Tia Zakher is a 22-year-old woman known for her skincare routine that involves doing nothing to her skin, and even not washing it, she wants to know that she is fine.
And as of five days ago, she began using water to clean her face, she said on Friday during a video call.
The fact that she had to specify both highlights the extraordinary nature of social media. Shortly after posting a video about her routine, rumors began to swirl that she had serious skin problems or that her skincare journey was fake. It also highlights the tension that arises when healthcare and social media collide.
On March 14, after years of trying various skincare approaches to heal acne from topical and skin to microneedles and exfoliation, Zakar decided to stop anything. She did not post about the decision to her followers (a group that has swelled to over 125,000 in recent weeks). Her skin began to show visible changes when her followers began to ask what was going on when she began to show discoloration, accumulation of flake skin and a scaly texture.
She responded with a video that currently has over 10 million views. In the video, she said that changing her appearance is a way to soothe her skin naturally. She called it a “caveman” routine, but she revealed on video calls that she didn't invent the term, and that she saw elsewhere when studying skincare routines.
At first, “People were just intrigued and I got more comments, so I responded again and the video started,” she said. “But that wasn't something I wanted to sit down and share this with people. That's how the internet works.”
Then the questions and trolling began. Some commenters got tired of it, and others speculated that she had a fungal infection. Some theorized that she was using a clay mask to pay attention to it all.
“When someone spreads a lot of information about potentially dangerous health, does it matter if what she's doing is genuine,” Chicago allergist Dr Zachary Rubin, a doctor of allergies who posted a video to Tiktok in response to Zakher. He pointed out that not cleaning your face can lead to infection. “It means that there may be people who are vulnerable to skin problems that you may have more problems with that advice.”
“My personal view on this is that she is trying to promote some type of lifestyle with very inappropriate medical advice,” he added. “You're always saying, 'Drinking raw milk' or 'Don't take the vaccine.' ”
Zakar said he told other Tiktok users to seek advice from a dermatologist. She also turned to her dermatologist and commented on the Tiktok video that Zakuhar had no infection or any condition to worry about. Her mother, Sama Kamel, also jumped into the comments, adding that Zaku had been “medical advised by a very good doctor.”
Still, the internet was so invested in what was happening in Zakar's face that Tiktok's creators and commenters began to separate all the videos. When she shared about taking part in a half marathon last week, she was hit by a small change in her skin as a clue that she was lying to. Some claimed that her skin tone had changed in the rain, so it proved that it was just clay.
The level of question reached where Zakar said that close friends and family would contact her and her parents and check in.
“I know my situation is very rare and unique and many people struggle to understand it. But I can take it, I have thick skin,” she said with full intentions of puns.
For Zakar, what's more, is the dermatologist who tried to diagnose her from afar or jumped into their opinion. “That's a bit worrying for me,” she said.
Bryn Clipperd, one of many social media users who got caught up in mystery around Zakuher's skin, worked as an online detective of her own. She found a Reddit post by Zakher a year ago. Her skin looked the same as it was today.
If she was lying, Clipperd said in a phone interview, “I'd play the longest game ever and give her props.”
On a video call, Zakar confirmed that he had tried the same routine a year ago and that it led to the same response. But two weeks after the previous attempt, she couldn't resist the urge to peel it all off, she said.
“I couldn't take the texture. I felt like something was wrong,” she said. “I gave up too much.”
This time, she is committed for months or as long as it takes for the skin buildup to fall off naturally. It was a sign that her skin was healed.
And for the sake of record, during a video interview, she touched her skin, rubbed it, and raised her fingers to the camera. The clay was not visible.
