‘It really dries your skin out’: How ‘office air’ wrecks your looks at work

After a long day in the office, you catch a sight of yourself in the bathroom mirror: Hair, frizzy. Skin, dry. Eyes, puffy. “Office air” has claimed yet another victim. The term, which has recently gone viral on Tik Tok, puts its finger on a complaint office workers have suffered in silence for years. Coined by content creator Noa Donlan, her videos documenting the phenomenon have recently amassed millions of views across Tik Tok and Instagram. “I first noticed it as a student, but it became unmistakable once I started working full-time four years ago,” Donlan told People in a recent interview. “I’d leave the house feeling put together, then catch myself in the office bathroom mirror at noon and look… different.” Something is in the air. Donlan is also not alone in noticing this slow undoing that occurs over the course of a full day in the office. And according to experts, it’s not all in their head. “I don’t think this is anything necessarily new — we’ve been talking about interior air quality since the ’70s,” workplace designer Ellen Barker, at TPG Architecture, told Fast Company. “What’s interesting is that this conversation is now being rebranded by Gen Z as ‘office air’.” The difference this time is rather than a focus on health (or “sick building syndrome” as it was previously coined), the “office air” conversation is far more concerned about how the office impacts our appearance. So what exactly is going on? Irritants, allergens, malaise Mostly, it’s to do with humidity levels, Barker and her fellow designer Chasen Bloch told Fast Company. “Especially in winter, when systems are running constantly, it really dries your skin out,” said Barker. “Low humidity damages the skin barrier, which is why people notice their skin feeling tight, dry, or more reactive after long days at the office,” added Dr. Joel Spitz, Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer, Board Certified Dermatologist at skincare provider platform Honeydew. This le