In this Article:
1. Products claiming to replace Botox or dermal
fillers really work.
2. Your age is an important consideration when
shopping for skin care.
3. Hypoallergenic products are better for
sensitive skin.
4. "Age spots" are simply a fact of
getting older.
5. You'll eventually outgrow acne.
6. Makeup causes acne
7. If
a company says their skincare product works, it does.
8. Always look for collagen and elastin in anti-wrinkle
products.
9. Everyone needs an eye cream.
10. There's a product out there that eliminates
wrinkles.
11. Expensive cosmetics are always better than
inexpensive ones.
12. Mineral oil is the worst skincare ingredient
around.
13. Natural ingredients are better than synthetic
ones.
14. Its good when your products cool or tingle on
skin.
15. Blackheads relate to cleanliness and can be
scrubbed away.
16. You can control oil skin with the right
products.
17. Have dry skin? Drink more water!
18. Moisturizer applied at night must be labeled
"night cream."
19. Your skin adapts to products you use and
eventually stop working.
20.
Use the products you like, regardless of what they contain.
Flip through the pages of your favorite fashion magazine or check out a beauty blog, and you're likely to get a ton of advice. Surprisingly, a lot of it is inaccurate! Ever had someone say that dry skin can be fixed just by drinking more water, or that tingling skin means a product is working? Read on to learn the truth behind these and more myths - and learn what really works!
For
example, you may like getting a tan, but that can cause skin cancer and most
certainly will cause wrinkles and skin discolorations. You may like smoking
cigarettes, but that will cause collagen breakdown and will cause the growth of
unhealthy, malformed skin cells. You may like that daytime moisturizer you are
using, but if it doesn't contain sunscreen it leaves your skin wide open to sun
damage. Or you may like that moisturizer that comes packaged in a jar, but most
state-of-the-art ingredients, especially antioxidants, plant extracts,
vitamins, and cell-communicating ingredients like retinol, deteriorate in the
presence of air.
Flip through the pages of your favorite fashion magazine or check out a beauty blog, and you're likely to get a ton of advice. Surprisingly, a lot of it is inaccurate! Ever had someone say that dry skin can be fixed just by drinking more water, or that tingling skin means a product is working? Read on to learn the truth behind these and more myths - and learn what really works!
Myth: There are skincare products that work like
Botox or dermal fillers.
Fact: No
skincare products can work like Botox or dermal fillers because the ingredients
cannot reach their targeted areas.
There is no research showing that any skincare
product can work in any manner like Botox, dermal fillers (such as Restylane or
Aretcoll) or laser resurfacing. Regardless of the ingredients or the claims for
skincare products, it just isn't possible. Even Botox can't work like Botox if
you apply it topically rather than injecting it into facial muscles—nor can
dermal fillers plump up wrinkles when applied topically rather than being
injected. When administered by professionals, Botox and dermal injections
almost immediately make wrinkles in the treated area disappear. Believing that
skincare products can do the same is a complete waste of money. There has never
been a single skincare product that has ever put a plastic surgeon or cosmetic
dermatologist out of business.
Myth: Your age is an important consideration when
shopping for skin care.
Fact: Many
products on the market claim to be designed for a specific age group,
especially for "mature" women; mature usually refers to women over
50.
(So we wonder, does that mean if you are under 50,
you're immature?) Nonetheless, before you buy into any of these arbitrary age
divisions, ask yourself why the over-50 group is always lumped together?
According to this logic, someone who is 40 or 45 shouldn't be using the same
products as someone who is 50 (only 5 or 10 years older), but someone who is 80
should be using the same products as someone who is 50...? What you need to
know is that age is not a skin type and choosing products based on your age is not
a wise way to shop.
Myth: Hypoallergenic products are better for
sensitive skin.
Fact: "Hypoallergenic"
is little more than a nonsense word. It is nothing more than an advertising
contrivance meant to imply that a product is unlikely or less likely to cause
allergic reactions and therefore is better for sensitive or problem skin.
The term "hypoallergenic" is meant to
imply that a product is unlikely or less likely to cause allergic reactions
and, therefore, is better for allergy-prone or sensitive skin types, but it
isn’t true. There are no accepted testing methods, ingredient restrictions,
regulations, guidelines, rules, or procedures of any kind, anywhere in the
world, for determining whether or not a product qualifies as being
hypoallergenic (Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 2004 and Dermatologic Therapy, 2001).
Myth: "Age spots" are simply a fact of
getting older.
Fact: First,
the term "age spot" is really a misnomer. Brown, freckle-like skin
discolorations are not a result of age; they are the result of years of
unprotected sun exposure.
Sun spots can show up at any age, from the
freckles sprinkled across a child's nose to smooth, flat brown discolorations
you may see as early as your mid-20s. At any age, treating sun-induced brown
discolorations doesn't necessarily requite a specialty product, but it does
take proven ingredients (like hydroquinone, niacinamide, and forms of vitamin
C) plus daily sun protection to make a noticeable, lasting difference (Journal of
Pathology, 2007 and Experimental
Dermatology, 2014).
