Derby High School students are saying “school air” makes them look bad after TikTok trend 

By Krystal Torres ’25

Beginning in late 2022, a  trend on TikTok called “school air” became relevant and famous. This is something that many students (mainly feminine) say negatively affects them during school hours. 

There is no real science behind “school air;” it is just something that high school students say exists. Students say it makes them look worse and changes their appearance for the worse throughout the day. “School air” is the air that acts like a make-up remover, hair frizzer, zit inducer, etc. Some people say it makes their face look greasy or oily or some girls say it makes their makeup “cakey”. It even makes many people feel insecure about themselves. 

Some might also say that the lighting in the school does change their appearance. White lighting is considered to be best and it makes people look better. Natural sunlight also is seen to be good. Yellow lighting, on the other hand, is thought to be bad lighting that makes everyone look bad. In school, classrooms all have white lighting, but still, somehow the school lighting is known to make people look bad; since most of the time students are in a classroom, this adds to their insecurities.

 Girls at DHS are among the sufferers of “school air”. Aniya Giles ‘25 says when she straightens her hair it looks fine but at the end if the day its all poufy. She says it irritates her. Aliyah Morales ‘25 said her hair is not frizzy when she is at home but it is frizzy when she is in school. She said, “Everything just looks different! It changes everyone’s outfits, facial features. I don’t care, I  don’t be looking like this when I go out” Lynnette Martinez ‘25 says it only really changes her appearance when its humid or to hot. Her hair gets frizzy easily. Breanna Perez ‘26 says it makes her look different. In the mornings she likes how she looks until she gets to school and she looks very different. This makes her feel very insecure and she always constantly looking at herself. 

Despite the lack of research, school air is a real thing! It makes a lot of people feel insecure about themselves. Solution? There is none!