all that paraphernalia has to come off. So that’s another 20 minutes added to your morning routine before you can even get in the shower. This, folks, is #morningshed time.
But is the trend actually good for you? It appears it may well not be. Dr May Hall, a dermatologist at Jennie Stuart Medical Centre in the US, explained, “The more skincare you pack on before sleep, the more irritated your skin will be in the morning.”
Wellbeing company Calm also warns the trend may not only disrupt your skin barrier, but it might also affect your sleep. It said, “Many of the tools and products associated with this routine – like chin straps, mouth tape, and hair rollers – can be uncomfortable and lead to tossing and turning, preventing you from entering deep, restorative sleep cycles. Heavily fragranced or sticky skincare products can also make it difficult to get the rest you need.”
Calm describes how, over time, disrupted sleep patterns can have a major impact on your mental and physical wellbeing. No eye cream is good enough to banish the dark circles under your eyes that could simply be solved by a good night’s sleep.
Aside from the lack of skin benefits and sleep issues, this trend is just another way to pressure you into parting with more of your hard-earned money. Mintel reports that sales of beauty products are on the rise. They predict that by 2027, spending will increase to £13.6bn, up 5.4% from 2022. Instead of spending more of your hard-earned money, why not try this trend instead? Project Pan encourages you to save money, not spend it, by using up all of your products before buying new ones. Now that’s something I think we can all get behind.