Struggling with acne or fine lines? The answer is on Instagram

You’ll find info-loaded reels, stories and posts by well-known skincare specialists

In July 2020, I found myself shopping for a new dermatologist. I was happy with my skin and the doctor I saw regularly, but I was ready to switch things up—especially with all the extra time I had looking at my face on Zoom. Thanks to the nature of my work, I'd worked with, chatted with and gotten advice from many of the best people in their field, so I had many top-notch options to speed date with before I found the one. What I was looking for was a doctor who'd be happy geeking out with me about the coolest new ingredients and most cutting-edge technologies, and I found my pick by scrolling through Instagram.

Dr Kiran Sethi, dermatologist and founder of Isya Aesthetics, had been posting reels, Instagram lives and posts on topics that I had started to save, share and like, and when she posted a deep dive into niacinamide (and a post about why you can't give yourself an at-home facelift), I knew she was the doctor I wanted to start working with.

She's not the only MD that is making waves on social media. Dr Muneeb Shah, a dermatology resident at Campbell University in North Carolina, spent the early months of the pandemic posting reels and videos about what he was learning on the job on Instagram and Tiktok. Now, 20 months later, he has 751k followers on the former and more than 6m on the latter, numbers that were otherwise reserved for celebrities like Priyanka Chopra Jonas and influencers like Addison Rae only. Just like him, Joshua Zeichner— a board-certified dermatologist and director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital's Department of Dermatology—has accrued 42k followers on Instagram, while Dr Sethi and Dr Jaishree Sharad—dermatologist and medical director, Skinfiniti Aesthetic & Laser Clinic—have 60.2k and 114k followers apiece.

Battling misinformation, one reel at a time

The Internet is the perfect place for misinformation and pseudoscience to spread, so doctors are getting on social media to do their damndest to clear it all up. "All of my posts are rooted in education. I want to make sure that my audience gets high-quality, unbiased information. I choose to sit close to the camera and speak directly to my audience as if they are patients in my office," says Dr Zeichner. Through videos, he answers questions that many people have but may not always ask. Wondering if your collagen-infused cream is doing anything? Not sure if your hyaluronic acid serum is drying your skin out? You'll get the answers without having to wade through Google searches.

Dermfluencers are working on changing the accessibility game so that skincare knowledge doesn't only have to be for people who have the ability and income to get in-office treatments. "There is a huge lack of access to dermatologists, and many people that seek advice on social media will never be able to see one in person. Since my audience is global, I can reach people who live in countries worldwide. When I create content, it's not "medical advice," it's more general advice to help guide people to make better decisions," confirms Dr Shah. By debunking some of the myths that are all over Instagram (like whether jade rolling works or whether you need to be drinking chlorophyll), doctors can thwart some of the more unfounded advice by allowing them to offer advice to those who may be too busy, intimidated or unable to make it to a one-on-one visit.

Dr Sharad's following is 57 per cent female and 43 per cent male, and most of them are between the age group of 30 and 40. According to Dr Zeichner and Dr Sethi, their audiences are already somewhat interested in skincare and have a routine. They want to ask more specific questions to know how they can make their skin glow or hair glossier. What kind of content do they find works best? Exactly what you would think, which is why they are using all the popular audio tracks and dance trends to tell you what retinol mistakes you might be making. "I want to go where my audience is," says Dr Sharad. "Doing a dance or using a fun song makes a skincare reel catchy, but I can keep it educational too. I do get some snarky messages sometimes, and people do comment telling me that I shouldn't be dancing as a doctor, but these mean comments are only three out of the 20,000 people that are engaging with that piece of content," she says.

The age of influence

There are traditional beauty influencers whose posts will look exactly like a derm's. Look at skintellectuals like Hyram Yarbro and Susan Yara, who know their way around an ingredient list and can distinguish between superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. But the significant difference? That extra ten years of education and practice that doctors have. "There are some amazing dermatologists on Instagram who are doing a fantastic job at debunking myths and relaying the right information to skincare users. The biggest difference between content creators like dermatologists and me is that they have actual professional experience, and their knowledge is supported by years of education in the field. I can only answer questions based on my experiences with a product, ingredient or brand, but a dermatologist would be able to tell you what works for you," says Ria Biyani, a content creator and skincare enthusiast (@rithink_skin on Instagram).

The line gets a little blurred when it comes to sponsored content. On the one hand, being a doctor by day and a content creator by night is an effort and time-consuming job, so getting to monetise through brand partners and advertisement posts sounds like it should be par for the course. Dr Shah says that he's open to working with brands, but he has to really love the product before agreeing. "I do create sponsored content for brands and products I believe in. I turn down about 99 per cent of brands that reach out for several reasons. Ultimately, I will only recommend products to my audience that I would recommend to my own family," he says, picking brands like Cerave to work with (for which he collaborated with Charli D'Amelio).

On the flip side, it can be easy to misconstrue a doctor's ringing endorsement for a product as the holy grail, which can get complicated. "When I talk about a product, like three best Vitamin C serums, for example, those posts do well. But then my followers want to buy every single product that I speak about because they assume that it's perfect for them just because it's on my feed. I'm not in control of how people consume the information I put out, so I do very few of those posts now," says Dr Sethi. "I've done sponsored Instagram lives for a couple of huge brands like Dermalogica and L'Oreal in the past," admits Dr Sharad. "But then I did one for a newish brand and realised much later that I didn't like the products at all once I began using them. I had people tell me that they bought the products I'd recommended and weren't happy with them at all. That's when I realised that my words have a lot of bearing on people's opinions, so I have to be careful at who I shout out on my platform," she says. Dr Sethi says that she turns down a lot of requests to do sponcon because she cannot promise glowing recommendations, instead picking and choosing the products she talks about based on research and actual testing only.

The issue still stands: can Instagram advice be a stand-in for an in-office consultation? According to all these doctors, not if you can help it. "I answer a lot of questions," says Biyani, "but if anyone sends me a photo of their skin and they have real skin concerns like acne, rosacea or psoriasis, I tell them to seek help from a professional." Dr Shah agrees. "Many people have told me that my content has encouraged them to see a dermatologist in person. My goal is to educate people to make better decisions about their skin health. This helps them get started on a simple skincare routine and builds a strong foundation for their treating dermatologist to build on top of."

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