I Just Tried TikTok's Viral Shower Routine and It Transformed My Skin

During my evening TikTok scroll, my thumb paused over a video of Amelia Gartner, a skincare content creator who proclaimed that her bodycare routine gets her "stopped nearly weekly", with people asking her about her skin. As a beauty editor, my interest was immediately piqued.

"I feel like I've been gatekeeping this, because I didn't even think this was something that people didn't do," says Gartner. "The best thing about this is that you can chop and change it and be as creative as you want, and it can work with any budget," she says.

Turns out, it's become a hit with everyone she has shared it with, too. "Every time I've explained this routine with my friends they are shocked." It works with people with KP [keratosis pilaris, which is often the cause of bumps on the backs of the arms], people with eczema, and it gets better and better every time you use it," she adds.

I too would like the skin on my body to glow to the point of being inundated with compliments, so I promptly took notes and road-tested the routine for two weeks. Scroll ahead for the full bodycare routine.

The first step in the routine is to exfoliate your entire body. Gartner explains that she uses an acid-based scrub to chemically exfoliate the skin prior to stepping into the shower. I used what I had to hand in my bathroom already, so I would either use a traditional granular body scrub or a body brush. However, if I wanted a chemical exfoliant, I might use an exfoliating body serum a little while before stepping in the shower.

The next step is to use "any old body wash to wash yourself clean," says Gartner. She recommends shaving at this point if you're planning to. Dove's body washes are among my go-tos for leaving the skin soft, and they're great for shaving too.

Next, you want to go in with an oil-based body wash. "This is going to re-apply all the oil that you have just washed off with your normal body wash," says Gartner. Her choice is Avene's oil cleanser, which helps to replace lipids in the skin, and it's particularly good or those with skin conditions like eczema. "Your skin will be so smooth and hydrated after you have used it," she says. 

Next, you want to step out of the shower for a moment, and apply a body oil all over your skin whilst it's still wet. The oil "sandwiches in the water" so that you can lock more moisture into the skin. Gartner then recommends stepping back into the water to wash this off. I personally preferred to keep it on before drying my skin.

Gartner explains that every step in this routine is optional, so I decided to skip this part as I don't have a hyaluronic-acid body serum at home. However, if you want to do it, she recommends towelling off so your skin is still a little damp, and then applying the product to your skin. "I'm not talking, like, a tiny 30ml serum, you need something that's big, like at least in a 100ml jar," she says. Gartner uses this one from Hada Labo on damp skin all over the body. "We're applying this to try and trap as much moisture and water as we can," she says.

Before I found this TikTok video, my bodycare routine was the bare minimum. A body wash and the occasional application of moisturiser or oil were the foundations of my shower routine. However, since adding in the additional steps, my skin has never felt—or looked—better. Tight, itchy skin is gone, and instead it's incredibly soft and my legs practically beam with hydration. I can live without the hyaluronic-acid serum step, and I prefer to keep the body oil on my skin rather than showering it off, but even with skipping these steps, my skin has hugely improved.

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This story was previously published at an earlier date and has since been updated.