Ever notice that a trip to the beach not only leaves you with a nice glow (don’t forget sunscreen), but also clearer skin? TikToker Lea Crylics has experienced it too, and claims the post-beach clear-skin phenomenon all boils down to salt water.
Giving us a glimpse of her acne scars in a recent video, Crylics speaks on her lifelong struggle with acne. “If you have acne, watch this,” she says. “I just got done with the worst breakout of my entire life, and you know how I cleared it up? I went on vacation to South Padre Island and I swam in the ocean—it completely cleared my acne. I’ve noticed after every single I go to the beach and I go to the ocean, my skin clears up.”
To test out her hypothesis, Crylics purchased pure sea salt ($12) on Amazon and now mixes it with warm water. “I spray it on my face every night. I’m about to start my period and I don’t have any breakouts—the ones I did have completely went away.” At the end of her video, she notes, “Sea salt is chock-full of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. It exfoliates to remove impurities that clog pores and promote new skin growth. It restores oil balance and PH and prevents skin infections.”
But is there any truth to the TikTok trend? According to Omaha, NE dermatologist Joel Schlessinger, MD, the answer is yes. “Sea salt is a nice addition to any regimen when acne is a concern,” he says. “We use Dead Sea salts in AFA Cleanser with Vitamin C ($50) and the results of the regimen (which contains other actives as well) are great—it’s one of our top cleansers!”
