r/SkincareAddiction: rules, karma requirements and posting culture

Who posts here

Most posters are new or a year or two into a routine, and the replies are patient. But the vocabulary is assumed: people write tret, AzA, PIH and closed comedones without explaining them, and the wiki keeps an acronym guide for that reason. A basic question the wiki already answers is likely to be removed or sent to the Daily Help Thread, and AutoModerator says so under most posts.

• People in their teens to thirties with acne, marks, redness or texture they want to fix.
• Newcomers building a first routine, or buying one for a parent or a niece.
• Longer-term users on prescription treatments, comparing how their skin reacted.
• Experienced regulars who mostly answer, often telling people to slow down and use fewer products.
• People sharing a result or a warning: a before and after, a sunburn, a reaction to a treatment.

Karma and account requirements

What it takes to get a post through in r/SkincareAddiction.

What you can post

What happens to a new post

Where the most recent posts ended up. Sample size: 400.

• Stayed up28%
• Removed by Reddit's filters<1%
• Held by AutoModerator<1%
• Removed by moderators71%
• Deleted by the author1%

Reddit counts a removal by the subreddit's own AutoModerator rules as a moderator removal, so that share is not all human. Held by AutoModerator means the post is waiting in the mod queue.

What happened when we posted here

We have posted here ourselves. This is how our own posts and comments fared.

Stayed up

100%

Removed by Reddit's filters

0%

Removed by moderators

0%

Period

October 2025 to July 2026

The rules, in the mods' words

1. 1

   Be kind and respectful

   * Don't be rude Even if you disagree with someone, stay polite. * Be respectful when talking about mental and physical health You can express concern or share your own experiences; you can’t make fun of or bash someone over mental or physical health issues. * Respond appropriately to images Our users post pics to talk about their skin - not about their general looks or attractiveness.

2. 2

   Safety first

   * Don't give unsafe advice. - * Don't ask for or hand out medical diagnoses. We're not doctors, so we can't diagnose or treat your skin condition. This includes severe acne. If you're concerned about something, please see a doctor. - * Don't post about how to get an Rx without a prescription.

3. 3

   No referral code spam

   * Only post referral codes in the corresponding thread Don't post your referral code outside our referral threads; that includes saying things like "PM me for a code" or linking people your code in the referral thread - * Post only one referral code in the referral thread

4. 4

   Don't spam your blog, your product, your anything

   * Don't post here about your product or company - at all * If you're a company, consider taking out a Reddit Ad - * Only post your own content if you meet our conditions * You must contribute to the sub - rule of thumb is 9:1 * Include a summary in your post and disclose affiliate links * Follow our rules on usernames and flairs

5. 5

   Ask the mods before posting an AMA

   To prevent spam, the mod team vets every AMA that's posted in this sub. We will not allow companies to use this sub for covert promotion. However, if you’re an active member of ScA (or a research scientist), just shoot us a modmail to discuss hosting an AMA. This allows us to protect our members from spam and help companies run their AMA smoothly and easily.

6. 6

   Stay on topic

   This subreddit is about skincare, and we’d like to keep that the focus. Disallowed topics include: haircare, makeup, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc. It’s fine if you’re having a chat with someone and you happen to share cat pics or talk about makeup, we won’t clamp down on that. But in general, we’d like the sub to stay on topic. We don’t allow politics except in the context of skincare, to make sure that the sub a) stays focused on its main topic and b) continues to be a pleasant place to hang out.

7. 7

   Follow our post requirements

   * Copy and paste a valid tag in your post title. * No simple or low-effort questions as standalone posts. * Every Selfie/B&A must include a full routine. * Every Haul, Shelfie, & Review must include specific information. * Wednesdays are text-post only. * Humor & Cringe on Fridays only.

8. 8

   No low-effort AI

   People come to SkincareAddiction to receive advice from other humans. We will ban users that exclusively post AI-generated content, and warn users otherwise. Identifying AI is up to moderator discretion.

9. 9

   Other

   Used as a reporting rule

These are the rules as archived in January 2025. Rules change. Check the sidebar before you post.

The culture

r/SkincareAddiction has about 5 million members and close to 300 new posts a day. It calls its approach science-based, and the wiki is the backbone: a starter routine, product lists by type, ingredient pages and research threads. Posts split roughly evenly between images and text, the median post is a little over 100 words, and nearly half of titles are questions.

What people post is narrower than the size suggests. Routine Help is about 37% of flaired posts, Acne about 24% and Product Request about 15%. The typical post is a photo of a skin problem or a written-out morning and evening routine, with a request to spot what is wrong. A typical thread gets around four comments. The posts that travel are different: warnings from personal experience, sunscreen stories, before and afters, and open discussions about things like how people feel about aging or their worst skincare mistake.

