If you spotted 'strawberry legs' trending this week you were probably left wondering the same thing.
A woman on Twitter started a debate after asking what exactly strawberry legs are. "The female body is way too micromanaged wtf is strawberry legs," said Twitter user @anjoj5.
The tweets started a debate around whether ‘strawberry legs’ are something to be concerned about.
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Women shared that they felt self-conscious about their legs and even avoided wearing certain clothes because of it.
“No because i haven’t worn shorts or skirts in more than 10 years because of this,” said one woman.
Another Twitter user shared: “This entire thread is calling me out. I’ve been working on getting rid of my strawberry legs for months!!! And I still haven't found a product that helps me with hyperpigmentation”.
Other Twitter users suggested the expectation to have flawless skin on social media has bolstered the idea of ‘strawberry legs’.
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“Strawberry legs happened coz we airbrushed skin to no end on social media, ppl [sic] don’t know what natural skin looks like anymore,” another user stated.
Similarly, one social media user replied: “Never knew what strawberry legs were until TikTok. I literally thought that was normal when shaving your legs , because of the follicles or something?”
However others were proud of their legs and marks. “Glad my strawberry legs doesn’t bother me lol,” said one woman.
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Ada Ooi, celebrity facialist and founder of 001 Skincare, says 'strawberry legs' is a term which refers to the pores on the legs, often experienced after shaving.
She explained: "It occurs when enlarged pores or hair follicles trap dead skin cells and oil, causing the follicles to become slightly inflamed, which in turn causes them to have a darker colour and appear as dots on the skin.
"If you have more melanin in your skin - the pigment that makes skin darker - then the dots will appear slightly differently as they will appear more brown than red.
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Ada explains that for those who may be bothered by their legs, exfoliating the skin regularly with physical exfoliants like sugar or nut kernels or chemical exfoliants like glycolic and salicylic acid plus moisturising daily can help.
"These steps will help to keep the follicles clear of any dead skin cells and excess sebum".
Corinna Tolan, Owner of Monica Tolan The Skin Experts London, wants to reassure everyone that 'strawberry marks are in no way dangerous or an indicator that something’s wrong.'
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“As with everything in the body, I feel that sometimes with social media it’s this major rush to filter and fix everything, but I would like to think that there would be an element of acceptance and reassurance that once they know that it’s perfectly normal to have these marks and that they’re not a sign of anything sinister, that would make them feel reassured.”
Corinna says she would never tell a client that you can get rid of it entirely, but there are useful steps to make it 'less obvious'. This includes maintaining good gut health such as including more fats in their diet like fish oils, nuts, avocado and supplements with omegas, feeding the skin with therapeutic doses of Vitamin A such as Environ ACE to speed up the skin cycle or products containing antioxidants and jojoba oil to help hydrate and nourish the skin.
She warns, however: “What I have found in the past is that a lot of people, in their effort to get rid of them, have instigated problems with their skin.”
Gregory Robinson