Skin Flooding: Dermatologist Talks TikTok Trends

What is skin flooding? How does that relate to barrier function and the fundamentals of K-beauty skincare regimens?

I’m a board-certified dermatologist and also the chief scientific officer of Dr.TWL Dermaceuticals, a clinical skincare brand headquartered in Seoul and Singapore. My research on the skin microclimate and microbiome has been published in top dermatology journals such as the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology and the International Journal of Dermatology. I’m also the author of Asian Beauty Secrets and Skincare Bible: A Strategic Guide to Skin Resilience. In this article, you’ll learn my best tips to skin flooding like a pro…easily.

What skin flooding has to do with K-Beauty

But first, the skin barrier.

For healthy, beautiful skin, we must begin with understanding the skin barrier.

The concept of barrier repair took off in the last decade, when dermatologists realised that sensitive skin conditions like eczema weren’t really due to allergies. Rather, it was directly related to skin barrier defects.

Now, imagine the skin as a brick wall. This barrier is what serves to protect your skin from the external environment. It keeps out allergens like dust, pollutants and bad germs. When that has broken down, that’s when trouble starts.

In order to understand a healthy skin barrier, you’ll have to know what a diseased skin barrier looks like. Red, flaky, tight, painful, swollen…if any of these symptoms sound like your skin, chances are it’s directly related to barrier dysfunction.

Skin flooding—the TikTok trend that isn’t for beginners

K-beauty skincare regimens aren’t known for being minimal.

In 2023, TikTok called that skin flooding. The brick wall has now become a sandwich. And the process of skincare layering, really is how you make the sandwich.

The Barrier Repair Sandwich™ Model by Dr.TWL

The Art of Layering Skincare

First (1) Occlusion: Prevents water loss

Second (2) Filling: The ultra-hydrating skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid, ceramides, polyglutamic acids etc.

Third (3) Skin barrier: How easily skin can absorb the actives

I have a mnemonic for the K-beauty style skin layering regimen:

SLEM: The Science of Layering ingredients a la K-beauty

The sequence “Serum-Lotion-Emulsion-Moisturiser/Mask” works because of higher concentrations of active ingredients delivered in each product, vs an all-in-one formula.

Skin flooding doesn’t stop at layering, it’s about optimising absorption

For full facial flooding effects, sheet masking is necessary. But here’s a wallet-friendly hack—all you need is a moist, thin cotton or microfibre towel which you can apply over your favorite moisturiser.

You see, the concept of sheet masking is based on wet occlusion therapy. Sheet masking, because of wetness of the material itself in contact with skin, makes absorption more efficient. Wet wraps for instance used in dermatologic therapy for eczema, can increase transdermal absorption of moisturisers applied. This means that skin is better able to absorb actives.

The best skin flooding hacks explained by a dermatologist

1. Skin flooding is deeper than you think

When it comes to barrier repair, it’s more than just soothing red, inflamed skin with tonne of moisturiser. The active ingredients in the best moisturisers are synergistic—this means that formulation is key. Beyond surface repair, actives like hyaluronic acid participate in beneficial cell talk, which enhances immune function of skin.

2. Skincare active ingredients to biohack the skin flooding routine

For serums, higher concentrations of hyaluronic acid at 1% or more. Smaller molecules, multi-weighted hyaluronic acid enhances transdermal absorption.

Polyglutamic acid, glycerin, rice bran, amino acids are top K-beauty actives in facial essences and mists. Finally, for cream formulations such as emulsions or lotions, look out for ceramides, shea butter for instance is a source of phytoceramides.

3. Skin flooding for dummies

The easiest, fastest way to skin flooding is with what I call the sleeping mask hack. Just use your favorite moisturiser as a sleeping mask—you don’t need to buy an extra product. Sleeping masks like moisturisers are formulated as leave-on skincare products vs wash-off type i.e. cleansers and exfoliators. This means that the hydrating ingredients in well formulated moisturisers are going to do their job when used as an overnight treatment. The benefits of applying skincare when you sleep is really that it helps the skin cell regenerative process. But here’s the trick, you should use a larger amount, i.e. a palm-sized quantity will do!

Subscribe to Skincare Blueprint: Glow Up from Within my newsletter to get your complete suite of skincare resources, including bullet-style lecture notes, video tutorials in bite-sized format delivered to your inbox weekly. I also share tips on how to biohack the mind-gut-skin axis for total body wellness.