The tension is between what newcomers want, which is someone to look at their face and say what it is, and what the sub will host. The rules forbid asking for or giving a diagnosis, and the submit page asks you to start a discussion instead of asking for help. Moderators removed about 70% of posts in our sample. The most experienced members answer in the Daily Help Thread, which is where the mods want one-off questions to go.

What lands

• A warning from your own experience under the PSA tag, such as a prescription product used too close to the eyes.
• A before and after with the full routine written out, product by product, morning and night.
• A discussion question anyone can answer from experience, like overlooked habits or biggest mistakes.
• A sunscreen post with a concrete story or comparison. Sun care is a reliable topic.
• A long write-up of what finally worked for a stubborn problem, with what you tried first.

What gets removed or ignored

• Titles with no tag. Nearly every moderator-removed post in our sample had a plain title with no bracketed tag, while the posts that stayed up had one.
• Photo posts asking what a spot, rash or bump is. That is a diagnosis request, and the rules exclude it, severe acne included.
• Bare beginner asks, like where to start or what your skin needs, with no routine and no detail.
• Requests to identify a product from a picture, and other one-line questions that fit the Daily Help Thread.
• Anything about your own product, company or blog, referral codes outside the referral threads, and off-topic posts about makeup or hair.

The unwritten rules

• List your routine, your skin type and how long you have used each product. Without it the first reply is a request for that information.
• Learn the shorthand before you post. Regulars abbreviate ingredients and conditions, and the wiki has an acronym page.
• The standard advice is to simplify: fewer products, one change at a time, patch test, daily sunscreen. Expect to hear it.
• "See a dermatologist" is a normal and sincere answer here. Asking people not to say it does not stop them.
• Naming products is fine and constant, but links are rare, at about 2% of comments. Text that reads as AI-written can earn a warning or a ban.

Self-promotion

The rule title is blunt: do not spam your blog, your product, your anything. Companies may not post about their product or company at all and are pointed to Reddit ads. Individuals may share their own content only if they contribute to the sub at roughly nine other contributions to one, include a summary and disclose affiliate links. Referral codes are confined to the referral threads, one code each, and AMAs need mod approval first because the mods say they will not allow covert promotion. In practice the sub is full of brand names, but they come from users describing their own routines. A post about aggressive skincare marketing was among the more upvoted in the sample, which tells you how the room feels about being sold to.

How people write here

Typical post length

108 words

Typical title length

9 words

Titles phrased as a question

47%

Typical comment length

24 words

Comments that include a link

2%

Posts that carry a flair

99%

The regulars

The accounts that showed up most in our sample. Worth reading before you post: they set the tone, and they are usually the first to reply.

Top keywords

The words and phrases that show up far more often here than in other communities, from recent posts in r/SkincareAddiction.

• acne 104 posts
• skin 122 posts
• routine 81 posts
• moisturizer 49 posts
• skincare 55 posts
• product request 23 posts
• cleanser 31 posts
• sunscreen 30 posts
• skincare routine 25 posts
• acid 34 posts
• face 43 posts
• wash 25 posts
• azelaic 16 posts
• cream 26 posts
• gel 18 posts
• cheeks 19 posts
• products 47 posts
• azelaic acid 15 posts
• redness 18 posts
• hydrating 15 posts
• tretinoin 16 posts
• cerave 15 posts
• oily 17 posts
• bumps 18 posts
• serum 18 posts
• acne prone 12 posts
• comedones 11 posts
• dry 25 posts
• hormonal acne 11 posts
• pores 14 posts
• niacinamide 11 posts
• nose 19 posts
• pimples 12 posts
• current routine 11 posts
• texture 18 posts
• toner 11 posts
• closed comedones 9 posts
• scar 13 posts
• barrier 17 posts
• cleansing 10 posts

Posts that did well

• [PSA] Please do NOT put tretinion under your eyes - You will regret.1.3k upvotes · 224 comments · PSA
• [Sun Care] A photo of my legs in case you need a reminder of how awesome sunscreen is.1k upvotes · 75 comments · Sun Care
• [PSA] Those crumbs from Korean peeling gels aren't just dead skin. The gel clumps on a rubber glove too431 upvotes · 52 comments · PSA
• [sun care] I’m an American visiting the UK, and yes, the sunscreen is that much better. I’m angry330 upvotes · 81 comments · Sun Care
• Can anyone else not stand Dr. Dray? [Misc]314 upvotes · 192 comments · Miscellaneous
• [Before&After] 2 month progress!267 upvotes · 27 comments · Selfie/B&A
• [Personal] Am I the only one that feels that everybody is seeing aging as something sooo negative?261 upvotes · 90 comments · Personal
• [acne] how did they get rid of their acne scars185 upvotes · 69 comments · Acne

Common questions