The internet is raving about ‘nature’s Botox.’ Does it work?

“You don’t need Botox, you don’t!” stated Kirti Tewani in a video posted on TikTok, where she has over 475,400 followers. One might have expected words of empowerment and self-acceptance to follow, but instead, the Ayuverdic therapist and makeup artist started rubbing the inside of a banana peel across her face. “It’s a wrinkle reducer,” Tewani continued to explain, noting that the peels contain lutein, an antioxidant that “can brighten, hydrate and soothe your skin.” When selecting bananas, “the riper, the better,” she advised. To date, the video has amassed over 2.2 million views and more than 61,200 likes. Tewani, who is based in New York, dislikes the taste of bananas, although her children enjoy and eat them frequently, she told CNN over a phone call. “I was reading about bananas and how they’re rich in potassium and the peel has many nutrients inside. I wondered if it could help to hydrate the skin,” she explained. “When I looked it up online, I saw that a few people were already doing it, so I started experimenting on my face every time my kids ate a banana,” said Tewani. After a month of trials, she noticed that her “smile lines were a little bit more plump and fuller, even though I hadn’t changed too much in my skincare routine. That was really amazing to see.” Tewani is not alone in finding alternative methods to improve the appearance of her skin. Many other beauty enthusiasts have also recently turned to ingredients you’d usually find in the food aisle, such as yogurt, flaxseed and even beef tallow, as a way to hydrate the skin and reduce acne. Rather than ingest the items, they’re rubbing them directly onto their faces — marking a trend that has since been coined on social media as “nature’s Botox.” DIY beauty hacks find an audience It’s a surprising development following the pandemic-induced skincare boom, where people spent heavily on science-backed moisturizers, toners and serums from high-end brands including Augustinus Bader, Dr. Barbara Sturm and La Mer, and the rise of tween girls (typically between 8 and 12 years old) flooding specialist beauty stores such as Sephora, as they shop for buzzy skincare labels like Drunk Elephant, Sol de Janeiro and Glow Recipe. It’s also a trend that’s expected to continue picking up steam: a spokesperson from TikTok told CNN that, as of February, there are over 5,000 videos on the platform with the accompanying hashtag #NaturesBotox, a majority of which were shared over the past two months. So prevalent is the trend that common pantry foods, such as rice, have become a star ingredient in beauty brands’ products. Clare Hennigan, principal analyst for beauty and personal care at global research firm Mintel, believes the shift is indicative of a growing interest in do-it-yourself (DIY) treatments over professional beauty services. Part of that is driven by cost — 77% of US individuals aged 12 to 17 said they enjoyed experimenting with new beauty or skincare trends, but 33% noted that their parents or guardians stopped them from buying something they wanted because it was too expensive, according to 2024 data from Mintel. “A large part of what fuels this is social media,” Hennigan explained to CNN over a call. “With DIY alternatives, there’s this fun that can be had with a community-driven discovery.” For others, it’s less to do with financing and is simply “a lower perceived health and safety risk,” said Hennigan, pointing to facial taping — a non-invasive technique that involves applying a special adhesive tape to the face to tighten skin — as another DIY beauty hack gaining traction. Such treatments are no longer limited to the privacy of at-home routines, either. Doechii wore visible face tape for her performance at the 2025 Grammys, where she was awarded for Best Rap Album. Mom knows best For Tewani, growing up with a holistic approach to beauty, as part of her Indian heritage, meant that using foods beyond simply sustenance was already part of the norm. “A lot of Indians growing up would eat a papaya or cucumber and rub the last piece on their face. Avocados and yogurt are popular as face masks. I’m not scared to use these raw ingredients on my face because I grew up doing that,” she said. Daniela Martinez, a copywriter based in West Palm Beach, Florida, was also influenced by her upbringing. “I grew up with my mom, who is a beauty guru and loves natural remedies,” she said. It led Martinez to look for “simple and natural ways” to improve her skin’s hydration and texture — a journey that she now shares on TikTok with her 13,300 followers. Martinez began incorporating flaxseed into her skincare routine after seeing videos from other young women praising the benefits of the seeds. Once or twice a week, she measures two cups of flaxseeds and boils them in water for about five minutes. Some people prefer to set the boiled seeds aside to cool down, Martinez noted, but she prefers to strain them immediately, using a cheesecloth. She’d then apply the seeds to her face and leave it on for about half an hour before rinsing it off. The results, Martinez found, were impressive. “The tightening effect of the mask is absolutely insane,” she said. “My skin was more radiant and felt softer and smoother.” Good for the gut, but is it good for the face? Some skin experts are unconvinced, however, warning that the efficacy and long-term benefits of many natural-based DIY skincare routines are unsubstantiated. “Flaxseed is a great digestive, high-fiber product that people can consume. People take that and think ‘well, if this is good to eat, then it can be good for the face.’ But there is low scientific evidence that flaxseed, beef fat or any of (these foods) are great moisturizers,” Muneeb Shah, a US-based dermatologist, who is certified in dermatology and micrographic surgery by the American Board of Dermatology, told CNN. Much to Shah’s chagrin, Botox has become overused as a descriptor in beauty, because of the recognition it commands. “Every few months I see a new trend online where people are claiming that something is like Botox, but it’s often unproven. Botox is a well understood product and I think people like to use it like an anchor,” he said. With the exception of retinol or argireline, chemical compounds that now commonly appear in skincare, “there really is no topical product that’s going to get a result anywhere close to what Botox can do,” he said. Dija Ayodele, a UK-based aesthetician and the founder of West Room Aesthetics, a skincare destination for women of color, believes there are hidden dangers to DIY natural remedies. Fruits contain varying levels of acids which could cause issues, such as chemical burns, depending on the sensitivity of a person’s skin, she warned. “If you’re using lemon to lighten the dark marks on your skin and you don’t use sunscreen, you’re opening yourself up to photosensitivity. With all things on social media, a lot of people will be fine, but there’s usually someone who’s more vulnerable and it will cause them a lot of problems.” Los Angeles-based content creator Grace May has also come to a similar conclusion. Driven by a desire for clearer skin, she recently experimented with beef tallow facials, though it didn’t yield the results she had hoped for. On the evenings May applied the beef fat to her face, she would eschew her usual moisturizer. “The first time I tried it, I found it really greasy,” she said. “If I didn’t let it sit on my face (for long enough before going to bed), I would also get greasy hair, because my hair sometimes goes into my face.” “I’m not the biggest DIY skincare person but I recently got acne, so if there is a product that is getting popular, I wanted to give it a try,” explained May. Though, ultimately, she has stopped using beef tallow altogether. “It seemed that my pores were just clogged by it, and I got even more pimples, so I did not want to continue after that,” she said. Shah, who has undertaken several studies examining various natural oils, including sunflower, olive and coconut, and their effectiveness in repairing or moisturizing the skin barrier, has an explanation: oils with higher oleic levels, such as those from beef tallow, tend to have a higher possibility of causing skin irritation, he warned. But, as with all routines, what works for one person might not necessarily for another, caveats May, noting that she wasn’t too disappointed by her beef tallow facials. “I was already prepared it might not work because I have hormonal acne, which is different from regular acne.” Still on a mission to reduce her acne, May’s new priority is gut health. “I’m eating cleaner now and using gentler products for my face,” she said.