One of the most popular social media beauty hacks, "face taping" has people applying strips of tape to areas of their face to reduce wrinkles overnight.
Many use kinesiology tape like the kind used by physiotherapists to treat muscle pain for example, sticking stripes of it to their forehead or cheeks and treating themselves to a supposed mini facelift.
Sounds too good to be true? That's because it is, says German dermatologist Uta Schlossberger. According to her, face taping doesn't work: "On the contrary. It has more of a damaging effect."
The idea behind face taping sounds simple enough: The tape is supposed to temporarily immobilize certain facial muscles, to prevent you from frowning, for example, which is then said to reduce or even prevent wrinkles.
However, Schlossberger says that the tape actually achieves the opposite effect, as the muscles will start working against the force of the tape. "This means that you are actually deepening the wrinkles rather than smoothing them."
Another risk of face taping is that it can cause skin irritation, for example if you are allergic to the adhesive on the tape. Using tape overnight means you might not notice an allergic reaction for hours, according to the dermatologist.
Plus, removing the tape can cause micro-injuries to the sensitive facial skin, Schlossberger says, especially if you face tape regularly.
"These micro-injuries disrupt the skin barrier, the skin flora can change and bacteria or viruses can multiply," the expert says, adding that this makes you more vulnerable to acne bacteria.
If at all, Schlossberger recommends only taping your skin occasionally for not more than a few hours for a temporary fix.
"Two to three hours are fine," the dermatologist says. But don't face tape too often, she warns, and never overnight.