Myth: You'll eventually outgrow acne.
Fact: If
only that were true, lots of people's skincare struggles in life would have
been very different. In fact, women in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and even 50s can
have acne just like teenagers, and the treatment principles remain the same.
Not everyone who has acne as a teenager will grow
out of it, and even if you had clear skin as a teenager, there's no guarantee
that you won't get acne later in life, perhaps during menopause. You can blame
this often-maddening inconsistency on hormones! What is true is that men can
outgrow acne, because after puberty men's hormone levels level out, while women's
hormone levels fluctuate throughout their lifetime, which is why many women
experience breakouts around their menstrual cycle. What about the association
between acne and food, stress, and over-cleaning your face?
Myth: Makeup causes acne.
Fact: Probably
not. There is no research indicating that makeup or skincare products cause
acne, and there is no consensus on which ingredients are problematic.
In the late 1970s there was some research
performed on rabbit skin using 100% concentrations of ingredients to determine
whether or not they caused acne. Subsequently, it was determined that this
study had nothing to do with the way women wear makeup or use skincare
products, and it was never repeated or considered useful in any way. For much
more on this complicated subject, see our Expert
Advice article on the topic.
Myth: If a company says a product works, it does.
Fact: In
the world of skin care, there is an entire business known as claim substantiation,
and it definitely does not equate to legitimate scientific research at all.
Laboratories, including those at some respected
universities and colleges, are expert at setting up a study so that the results
support whatever the label or advertisements say that a product can do. One
important thing that many consumers and physicians aren't aware of, and this
includes lots of physicians who are involved in these dubious (often completely
bogus) studies, is the question, "Under what conditions were the studies
performed?" This is critical to know!
Myth: Always look for collagen and elastin in
anti-wrinkle products.
Fact:Collagen
and elastin in skincare products can serve as good water-binding agents, but they
cannot fuse with your skin's natural supply of these supportive elements.
In most cases, the collagen molecule is too large
to penetrate into the skin. But even when it is made small enough to be
absorbed it cannot bind with the collagen existing in skin, and there isn't a
shred of research indicating otherwise. What does exist are myriad studies
showing that collagen is a very good moisturizing ingredient, which is great
for skin, but not unique or the only formulary option.
Myth: Everyone needs an eye cream.
Fact: There
is no evidence, research, or documentation validating the claim that the eye
area needs ingredients different from those you use on your face or neck area
or decolletage.
Any product loaded with antioxidants, emollients,
skin-repairing and anti-inflammatory ingredients will work wonders when used
around the eye area. Those ingredients don't have to come from a product
labeled as an eye cream or gel or serum or balm—they can come from any
well-formulated moisturizer or serum.
Fact: Regrettably,
there is no magic potion or combination of products in any price range that can
make wrinkles truly disappear or prevent them. Daily use of a well-formulated
sunscreen (and never getting a tan) are the two best things you can do, but
there's more that helps, too!
The wrinkles you see and agonize over (not to be
confused with fine lines caused by dryness, which are easily remedied with a
good moisturizer) are the result of cumulative sun damage and the inevitable
breakdown of your skin's natural support structure. Skincare ingredients, no
matter who is selling them or what claims they make for them, cannot replace
what plastic surgeons and cosmetic dermatologists do. There are literally
thousands of anti-wrinkle products being sold and we buy more of these than
almost any other beauty product. But despite this onslaught of products,
plastic surgeons and dermatologists are not going out of business.
Fact: The
absolute truth is that there are good and bad products in all price categories.
It's all about the formulation, not the price.
The amount of money you spend on skincare products
has nothing to do with the quality or uniqueness of the formula. An expensive
soap by Erno Laszlo is no better for your skin than an inexpensive bar soap
such as Dove (though we suggest that both are potentially too irritating and
drying for all skin types). On the other hand, an irritant-free toner by
Neutrogena can be just as good as, or maybe even better than, an irritant-free
toner by Chanel or La Prairie (depending on the formulation), and any
irritant-free toner is infinitely better than a toner that contains alcohol,
peppermint, menthol, essential oils, eucalyptus, lemon, or other irritants, no
matter how natural-sounding the ingredients are and regardless of the price or
claim. We've seen lots of expensive products that are little more than water
and wax, and inexpensive products that are beautifully formulated. Spending less
doesn't hurt your skin, and spending more doesn't help it. Again, it's all
about the formulation, not the price.
Fact: This
recurring, foolish, misinformation about mineral oil and petrolatum is
maddening because it isn't accurate.
Although mineral oil does originate from crude
oil, this oil is as natural as any other earth-derived substance. Moreover,
lots of ingredients are derived from awful-sounding sources, but are
nevertheless benign and totally safe. Salt is a perfect example. Common table
salt is sodium chloride, composed of sodium and chloride, but salt doesn't have
the caustic properties of chloride (a form of chlorine) or the unstable
explosiveness of pure sodium. Mineral oil is actually a great ingredient for
dry skin (International
Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2012).
