4.6 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Never put this on your face! Even natural ingredients can cause skin problems if misused. In this video, I’ll share 11 things you should never put on your face. To achieve healthy, clear skin, avoid these common skincare mistakes.
0:00 Introduction: Skincare mistakes to avoid
0:20 Skin damage explained
1:28 What not to use on your face
2:31 Lemon juice and sun exposure
5:25 Rubbing alcohol and bad skin products
7:07 Topical steroids and skincare mistakes
8:30 More skincare do’s and don’ts
Your skin is the largest organ in your body. On top of the skin, especially the face, is the acid mantle. This acidic, protective barrier houses millions of microbes that protect you.
Putting the wrong products on your skin can negatively affect this environment, leading to redness, rashes, acne, dry skin, and other skin problems.
Avoid the following 11 products that ruin your skin!
1. Apple cider vinegar
ACV is too acidic for the skin. It can cause irritation and redness. If you want to use it on your skin, dilute one teaspoon into 8 ounces of water.
2. Lemon juice
Don’t put lemon juice on your face or hair! It contains a phytochemical that can cause problems when you’re exposed to sunlight.
3. Essential oils
Some essential oils, such as cedarwood and tea tree oil, are simply too strong for the skin.
4. Bergamot
Combining bergamot with sun exposure can cause skin inflammation.
5. Baking soda
With a pH of 9, baking soda is too alkaline for the skin. It can damage the acidic environment, compromising the beneficial microbes on the skin.
6. Toothpaste
Harsh ingredients like peroxide and fluoride should not be used on your skin.
7. Rubbing alcohol
Alcohol kills the microbes on the surface of your skin. This can allow the overgrowth of unfriendly bacteria. Many creams and lotions contain alcohol, so be sure to check the ingredients of your skin care products.
8. Hydrogen peroxide
This is effective for removing stains on the teeth and for cleaning, but it's not suitable for use on the face.
9. Hair dye
Hair dye used for your eyebrows and eyelashes can be very dangerous to your eyes.
10. Topical steroids
Redness, irritation, and flakiness are often treated with topical steroids without second thought. Topical steroids stop the growth of skin cells and the production of collagen.
11. Exfoliating scrubs
Frequent use of exfoliating scrubs can scrub off the microbiome of your face. It’s beneficial to get a filter for your shower head to reduce skin exposure to chlorine and fluoride. Opt for makeup that is free of chemicals and fragrance!
Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:
Dr. Berg, age 60, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals and author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.
Disclaimer:
Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients, so he can focus on educating people as a full-time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose, and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Dr. Berg here. Today we're going to talk about things that you should never put on your face. |
| 0:05.7 | Now, being in practice for 30 years, I've seen it all. So many people are using things on their face that are very dangerous, but there are 11 things that you have to be very careful of. And some the things I want to share with you, you can put on your face, but you really need to know what you're doing. Your skin is the largest organ in your entire body. A lot of surface area. |
| 0:23.5 | And on top of the skin, especially on your face, but you really need to know what you're doing. Your skin is the largest organ in your |
| 0:21.1 | entire body. A lot of surface area. And on top of the skin, especially on your face, you have what's |
| 0:26.8 | called an acid mantle. Now, what's that? That's a protective barrier that involves a certain pH |
| 0:34.5 | that's slightly acidic. So in other words, your skin is not neutral. It's not |
| 0:39.7 | basic or alkaline. It's acidic. And so if we go from neutral 7 to a 6, that's 10 times more |
| 0:48.5 | acidic. And then from 6 to 5, that's another 10 times more acidic. Well, the skin is between 4.5 and 5.5. So it's |
| 0:56.8 | acidic. And the reason why it's acidic is you have microbes that are making it acidic. So you |
| 1:01.4 | have, and every square centimeter, over a million microbes that are there to help protect you |
| 1:07.2 | against the environment and all the things that are around you. So it's very important to understand what the skin is, what's on it, what you need to keep on it, |
| 1:15.6 | and also the pH, because if you put the wrong thing on it, you can screw that up and create the wrong environment. |
| 1:20.6 | You get the redness and then you get rashes, you get acne, you get dry skin, you have all sorts of problems. |
| 1:32.4 | Let's first talk about number one, apple cider vinegar on your face. |
| 1:36.4 | Now, yes, it's acidic, but it is way, way, way too acidic. |
| 1:41.6 | I'm talking about what some people do is they will put straight undiluted apple cider vinegar on their face. |
| 1:43.2 | You're talking about a pH that's down into like two to three, which is like battery acid. |
| 1:49.7 | That is so acidic. |
| 1:51.4 | You are going to create an irritation and a redness on your face that's not going to be good. |
| 1:56.2 | So you don't want to put it on your face. |
| 1:58.7 | In fact, this is a side note, but we sprayed apple cider vinegar |
| 2:02.9 | on our grass to kill some weeds. Not only did it kill weeds, it killed all the grass |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dr. Eric Berg, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dr. Eric Berg and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.