With scores of new beauty bloggers launching channels daily on Youtube and social media flooding with amateur beauty tips and tricks, the world of online skincare has never been bigger or more interactive.

While that’s great for budding makeup enthusiasts to learn new skills, not all of the beauty trends recommended online are good for your skin. In fact, some of the crazy DIY beauty tips recommended on Facebook or Pinterest may actually be harming your skin.

Here are five DIY beauty trends to totally steer clear of.

1. Using lemon to lighten your skin

Lemon is often touted by beauty bloggers and Pinterest fanatics as a fab ingredient for lightening and brightening the skin. However, with a PH balance of around 2.0 (compared to the skin’s ideal balance of 5.5), lemon is extremely acidic and can do both long and short term damage to the skin’s acid mantle, making you more prone to bacterial infections and breakouts. Even worse, lemon can increase your skin’s sensitivity to sunlight, which can lead to serious sun damage and facial discolouration. Yikes!

2. Making a mayonnaise facemask

It seems like we’re constantly finding new uses for condiments in the beauty world, from contouring with cocoa powder to making hair dye from Kool-aid. A current trend is the mayonnaise facemask. While mayo can make a good hydrating hair mask, you should think twice about slathering it all over your face. Although mayonnaise mask enthusiasts promise it will help soothe irritation and lock in moisture, this mask is actually full of oil and fats that can block the pores and cause severe acne, especially in those with already oily skin.

If you’re reading this article because you’ve already done the deed, don’t panic. You can get help with acne to effectively undo the damage and beat acne once and for all.

3. Using hairspray to set your makeup

Another trick often recommended by beauty bloggers on a budget is to substitute a store bought setting spray for hairspray. The problem with this is that hairspray is highly comedogenic, which means that it’s extremely effective at blocking your poor pores and causing breakouts. Hairspray also has a high alcohol content, which will strip the moisture from your skin, leaving it dehydrated and irritated, so stay away from this damaging beauty hack.

4. Applying toothpaste to pimples

Some ladies swear by toothpaste as a quick way to zap zits. Although toothpaste does contain antibacterial properties and can cause blocked pores to come to a head, there are far more skin friendly products on the market.

Toothpaste is designed for use on our teeth’s hard enamel, not your extremely delicate skin. The harsh ingredients may lead to dryness and irritation and upset your skin’s sensitive PH balance. Furthermore, ingredients such as peroxide may leave you with lasting skin discoloration.

5. Using body lotion on your face

Generally speaking, body lotion is cheaper than facial lotion, so some budget beauty junkies have taken to recommending it for use as a facial moisturizer. You might think that, as they’re both for moisturizing your skin, your body lotion will work just as well on your face. Not so!

Body lotions often contain strong fragrances that won’t bother the resilient skin on our bodies but can easily irritate facial areas. With fewer nourishing ingredients and heavier formulas, body lotions are also more comedogenic, which makes them very likely to cause breakouts on the face and exacerbate any existing acne or skin conditions.

The Internet is a treasure trove of information and a great way to discover new, cost-effective beauty tips. However, you should always do your research before putting anything on your face that isn’t explicitly designed for such. This will prevent you from experiencing any nasty side-effects, like breakouts and discoloration.