Fact: Whatever
preconceived notion someone might have or media-induced fiction someone might
believe about natural ingredients being better for the skin; it's not true.
There is no factual basis or scientific legitimacy for that belief.
Not only is the definition of "natural"
hazy, but the term is loosely regulated, so any cosmetics company can use it to
mean whatever they want it to mean. Just because an ingredient grows out of the
ground or is found in nature doesn't make it automatically good for skin; and
the reverse is also true, just because it is synthetic doesn't make it bad.
Fact: This
sensation is your skin telling you it is being irritated, not helped.
That familiar tingling sensation is actually just
your skin responding to irritation, resulting in inflammation. Products that
produce that sensation can actually damage your skin's healing process, make
scarring worse, cause collagen and elastin to break down, and increase the
growth of bacteria that cause pimples. Ingredients such as menthol, peppermint,
camphor, and mint are counter-irritants. Counter-irritants are used to induce
local inflammation in an effort to reduce inflammation in deeper or adjacent
tissues. In other words, they substitute one kind of inflammation for another,
which is never good for skin. Irritation or inflammation, no matter what causes
it or how it happens, impairs the skin's immune and healing response. And although
your skin may not show it or doesn't react in an irritated fashion, if you
apply irritants to your skin the damage is still taking place and is ongoing,
so it adds up over time (Experimental Dermatology, 2009 and Dermato-Endocrinology,
2011).
Fact: Blackheads
may make skin look dirty, but they are unrelated to dirt.
Blackheads are formed when hormones cause too much
sebum (oil) to be produced, dead skin cells get in the way, the pore is
impaired or misshapen, and the path for the oil to exit through the pore is
blocked, creating a clog. As this clog nears the surface of the skin, the
mixture of oil and cellular debris oxidizes and turns, you guessed it, black.
But you cannot scrub away blackheads, at least not completely. Using a topical
scrub removes the top portion of the blackhead, but does nothing to address the
underlying cause, so they're back again before too long (Experimental
Dermatology, 2009 and Dermato-Endocrinology,
2011).
Instead of a scrub, try using a well-formulated
BHA (salicylic acid) product. Salicylic acid exfoliates inside the pore lining,
dissolving oil and dead skin cells that lead to constant blackheads. Paula's
Choice offers a broad selection of BHA products to help eliminate blackheads
and provide numerous other benefits.
Fact: Possibly,
but right now this is mere conjecture, involving an extremely complicated and
difficult-to-understand process.
Oil production is triggered primarily by androgens
and estrogen (male and female hormones, respectively), and altering hormone
production topically is not something available in the realm of cosmetics.
However, the sebaceous gland itself also produces active androgens, which can
increase sebum excretion. What can happen is that stress-sensing skin signals
(think skin inflammation and irritation) can lead to the production and release
of androgens and cause more oil production, which can clog pores. That makes
topical irritation and inflammation bad for skin, but that still doesn't affect
the production of hormones inside the body (Experimental
Dermatology, 2009 and Dermato-Endocrinology,
2011).
Myth: Dry skin? Drink more water!
Fact: Ironically,
dry skin is not as simple as just a lack of moisture. And, surprisingly,
drinking more water won't make dry skin look or feel better.
The studies that have compared the water content
of dry skin to that of normal or oily skin show that there doesn't appear to be
a statistically significant difference. And adding more moisture to the skin is
not necessarily a good thing. If anything, too much moisture, like soaking in a
bathtub, is bad for skin because it disrupts the skin's outer barrier (the
intracellular matrix) by breaking down the substances that keep skin cells
functioning normally and in good shape. So how does dry skin happen?
Fact: The
ONLY difference between a daytime and nighttime moisturizer is that the daytime
version should offer sun protection of SPF 25 or greater.
What you often hear cosmetics salespeople say is
that the skin needs different ingredients at night than during the day. They
usually state that skin does more repair work at night, so needs more
"nourishing" ingredients to assist this nightly renewal process.
Well, let us tell you: If that's the case there isn't a shred of research or a
list anywhere of what those ingredients should be. Skin is repairing itself and
producing skin cells every nanosecond of the day, and night. Helping skin do
that in as healthy a manner as possible doesn't change based on the time of
day.
Fact: Skin
doesn't adapt to skincare products any more than your body adapts to a healthy
diet.
If spinach and grapes are healthy for you they are
always healthy, and they continue to be healthy, even if you eat them every
day. The same is true for your skin, as long as you are applying what is
healthy for skin (and avoiding negative external sources such as unprotected
sun exposure) it remains healthy. You may see skin stop improving as much as it
initially did, but that stands to reason: If you were using products with
irritating or drying ingredients and then switch to brilliantly-formulated
products, your initial improvement is going to be much more impressive than
what you'll see months later, when skin is maintaining its new-found healthy,
younger appearance.
Fact: Lots
of people have problems with their skin because they often like what isn't good
for skin.
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